Another Nakama III
by QPython
Summary: There's another pirate on board the Going Merry. Follow the Straw Hat Pirates as they continue their voyage along the Grand Line and journey to an island in the sky and take on a God.
1. Bonsatsu Island

**Another Nakama III**

**Summary:** There's another pirate on board the Going Merry. Follow the Straw Hat Pirates as they continue their voyage along the Grand Line and journey to an island in the sky and take on a God.

**Rating:** T

'One Eye' Ricky Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire stood in the front of the entrance to an old stone temple and studied the map that had brought him there.

"This is the place," he noted, "Now to find that treasure." Ricky rolled the map up and stuffed it in the bottom right pants pocket and entered the dark temple.

Ricky warily made his way down a dark hallway until suddenly… **CLICK! **Ricky leapt back in alarm when one of the tiles he stepped on gave way. **FWOOOSH!** Ricky tensed but relaxed when the wall-mounted torches that lined the hallway suddenly lit up and flooded the hallway with light. Ricky looked down and saw that the tile his right foot was on had sunk downward and had probably turned on the lights.

"Well that's a relief," Ricky remarked. "I've heard rumors that some old temples are outfitted with booby-traps." Ricky continued onward down the hallway.

**CLICK! **Another tile sank down.** CHUCK-CHUCK-CHUCK-CHUCK! **Ricky looked around him as small holes suddenly appeared in the walls. **CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOO! **A volley of red-tipped darts came flying out of the opened holes at Ricky. "I hate irony. Speed Step!"** ZZOOOOM! **Ricky kicked off of the floor and sped down the hallway at an incredible breakneck speed.

**CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOO! **Red-tipped darts continued to fly out of the holes lining the walls but Ricky was moving too fast and managed to stay ahead of the volley of firing darts that couldn't hope to keep up with his fast movements. **SKIISSSSHH! **A mere second later, Ricky skidded to a stop at the other end of the hallway and dove through the doorway into another part of the temple.

The first thing Ricky noticed about this room was that the lights were on in here too. The second was that there were no darts firing at him. The third was the long flight of steps that was ahead of him and seemed to lead upward.

Ricky began his journey up the stairs. They just seemed to go straight up and seemed unending. The light in the doorway was long gone and now Ricky was left climbing the stairs in almost total darkness.

After going up what felt like three hundred steps, Ricky stopped and looked upwards his eye had grown accustomed to the darkness and he was hoping to see the end of the stairs. But his limited depth perception kept him from seeing anything.

**Krek-krek… KROOOSH! **The stone step Ricky was standing on suddenly grumbled out from under him. **SHOO… **Ricky dropped downward but managed to catch himself by grabbing onto the next step.** WHAP!**

Ricky looked down and he didn't need depth perception to know that he didn't want to fall into the seemingly unending pit below him. **Krek-krek-krek… **Ricky stared in shock as the stair he was clinging to started cracking. **WHING! **He quickly flung himself up into the air and landed a couple steps up just as the stair broke and fell downward.

Ricky started running up the staircase. "The stairs must be rigged so they can't support a great deal of weight for a period of time that's longer than a couple seconds," he reasoned. "But if I keep moving so I'm not on any of them for too long then I can keep them from cracking underneath me."

Knowing that he still had to come back out after he found the treasure, Ricky moved as swiftly as possible so he could keep as many stairs intact as possible. There was a light somewhere up above him. Ricky kept racing towards it and eventually he reached the top of the stairs.

Ricky walked off of the last step and found himself standing on a stone platform that was suspended from the ceiling using and using a length of chain from each of the corners. The little bit of sunlight that drifted through a crack in the ceiling told him that he was now at the very top of the temple.

"Well that's a relief," Ricky remarked. "Now I don't have to take the stairs again. I'll just climb up and out."

Ricky glanced around the platform and a sly grin appeared on his face when he spotted a treasure chest situated in the middle of it. He approached the chest, careful not to step on any more triggers but when he reached it he found that the chest was locked.

Ricky scoffed at the weak final attempt at stopping him, he reached into his top left pocket and pulled out his wallet of gem crafting tools and lock picks. He stuck two of the picks in the lock and got to work.

**CLICK! **The lock popped opened and Ricky lifting the lid of the chest and found a solid gold tablet inside. "This is it." Ricky reached in and turned it over. The tablet read:

'QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.'

"There, we've got a disclaimer," Ricky resolved. "Now we can start the story."

**How was that for a disclaimer? It's the first installment of a series called Disclaimer Hunts that I plan to introduce this story. Expect a new one every ten chapters or so. If they're well received I'll include them in future stories. If not, just skim through them like any other disclaimer. I still mark the start of each chapter with my usual -x- symbol and the chapter title. Anyway, enjoy the first chapter of Another Nakama III and also the first chapter of original story arc.**

**-x-**

**Bonsatsu Island:**

**-x-**

The sun was shining down from overhead onto the Going Merry as it continued its voyage along the Grand Line. Ricky stood in front of Chopper with his shirt off and was attempting to teach his newest brother a new technique.

"Go ahead, gimme your best shot," Ricky prompted his younger brother.

Chopper transformed into his big Heavy Point form, "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Of course," Ricky replied, "Go ahead. I'm ready for you."

"HEAVY GONG!" Chopper lashed out and swung at Ricky's chest.

"Steel Shield!" Ricky's chest and abdominal muscles tensed as the powerful blow connected. **WHAM! **Ricky skidded backwards but stopped himself and across from Chopper unharmed. "See? I withstood it."

"Yeah, but you also used it to withstand a bullet," Chopper pointed out. "And now that I think about it… you used that to block that point-blank cannon blast from Wapol, didn't you?"

"That's right," Ricky confirmed, "And that's why I wanted to teach it to you. It's a solid defensive technique."

"But I've got Guard Point for that," Chopper reminded him.

"I remember," Ricky stated. "Those Rumble Balls of yours are pure genius." Chopper beamed. "But they only last for three minutes. What happens when you're in a fight and you run out of time? I think it would be useful to know a defensive technique that you could use in one of your three base forms so you could fight without resorting to using or overdosing on Rumble Balls."

Chopper frowned when he thought of the side-effects of using two Rumble Balls in the span of a day then shivered when he recalled what happened if he used three.

"I guess I can see how it would be useful," Chopper reasoned.

"I taught myself this technique back when I was young out of necessity so I could survive training with Luffy and Ace, who were and still are both a great deal stronger than me," Ricky recounted. "But it wasn't until I became a member of the Whitebeard Pirates and trained with the Third Division Commander Jozu who hits _really_ hard that I developed it to the point where I can withstand bullets and cannon blasts."

"And you think I can do that?" Chopper asked.

"Chopper, I expect you to do _more than_ that," Ricky told him. "To use the technique I tense the muscles in my chest and abdomen and make them hard enough to withstand the attacks. In your Heavy Point form you're bigger than me, heavier than me, and more muscular than I am. If you can harden all those big heavy muscles I fully expect you to surpass me in this technique."

"You really think so?" Chopper questioned.

"Of course," Ricky assured him. "Now here's what I want you to do…"

Across the deck, Nami was sitting on a lounge chair with a book in her lap. Although she hadn't turned a page since Ricky took his shirt off. She tore her eyes away from Ricky and Chopper's training when she noticed their newest Nakama Nico Robin approaching.

"Hey Robin," Nami greeted her, attempting to be friendly.

"Hello Miss. Navigator," came Robin's rather formal reply. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Oh yeah," Nami answered, "It's always nice relaxing with a good book."

Robin glanced at the navigator's book and raised an elegant eyebrow, "You know, I'd be more tempted to believe you if that book weren't upside down."

"Eep!" Nami squeaked and blushed when she looked down and saw that her book was indeed upside down. Knowing that she'd been caught, Nami quickly attempted to flee the scene. She slipped out of her chair and headed for her room.

Robin smiled and claimed the navigator's abandoned chair but couldn't help hearing the girl mutter to herself as she stalked off.

"She takes _my _room, _my _clothes, _my _chair, _my _books. Why am I loaning out all of _my _stuff?"

Robin glanced down at the black skirt she was 'borrowing' from Nami. It was actually one of the girl's longer ones. She decided against wearing a short skirt like Nami was currently wearing considering she was a good eight inches taller than the younger girl and for her to wear such a short skirt would be obscene.

"I didn't realize it bothered you so much," Robin called after her. "Perhaps I could borrow some clothing from Mr. One Eye? He appears be a fair bit taller than you, perhaps it would fit better. But then I would have _literally_ gotten into his pants before you."

Nami spun around and looked both embarrassed and angry at the same time, "Don't you dare!" she growled before she turned back around and stomped off to her room.

Robin stared after her for a moment. Apparently, paying her off hadn't convinced the younger girl to be as accepting as she had first thought. She could faintly hear the sound of shouting coming from the galley.

"YOU STRETCHY BASTARD!" Sanji yelled at Luffy who was standing next to an annoyed-looking Usopp. "That was a treat for my lovely Miss. Nami and the exquisite Miss. Robin! You had no right to eat it!"

"But you just left it on the table!" Luffy protested.

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S FOR YOU!" Sanji snapped then the cook rounded on Usopp, "AND HOW COULD YOU LET HIM!"

"You spend all your time making fancy treats for Nami and Robin!" Usopp complained. "The food you give to the rest of us if practically slop compared to it! And I didn't _let _him eat it! He _always _eats _everything_! He wolfed it so fast that _I _didn't even get any!"

"Then what am I supposed to eat?" Luffy asked. "You guys put locks on the refrigerator and the storage room where we keep all the meat!"

"We put the lock there _because_ we didn't want you to eat it!" Sanji countered. "If we didn't stop you, you'd eat _all _our food and we'd starve! EVEN WORSE! MISS. NAMI AND MISS. ROBIN WOULD STARVE!"

"I'm the Captain!" Luffy exclaimed. "I order you to take the locks off and give me meat!"

"Well I'm the cook and I say NO!" Sanji argued. "If you ate it all there'd be nothing left for Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin!"

"I'm not gonna stand here and get yelled at when _Luffy's_ the one who ate it all!" Usopp announced. "I'd gladly accept the blame if I had actually gotten to eat some but not when it's _once again_ Luffy's fault!" Usopp stomped out of the galley and went down the stairs to the deck. He spotted Ricky and Chopper training and Robin occupying the lounge chair that Nami had previously been sitting in.

Usopp climbed the rungs on the main mast up to the crow's nest and found their faithful lookout Zoro… fast asleep.

"HEY! WAKE UP!" Usopp shouted rousing the swordsman from his slumber.

"Huh?" Zoro grunted. "I'm up… I'm up..."

"You're supposed to be the lookout!" Usopp reminded him. "What're you looking out for when you're sleeping?"

"I'm not sleeping now," Zoro pointed out.

"That's only because I woke you up you lazy bum!" Usopp snapped. "You don't take responsibility for anything on the ship!"

"Hey, watch it," Zoro protested. This was not what he needed right after waking up.

"Watch _what_?" Usopp demanded. "You're not watching _anything_! I'd be a better lookout than you if I was _blind_!"

"Then you do it then," Zoro suggested.

"Alright, I will!" Usopp decided.

"Why's everyone so worked up today?" Ricky wondered as he and Chopper stopped training at the sounds of yet another heated conflict between their crewmates.

"How should I know… stingy jerk," Chopper replied. Ricky and Robin both raised an eyebrow at the insult and turned to the reindeer and saw him attempting to glare at Ricky and look tough.

"Chopper, just because the rest of them are arguing doesn't mean we have to," Ricky stated.

"Oh, sorry," Chopper apologized as he sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with hoof.

"I suppose some days are better than others with every crew… even this one," Robin reasoned to herself. "Such different people can't be expected to get along all the time."

**-x-**

"I SEE AN ISLAND!" Usopp shouted about an hour later. "LAND HO!" Usopp turned to Zoro who had gone back to sleeping in the crow's nest and grinned. "HA! I've only been keeping lookout for an hour and I spotted an island that a lazy bum like you couldn't even hope to!"

"Yeah, you sure showed me," Zoro half-heartedly agreed without even bothering to sit up and see the island Usopp had apparently spotted. The swordsman stifled a yawn and readjusted his position as he laid sprawled out in the bottom of the crow's nest and promptly closed his eyes.

The rest of the Straw Hats gathered on the deck and stared off the front of the ship at the tiny dot on the horizon that their sharp-eyed sniper had managed to spot.

"Wow, I can't even _see_ an island," Ricky confessed as he stared off the front of the ship once again cursing his lack of depth perception and long distance vision.

"No need to thank me," Usopp boasted. "Just doing what I do best."

"I believe that's Bonsatsu Island," Robin stated from her lounge chair. "It's known for the large temple that overlooks the entire island."

"Gah!" Ricky yelped and flinched when he noticed a now familiar blue eye on his shoulder.

"How would you know?" Nami inquired as she glanced back at their new archeologist.

"Well, I've never been there before," Robin admitted, "but while I was in Baroque Works I made a point to know all the islands around Sandy Island along with their different characteristics. The next island according to the Log Pose heading we're following should be Bonsatsu Island. And I believe I read somewhere that it's a Spring Island so you won't need to dress differently like in Alabasta or Drum Kingdom."

"Oh Miss. Robin, your intelligence knows no bounds!" Sanji swooned. He spun over to Robin and offered her a platter with two fancy drinks on it. "Due to complications in the kitchen…" Sanji glared at Luffy, "I was unable to prepare a snack for you as I'd hoped. Please accept this beverage as a substitute."

"Thank you Mr. Cook," Robin formally replied as she took one of the glasses knowing the other was for Nami.

"I also brought an extra straw!" Sanji added, "I thought that perhaps you'd like to share?"

"Maybe next time Mr. Cook," Robin politely declined.

Sanji turned to face Nami and held out the plate then opened his mouth to give her the same offer but Nami cut him off and took her drink before he even had a chance to say anything.

"Thanks Sanji," Nami said simply before she started barking orders, "Ricky! Usopp! Raise the sails! We'll let the sea currant carry us in. And would _somebody _wake up Zoro!"

"Aye-aye," Ricky agreed as he headed off to carry out his task.

"What's a temple?" Chopper asked as he hung on the front railing next to Luffy who was as usual in his special seat on the Going Merry's sheep figure head.

"I dunno," Luffy replied. "Maybe it's a place with tasty meat."

"If it were up to you _every _place would have meat," Chopper felt like he needed to point out.

Luffy's eyes went wide, "THAT'D BE AMAZING!"

**-x-**

A little bit later, the sea currant had carried the Going Merry right up to the shore. The pirates dropped anchor and stepped out onto the shore that was made up of dark rocky sand which soon gave way to grass. It was truly as Spring Island as further inland was a forest of healthy green trees with a handful of them sporting cherry blossoms that made Chopper's eyes go wide in wonder.

The forest surrounded a large strangely-shaped mountain that seemed to be the focal point of the entire island. The mountain side was so steep that it appeared to be a cliff. A set of stone steps had been carved in it and led up to a flat area. Inward from that was another steep cliff-like segment of mountain with a staircase carved into it. This went on for another three segments until the fifth staircase led to the flat top of the mountain on top of the fifth cliff segment.

Built on the top of the mountain was a large temple. The intricate details of the structure couldn't be made out from so far away at the bottom of the mountain but it appeared as though it wasn't made entirely out of stone which meant that the inhabitants of the island weren't completely primitive. In short, it looked like an old Aztec temple. And with the way the large temple loomed on top of the pyramid-like mountain it was clear that the temple's occupants could see everything on the island from up above.

"WHOOOOAAA!" Luffy gasped. "I bet they've got all sorts of fancy food up there!"

"Don't be stupid Luffy," Nami scolded him. "Temples aren't known for their food, they're known for holding untold secrets and treasures." She turned and prodded Ricky, "Right?"

"I do sense a fair amount of valuables up there," Ricky admitted, "but if they're in a temple it probably belongs to the people of the island. It wouldn't feel right taking anything from it."

"Still, there's no harm of going up there to take a look," Nami pointed out. "Maybe they don't want it?" Ricky gave her a look that asked if she _actually _believed that.

"YEEEAAH!" Luffy cheered. "LET'S GO ON AN ADVENTURE! AND EAT!"

"Right!" Usopp exclaimed, "This'll be yet another great adventure to add to the tales of Captain Usopp Brave Warrior of the Sea!"

"MIIISS NAAAAMIIIII!" Sanji practically sang, "After much delay, your snack if finally ready! I'd be happy to carry you up the mountain and share it with you when we reach the top!"

"Oh, thanks Sanji," Nami half-heartedly replied before glancing at Ricky.

"I don't hold much stake in temples," Ricky admitted, "If it's all the same to you guys, I think I'll just explore the bottom part of the island and see if I can find any villages."

"Perhaps I could come with you, Mr. One Eye?" Robin requested.

"Really?" Ricky asked. "Isn't history your area of expertise? I figured you'd be one of the first to want to explore the temple."

"I would like to see it as some point," Robin replied, "but I'd prefer asking the inhabitants of the island what kind of temple it is so I'd know what to prepare for. Besides, Miss. Navigator has expressed concerns with me wearing her clothing. I thought that perhaps if I accompanied you to a village that I could purchase some clothing of my own."

"Oh, okay then," Ricky agreed. Nami frowned at thought of them spending more time alone but kept from objecting when she thought of the treasures that might be waiting at the temple.

"Like One Eye, I don't hold much stake in temples," Zoro stated. "I think I'll sit this one out and guard the ship."

Usopp leaned over to Sanji and whispered, "I bet the lazy bum falls asleep the second we leave."

"Hey Chopper, what do you wanna do?" Luffy asked the doctor.

Chopper glanced at the groups that had formed. Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji seemed to want to explore the temple. Ricky and Robin were going to be looking for a village. And Zoro had volunteered to 'guard' the ship.

"I still don't really know what a temple is," Chopper confessed. "And honestly, I'm more interested in seeing those cherry blossoms." Chopper looked over at Ricky and Robin, "Could we travel through the forest to find the village?"

"I don't see why not, Mr. Doctor," Robin told him with a faint smile.

"Right then," Ricky resolved. "Let's try to meet back around here at the ship by sunset."

"BYE GUYS!" Luffy called out. "Hey Usopp, I bet I can beat you to the top!"

"Yeah right!" Usopp scoffed. "There's no way you can beat me without stretching!"

And so the Straw Hats split up with Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji headed up towards the temple while Ricky, Chopper, and Robin searched for a village and Zoro stayed back at the ship and kept a diligent and careful watch. Anyone believe that? Don't. He went right back to sleep.

**-x-**

High up above them in the temple that overlooked the entire island, a man wearing a loose hooded cloak sat alone in a dark room.

Light spilled into the dark room and a thin man in a pale gray robe stood in the opened doorway, "High Priest Nagai," the man called out to the occupant of the room. "We've spotted a pirate ship on the shore."

"Pirates?" the cloaked man repeated in an oily voice. "Dispatch the patrol into the villages and have the sentries keep a look out. Once we know who we're dealing with gather the others and prepare to depart…" The light from the door illuminated the sinister smile on the man's face. "Then let us go and welcome our new guests."

**-x-**

**Looming Danger:**

**-x-**

Chopper stared in wonder at the cherry blossoms as he, Ricky, and Robin journeyed through the forest surrounding the mountain in search of a village. Chopper walked between Ricky and Robin in his Brain Point form with his neck craned back so he could see every pink-coated tree.

"I take it you're fond of cherry blossoms," Robin noted, the reindeer's awe and fascination was plain as day.

"His father's life's work was finding a way to make cherry blossoms bloom in a land of snow," Ricky replied.

"But wasn't it just pink snow?" Robin questioned.

"Hey, don't knock the miracle," Ricky scolded her.

Robin shrugged, an arm sprouted out of one of the branches above them and plucked a cherry blossom from a tree and tossed it downward. Robin deftly caught the cherry blossom then offered it to Chopper, "There you go."

"Thanks," Chopper took the offered cherry blossom and carefully held it between his hooves. He glanced up and saw Robin smiling down at him. Having the still mysterious woman with her attention solely focused on him made him nervous. The reindeer quickly slipped behind Ricky and 'peaked' out from behind him at Robin.

"Eh-hem," Ricky cleared his throat, "Wrong way Chopper." The reindeer quickly adjusted himself so he was properly peaking. Ricky turned to Robin, "Don't worry, he'll come around. And hopefully the others will too. Just give them a chance to get to know you a little."

Robin nodded and the trio continued onward through the forest. Until the silence was eventually broken by Chopper when his blue nose started twitching, **SNIFF! SNIFF!** "I think I smell something up ahead!"

"It could be the village we're searching for," Robin reasoned.

"Lead on, Chopper," Ricky urged the reindeer.

Chopper transformed into his Walk Point reindeer form and led the way through the trees towards the source of whatever he had smelled.

**-x-**

"I'M COMING FOOD!" Luffy shouted as he practically flew up the second flight of stone steps. He was taking Usopp's challenge seriously and was racing up the mountain steps without stretching.

"Slow… down…" Usopp wheezed. Even without stretching, Luffy was still a great deal faster than him. The sniper had gotten tired trying to keep up with Luffy as they ran through the forest to the mountain. Halfway up the first staircase he'd stopped running and was now lagging behind Sanji who was happily carrying Nami on his back.

"Serves you right for trying to keep up with him," Sanji reprimanded the winded sniper.

"Shut… up…" Usopp gasped.

"Both of you quiet down," Nami instructed as she glanced up at the staircases above them. "We're being watched."

"How… do you… know?" Usopp asked.

**BONK! **Sanji spun around and hit Usopp on the head with his heel. "How dare you question Miss. Nami! Miss. Nami's always right when it comes to matters like this!"

"Sanji, quiet," Nami hissed.

"Yes, Miss. Nami," Sanji quickly agreed.

"They probably won't be able to hear us over Luffy's screaming but I want to be safe," Nami stated. "I think they've got sentries stations on the upper levels of the mountain. If they're watching us from up there then that means they can see our ship too. Most islands don't exactly welcome pirates. And I think you remember what happened on the island we went to that _did_."

Despite being asleep for most of it, Usopp and Sanji had been brought up to speed on what had happened at Whisky Peak and now remembered it.

"If they judge us based on Luffy then they'll just think we're idiots," Nami reasoned. "They'll underestimate us and that'll give us an advantage, so don't do anything to make them think otherwise. We'll never get any of their valuables if they think we're hostile."

"I should've known… you had an… ulterior motive!" Usopp accused her. "Greedy…"

"Watch it Long Nose," Sanji growled. "Don't you dare badmouth Miss. Nami or you'll end up taking a tumble down the stairs."

Usopp flinched, he wasn't sure what he was more worried about. Sanji's threat of the prospect of having to climb _all the way _back up again if the cook carried it out. Of course, he was too proud to actually act intimidated.

"Ha!" Usopp scoffed. "You wouldn't dare… your 'lovely Miss. Nami'… just told to make sure we… don't appear hostile! You kick me… and that goes out the window… and Nami'll get mad at you… Don't mess with the Mighty Captain Usopp!"

"I'M ALMOST THERE MEAT!" Luffy yelled, now a full staircase ahead of his Nakama.

**-x-**

"I guess this is the village," Ricky stated as he, Chopper, and Robin came out into a clearing in the forest where they found a collection of houses and stores. But the odd thing was that the entire village was surrounded by a large wall.

"D-do you think there are scary m-monsters that they're trying to k-keep out?" Chopper asked.

"Maybe they're trying to keep people _in_," Robin suggested.

"If that's the case, I've got a bad feeling about this," Ricky remarked.

"Should we go in anyway?" Robin inquired.

"I wanna know what's going on here," Ricky admitted.

"Then I'd suggested scaling the wall," Robin advised. An eye grew out of the wall around the corner from them. She spotted two men standing around a heavy metal door. "The official entrance is around the corner. They probably expect people to come from the shore instead of through the forest like we did. But the door's guarded. If we don't want to stand out we'll have to enter from here."

"Sounds good to me," Ricky replied. He hooked his arm around Chopper's waist then leapt over the wall in one big jump. **SKISH!**

Robin grew a chain of arms out of the top of the wall and grabbed a hold of the last one then pulled herself over the wall and dropped down on the other side next to Ricky. **TMP!**

"Robin," Ricky said as they stood there and observed the villagers. "I think we're going to be standing out anyway."

"Indeed," Robin agreed. Everyone in the village was wearing uniform gray robes. No one appeared happy and some looked nervous. "Something tells me I won't be able to find any suitable clothing here. They don't seem to have much of a variety when it comes to fashion."

"Why's everyone like this?" Chopper asked as he surveyed the subdue people.

"I don't know," Ricky answered. "But I want to find out. If we're going to stand out anyway, we might as well get some information."

**-x-**

"I thought you said there'd be sentries on the upper levels," Usopp whispered to Nami as he and Sanji made their way up the third set of steps. Luffy was way up ahead of them and was nearly at the top. Each set of steps had over a hundred individual stairs. Rushing up them would result in them being exhausted when they finally reached the top and if the people awaiting them at the top were actually enemies that'd be a bad situation to be in.

"I did," Nami confirmed.

"Then why haven't we seen anybody yet?" Usopp asked.

"That only makes it creepier," Sanji stated. Despite the fact that he was still carrying Nami up the stairs, he was now incredibly serious. "If they're withdrawing their sentries as we get closer then that means they're waiting for us to get to the top."

"Then that means…" Usopp realized.

"An ambush," Nami finished for him.

"And Luffy's running right into it," Sanji pointed out as they stared up the mountain after their wayward Captain.

"I'M ALMOST THERE MEAT! HOLD ON!" Luffy shouted. "All these stairs are making me even hungrier!"

**-x-**

Ricky, Chopper, and Robin felt everyone's eyes on them as they ventured through the village. A hushed whisper of 'outsiders' went through the crowd of warily watching gray-clothed villagers.

Ricky led the way into what appeared to be a bar.

"This isn't the time for a drink," Robin told him.

"Bartenders tend to know the most about what's going on around them," Ricky replied. "I know that I did when I was a bartender. Other than the village outcast, a bartender is the best source for information."

"You were a bartender?" Chopper asked. He, Ricky, and Robin entered the bar and took seats on stools at the counter.

"My mother died when I was three so my Aunt raised me for six years in her tavern," Ricky explained. "Bartending comes easy to me and I was working as one when I first met Nami and Zoro."

Ricky looked across the bar at the timid-looking bartender. He had messy gray hair and a weary look in his eyes.

"Are you just gonna stand there staring at us?" Ricky questioned. "Or can we get drinks?"

"There's no point," the bartender answered, "they'll come for you before you can finish. They're probably already on their way."

"Who's coming for us then?" Ricky inquired.

"The Priest Police," the bartender explained. "They serve High Priest Nagai and his men. The High Priest and his forces capture all the outsiders. And once they've been caught, they're never seen again."

"If he's making people disappear he doesn't sound like a very religious priest," Robin noted.

"He's terrible," the bartender whispered. "He rules on high in the temple at the top of the mountain. He and his men see everything. We can't go against him, he and his men keep getting stronger with every batch outsiders that they capture." Chopper let out a soft whimper.

"Well that's too bad," Ricky said, "Our friends are heading up to the temple right now."

"Then your friends are in terrible danger!" the bartender hissed. "And so are you!"

"**You in the bar!" **a voice called from outside, **"Come out now! We know you're in there!"**

"They've come for you," the bartender warned them before he disappeared into the back.

"I suppose we should go see what all the fuss is about," Ricky reasoned.

"D-do we have to?" Chopper stammered.

"These people are all scared of that High Priest Nagai guy," Ricky reminded him. "We need to be brave from them so we can help them."

"We just got here," Robin pointed out, "Why are you already set on helping them?"

"I don't like the idea of people lording power over others and breaking their spirits," Ricky told her. "And if our friends are in danger, then I'm going to fight against it."

Chopper stared at Ricky then suddenly thought of Wapol and how he had mistreated the citizens of Drum Kingdom for so many years. Chopper frowned, he wasn't going to let the same thing continued to happen here. The reindeer transformed into his Heavy Point form and stood up next to Ricky.

"I'm with you," Chopper announced as he clenched his fists.

"Well if you're both determined, I suppose I'll go along with it," Robin decided as she rose to her feet as well.

Ricky nodded then together the three pirates walked to the door and exited the bar.

They were greeted by the sight of a large group of men wearing white robes. But unlike the gray robes that the villagers wore the white robes looked fresh and new. At the head of the group stood a man with a white kimono-style top and loose green hakama pants. His eyes and hair were pale green and etched on his forehead was the kanji for 'Kindness'.

"My name is Jitsu, I am the Captain of High Priest Nagai's Priest Police," the green man introduced himself. "You three pirates will have to turn yourselves in and come with us."

"On what grounds?" Ricky asked.

"Piracy is a crime," Captain Jitsu stated, "But first and foremost, High Priest Nagai wants all outsiders brought to him. It makes no difference to me if your resist us, you'll just be brought before him in a weakened condition."

Robin and Chopper turned to the side as the Priest Police spread out and surrounded them.

"Well since we _are _pirates," Ricky pointed out, "We're naturally going to resist you." Ricky drew his sword _Akaikyuuketsuki_, Chopper punched one of his big fists into the other, and Robin crossed her arms across her chest and prepared her Devil Fruit Powers.

Robin stiffened in surprise when she suddenly felt something on her back and looked over her shoulder to see Ricky and Chopper standing with their backs to her each staring in a different direction. Normally in a fight like this, Robin would grow an eye on her back and literally watch her own back. But now Ricky and Chopper had her covered without even being asked.

"_So this is what it's like to have friends," _Robin thought to herself as she and her new Nakama prepared for battle. _"It's nice."_

**-x-**

"I'M HERE FOR FOOD!" Luffy shouted as he finally stood at the top of the mountain.

Before him stood a large temple, it was made up of three enormous stories with the upper stories being slightly smaller than the one below. The temple had deep red walls and gray roof that had a high point and four pointed corners on each floor. Out in front, two tall red columns framed a pair of large double doors were each twenty feet high.

Luffy marched up to the doors and pounded on them. **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **"OPEN UP! I'M HUNGRY!"

"Luffy, stop making a racket!" Sanji complained as he, Nami, and Usopp finally reached the top.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Luffy exclaimed as he turned around and spotted his crew. "Hey Usopp, I beat you without stretching!"

"That's because I pulled something while running through the forest," Usopp lied, "I stopped running so I didn't make it worse. If I hadn't hurt myself then I'd have beaten you no problem.

"Then let's race back down once we eat," Luffy decided.

Usopp didn't look like he liked that idea. He quickly turned to Nami and changed the subject. "So where's the ambush?"

"I don't know," Nami admitted. "I thought for sure they'd be waiting for us here."

**KREEEEK! **Luffy and Sanji worked together and managed to push the giant doors opened. Nami, Usopp, and Sanji all tensed as the doors swung opened to reveal the inside of the temple.

It was empty.

"WHERE THE HECK IS EVERYBODY?" Luffy demanded.

**-x-**

"Zzzzzzz…" **Snort! **Zoro jerked awake from where he'd been sleeping against the central mast. He glanced around him at the main deck and suddenly realized that he was surrounded.

A man in a loose hooded cloak stood before him up on the front deck.

"Greetings, _pirate_," the hooded man greeted him in an oily voice. He said the word 'pirate' as if it was something foul. "I am High Priest Nagai, and you'll be coming with me."

Zoro stood up and gripped his swords while eying the enemies surrounding him. Including the High Priest there were five of them.

"Huh, so this is what it's like for Ricky what he takes on all the enemies at once," Zoro remarked, "I can't say that I like it." **SKISH! **Zoro drew his swords and stood in a fighting stance. "I hope you didn't expect me to come quietly!"

**-x-**

And that's the first chapter. It's just the set up so far but next chapter the action starts and Zoro goes down.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	2. Zoro Goes Down

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**Zoro Goes Down:**

**-x-**

"Red Blade… HURRICANE!" **SLA-SLISH! **Ricky slashed his sword as he spun through the group of uniformed men trying to take in him, Chopper, and Robin.

"Heavy… SPIN!" **WHA-WHOMP! **Chopper swung his huge arms around and sent the men clustered around him flying in all different directions.

"Treinta Fleur!" Thirty arms sprouted out of the ground and bodies of another group of Priest Police. "CLUTCH!" **KER-RACK! **The arms wrenched back and the men dropped to the ground with broken backs.

The three Straw Hats were left standing tall in front of the bar while only Captain Netami remained of the Priest Police.

"Looks like the tables have turned," Ricky remarked, "now there's three of us and one of you."

Captain Jitsu warily drew his sword and brandished it at the three Straw Hats. "I'm not just a common warrior like them. And I won't be intimidated by the likes of you. I was chosen by High Priest Nagai to lead the Priest Police for a reason!"

**-x-**

**SWISH! **Zoro swerved to the side to avoid a punch from his first opponent, a large bulky man with dark skin who wore dark purple armor and had dark purple hair that was braided into cornrows. The man had the kanji for 'diligence' etched on his forehead and was currently attempted to bash Zoro's face in with the pair of brass knuckles. **CRUNCH! **The large man's fist sank into the main mast behind Zoro.

"Grrr…" the large man growled and whirled around and lashed out at Zoro for a barrage of brass knuckle punches. **Klank-klank! **Zoro used his swords to deflect the brass knuckles. The man drew his fist back again, **KLANG! **Zoro blocked the punch with two swords then slipped around him, "STREAMING WOLF SWORDS!" **SLISH! **Zoro slashed the man's side with his third sword and came out behind him unharmed while the man dropped to the ground. **THUD! **

But as soon as the first man went down, Zoro found himself facing another one. This man was thin and lanky with unruly golden blonde hair and tattered robes. He was wielding a wooden staff. On the man's forehead was the kanji for 'charity'. **SWISH! **The thin man dropped down and swung for Zoro's feet with his staff. Zoro jumped over the staff and lashed out with his swords, "Two Sword Style: HAWK WAVE!" **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro landed on his feet and the man fell. **TMP! FWUMP!**

The next opponent was a woman. She wore a black robe that left her completely covered and a metal belt around her waist with a lock-shaped buckle. She had long straight dark pink hair and wore black glasses. On her forehead was the kanji for 'chastity'. **SWISH! **The woman launched herself at Zoro for a flying side kick but Zoro stepped to the side to avoid it. **TMP! **The woman landed on her feet then Zoro lashed out at her before she could recover. **WHAK! **Zoro smashed her in the back of the head with the flat of his sword and she dropped to the ground.

**Click! BANG! **Zoro turned to face the final man on the main deck only for a bullet to tear into his side. **Fwump! **Zoro dropped to his knees as he glared at the man across the deck from him. He looked utterly average and wore pale gray robes and had short brown hair, he had the kanji for 'humility' on his forehead and was lowering the smoking barrel of the rifle he'd just shot Zoro with.

Zoro clenched his teeth on his sword as his blood dripped out of his wound. "DEMON SLICE!" Zoro surged at the man and slashed him with all three swords before he could get off another shot, **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro grinned as the man went down.

"Well that wasn't so bad," Zoro remarked as he prodded at bullet wound on his side. He turned to face the High Priest standing on the front deck. "You should've known better than to mess with a Straw Hat. When we go down, we put up the messiest fight possible, and like your men just found out the hard way, most people can't handle it."

"Indeed," High Priest Nagai replied in the same oily tone. "But while you may have defeated my disciples, I'm still going to give it a try anyway." **SKISH! **The man leapt over the railing and launched himself at Zoro.

Zoro lunged to meet the man, "TIGER HUNT!"

But as they met in midair, the High Priest lashed his arm out and slapped Zoro on the forehead. **WHAP! **Zoro's eyes went wide. He hadn't counted on the man having such a long reach. It was like the man's arms were extra long which allowed them to get through his guard. These were the last thoughts that ran through Zoro's mind before it went blank and he went down. **THUD!**

"Your skills will indeed prove useful," High Priest Nagai commented as hisdisciples pushed themselves to their feet and clutched at their respective injuries.

"He certainly put up a good fight," the large man with the brass knuckles stated. The kanji on his forehead glowed as he crossed the deck and grabbed Zoro's swords.

His swords: _Kitetsu III_ the cursed sword that Zoro had tested his luck against back in Loguetown, his luck had trumped the curse and the blade had become his, _Yubashiri _the sword given to him in Loguetown for the sheer bravery and courage that he had exhibited while going up against _Kitetsu III's _curse, and finally, _Wado Ichimonji_ Kuina's old sword, the sword that represented Zoro's dream of becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman.

The man gathered up his swords and Zoro merely let out a snore and did nothing as his treasured swords were taken from him.

"Tansei, how are you feeling?" High Priest Nagai asked the dark purple-haired man.

"Better than ever," replied the diligent disciple. "His style is a perfect combination of strength and technique."

"Then you'll be using those new skills soon," Nagai remarked. "How many pirate crews have only one pirate?"

"None, my Lord," Tansei answered. "He no doubt has friends."

"The Priest Police were dispatched to Village Three shortly after we left the temple," the pink haired woman reported. "Jitsu and his men should be returned to the temple with the intruders."

"And the sentries observed a small group heading for the temple," the blonde man added.

"Then let's return and meet them," High Priest Nagai decided. "They'll wish to know what happened to their friend."

The High Priest and his men left the Going Merry. Zoro let out a snore and rolled over. Imprinted on his forehead was the kanji for 'sloth'.

**-x-**

**Whap! Klank! **Captain Jitsu was caught off guard when arms sprouted out of his body and his sword went clattering to the ground. His arms were wrenched behind his back and his feet were suddenly rooted to the ground by another pair of arms.

Ricky looked over at Chopper and nodded, **SKISH! **Chopper transformed into his Walk Point form and dashed passed Captain Jitsu. Chopper shifted back into his Heavy Point form and charged Jitsu from behind while Ricky rushed in front in front of him.

"RIPPER SMASHER!" **WHAM! CRUSH! **Chopper smashed the man on the back of the head with his big brawny arm causing his face to smash even harder into Ricky's steel-bottomed boot as it connected with his face. **FWUMP! **Teeth, blood, and a body dropped to ground and Captain Jitsu was knocked out cold.

"What was that all about?" Chopper wondered.

"Do you think the others are alright?" Robin questioned.

"You shouldn't have done that…" the timid-looking bartender whispered from the door of the bar as he surveyed the unconscious bodies of the Priest Police. "Now that you've beaten them, High Priest Nagai and his men will know that you're strong and they'll actively come after you."

"Then we'll take care of them too," Ricky decided before he turned back to Chopper and Robin. "Let's get back to the ship. Something weird's happening on this island and I wanna be sure that the others are okay."

The three Straw Hats went back the way they came and headed for the Going Merry leaving the defeated Priest Police in their wake.

**-x-**

"Where is everybody?" Usopp wondered as he, Luffy, Nami, and Sanji wandered through a large opened room in the temple.

"And where's all the food?" Luffy added.

"Maybe we should take advantage of the fact that they're not here and leave?" Sanji suggested.

"Then let's just grab some treasure, get Luffy some food, and get out of here," Nami decided. "Hopefully we'll be long gone before they come back."

"Sanji! Where's the food?" Luffy demanded.

"How would I know?" Sanji asked. "I've never been in a temple before."

"Can't we just leave without the food and treasure?" Usopp requested.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Nami exclaimed. "Do you want that long trip up here to be for nothing?"

"Sure!" Usopp answered, "I just wanna _live_!"

"Then help me find where they're keeping their treasure and we'll get out of here sooner," Nami told him.

"I'll help you find it Miss. Nami!" Sanji offered.

"But what about food?" Luffy protested.

"You can eat whatever we find along the way," Nami conceded, "Now come on! Let's move quickly before they… come… back…" She trailed off and the others turned to see her staring at five figures that were now standing in the doorway.

"WE'RE TOO LATE!" Usopp shrieked. "THEY'RE BACK!"

"HEY YOU!" Luffy shouted, "WHERE'S THE FOOD? I ran all the way up those steps and now I'm hungry!"

"If memory serves, those stairs are quite long," High Priest Nagai stated. "But I can't remember the last time I used them when we have a perfectly good elevator."

Usopp temporarily forgot how scared he was and yelled, "THERE'S AN ELEVATOR?"

"Of course," High Priest Nagai answered, "If you know where to look."

"Where do we _look_ for food?" Luffy asked.

"That one's got a one-track mind," Tansei remarked.

"Hey… where'd you get those swords?" Nami questioned as she stared at the three swords sheathed at the large man's waist.

"Those are Moss Ball's swords!" Sanji realized.

"Indeed they are," High Priest Nagai replied, "We went down to your ship to give you a proper welcome but he was the only one there."

"Those swords are Zoro's treasure!" Luffy exclaimed as he charged the High Priest and his men, "GIVE 'EM BACK!"

"But don't you want to know what happened to him?" High Priest Nagai inquired.

**Skiiiissshhh…** Luffy skidded to a stop, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" **WHAP! **Instead of answering, Nagai shot his hand out and slapped Luffy on the forehead. Nagai lowered his hood to reveal dark eyes and long dark blue hair that was braided into a ponytail that ran down his back and disappeared down into his cloak. But on the man's forehead was the kanji for 'temperance' which suddenly started glowing.

Luffy dropped to his knees and clutched his stomach, "Sooo… huuungryyy…" he moaned as kanji for 'gluttony' appeared on his forehead.

The thin blonde man with the ragged robes pulled a large chunk of meat out of his pocket and tossed it down at his feet. Luffy leapt at the meat like a dog given a bone by its master and tore into it oblivious to anything else going on around him.

Nami and Usopp stared in wide-eyed horror at how easily Luffy was dealt with.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" Sanji roared as he rushed at the High Priest.

Tansei surged forward to meet him and lashed out with all three of Zoro's treasured swords, "DRAGON TWISTER!" **SLA-SLISH! **Sanji was caught off guard by the strange man being able to use one of _Zoro's _signature techniques and was sent flying up into the air.

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" Nami and Usopp screamed and hugged each other.

"THAT WAS ONE OF ZORO'S SANTORYU TECHNIQUES!" Usopp shrieked.

"Perhaps you'd care for an explanation?" High Priest Nagai suggested. **THUD! **Sanji came crashing down at his feet. "I ate the Sin Sin Fruit. When I touch someone's forehead I can magnify their inner sin. And trust me, everyone has one." Nagai pulled Sanji up and pressed his hand on the cook's forehead. Sanji let out a low moan and went limp as the kanji for 'lust' appeared on his forehead. "Then I take their positive traits like their strength and their fighting style and put them into a pre-determined person of my choosing." The woman with the dark pink hair flinched as the kanji for 'chastity' on her forehead glowed.

"Wow… that's uh… really interesting…" Nami said as she and Usopp slowly backed towards the door. "But uh… HEY LOOK AT THAT! RUN USOPP!" Nami and Usopp turned and ran from the terrifying new enemies.

"Sauté!" **ZZZZOOOM! **The woman sped past Nami and Usopp as if they were standing still and was suddenly standing in front of them blocking their path. She flipped forward onto her hands then spun around and lashed out her legs. **THWAK-THWAK! **Both Usopp and Nami were sent flying courtesy of Sanji's signature kicks.

"Nice work Sessou," High Priest Nagai praised the pink haired woman.

"That blonde one was strong," Sessou stated, "but now I have this strong urge for a cigarette."

"It'll pass," the blonde henchman said he stepped over Luffy who was now gnawing at the bare meat bone and approached Nami and Usopp. "I doubt these two have much to offer considering how they tried to run away…"

"Maybe you're right Hakuai," Nagai agreed.

"**Not much… to offer?" **High Priest Nagai and his disciples stared in mild surprise as Usopp staggered back up to his feet and stood over the prone form of Nami. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM? I'M CAPTAIN USOPP!" He drew his slingshot and fired at Nagai, "EXPLODING STAR!"

**SLISH! **Tansei rushed in and sliced the projectile in half causing it to split and fly past him and Nagai behind him before the two halves hit the ground and exploded. **KA-BOOM-BOOOM!**

"Are you done?" Nagai asked.

"Well actually…" **CLICK! **Usopp trailed off when he felt the barrel of a gun press into the back of his head. He glanced behind him and saw the brown haired man Kyouken standing behind him.

"You are now," Kyouken told him. Usopp dropped his slingshot.

Usopp's legs shook as High Priest Nagai advanced on him. "I… I'm warning you!" Usopp stammered. "If you strike me down… I'll become more powerful than you'll ever imagine!"

"Really?" Hakuai inquired.

"Um… no, not really," Usopp admitted, "But you haven't gotten Ricky! And know this, when he hears what you did to me, he'll come here with his pet monster and a creepy assassin AND THEY'LL KICK ALL YOUR ASSES!"

"Face it, shorty, you've lost," Nagai said as he reached out and slapped Usopp's forehead. **Whap! **The kanji for 'pride' appeared on his forehead while the 'humility' kanji on Kyouken's forehead glowed. Usopp dropped to the ground in an unconscious bow while Hakuai pulled Nami up off the ground.

"Perhaps we should make it a whole set?" he suggested.

"Why not," Nagai agreed. He reached out and touched Nami's forehead. 'Greed' appeared in kanji while 'charity' glowed on Hakuai's forehead.

"Hm," Hakuai said as he reached up the side of Nami's skirt and pulled out her Clima-Tact, "She had this strapped to her leg. She won't be needing it anymore so I doubt she'll mind donating it to our cause."

"Still… shorty mentioned that there are more of them," High Priest Nagai reasoned. "And we still haven't heard back from Captain Jitsu in Village Three. Tansei, find out why Jitsu isn't responding then find the remaining pirates and capture them."

"Yes, my Lord," Tansei agreed, he sheathed Zoro's swords and headed off.

"What about them, my Lord?" asked Kyouken as he motioned to the Straw Hats.

"Return them to their ship," Nagai answered. "We don't need to extend the effort to finish them off. In their current state they'll do it themselves."

"Then we won't need to get our hands dirty," Sessou realized.

"It will be done my Lord," Kyouken agreed.

"Now excuse me," High Priest Nagai addressed his disciples, "I have a new fighting style to learn. These… Straw Hat Pirates… seem like they might be just the group we're looking for."

**-x-**

**Diligence:**

**-x-**

"Zoro!" Ricky called out as he shook the sleeping swordsman. "Zoro! Wake up!"

"Uh… Ricky z'at you?" Zoro groggily asked.

"What happened?" Ricky inquired while Chopper bandaged the bullet wound in Zoro's side.

"Clearly he was attacked," Robin observed as she eyed the fist-sized hole that had been left in the main mast. "Judging from this and Mr. Swordsman's wound, I'd guess it was by multiple assailants. One used brass knuckles and the other shot him."

"Five…" Zoro grunted, "Some priest and his yahoos. Now g'way and let me sleep."

"Zoro… where are your swords?" Ricky questioned.

"They took 'em…" Zoro answered, "Big purple guy…" **Zzzzzzzzzz! **Ricky scowled and clenched his fists as Zoro's head dropped down to the deck and he fell asleep.

"Zoro cares about those swords more than anything in the world," Ricky said, "They were his treasure. Someone had to've done something to him to make him not care about them."

"Perhaps the kanji on his forehead has something to do with it?" Robin suggested.

"What's 'sloth'?" Chopper asked as he finished bandaging Zoro.

"It's one of the Seven Deadly Sins," Robin explained, "sloth, gluttony, lust, greed, pride, envy, and wrath. Sloth is the sin of laziness, like the animal. Come to think about it, that Captain that we met before… he had the kanji for 'kindness' on his forehead. That's one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues which each counteract one of the sins, diligence, temperance, chastity, charity, humility, kindness, and patience respectively. Maybe there's a connection?"

Ricky and Chopper stared at her before Ricky said, "You got all that just from seeing two guys?"

Robin shrugged, "I read a lot."

"The others went up to the temple…" Chopper reminded them, "Do you think…"

"They're in trouble," Ricky finished for him, "but we already knew that from what we learned at the village. But judging from those guys we fought and what they did to Zoro, they're actively hunting us."

"So do we find them or let them find us?" Robin inquired.

"When they hear about what we did in the village they'll send someone down to investigate," Ricky reasoned. "I think we should go and meet the investigation so we can get a better idea of what we're up against."

"I guess this means we're going back the way we came," Robin realized. "I have to wonder how many times we'll go through that same forest before the day is through."

Ricky stood up and stared down at Zoro, "Don't worry Zoro," he reassured the swordsman. "We'll get your swords back. _No one _steals my Nakama's treasure and gets away with it."

"Thanks…" Zoro mumbled. They left the ship and once again headed for the village.

**-x-**

Ahead of them at 'Village Three' Tansei was standing over Captain Jitsu and surveying his unconscious squad of Priest Police.

"What happened here?" Tansei demanded. "Someone had better answer or I'll practice my new fighting style on some of you."

"There were three intruders!" a gray-clad man blurted out, "A one-eyed man, a shape-shifting monster, and a creepy woman."

"_But you haven't gotten Ricky! And know this, when he hears what you did to me he'll come here with his pet monster and a creepy assassin AND THEY'LL KICK ALL YOUR ASSES!"_

"It was them," Tansei realized. "Where'd they go?"

"They jumped that wall and headed off through the forest," the man nervously answered.

"So they're heading back to their ship," Tansei stated. "Hmph, I'll head there and destroy the new three _and_ the other four. There's no sense of risking failure on a whim."

"Tan… sei…" Jitsu suddenly groaned.

"Oh, still alive are you?" Tansei asked.

"Heeelp…" Jitsu gasped. He was bleeding from the mouth and missing severing teeth.

"You know, there's a reason why High Priest Nagai never made you one of his disciples like the rest of us," Tansei told the wounded man. "It's because you're weak."

Jitsu mustered the strength to glare at him.

"You've ruined our reputation by losing to three intruders," Tansei stated. "You're worthless and weak. And I can no longer allow your weakness to keep High Priest Nagai from his ideals."

"Please… doon't…" Jitsu pleaded.

"Allow me to show you what _true strength _really is," Tansei said. He yanked Jitsu off of the ground and threw him into a nearby building. Jitsu hit the wall and slumped against it while Tansei drew Zoro's swords and held them all horizontally parallel, "CRAB GRAB!" **SLA-SLISH! **Jitsu dropped to the ground and his blood began pooling at Tansei's feet as the kanji faded from his forehead. "Ex-Captain Jitsu, I'm afraid your services are no longer required."

Tansei turned to address the warily watching villagers, "That is the price of failing to do as you're told by High Priest Nagai. Let that be a lesson to you all." **THUD! THUD! **Doors slammed and Tansei was instantly standing alone amongst the bodies of the Priest Police while the terrified villagers cowered in their homes.

Tansei grinned then headed for the wall and leapt over it. He journeyed into the forest in the direction of the Going Merry and left a terrified village in his wake.

**-x-**

Sessou and Kyouken fled the Going Merry and headed back for the temple.

"Do you really believe it's wise to leave those pirates to their own devices?" Sessou asked.

"It's not my place to question High Priest Nagai's orders," Kyouken stated. He was now wearing Usopp's arsenal bag and no doubt had the marksman's slingshot and revolver. "All I know is, I don't want to be here when they wake up."

**-x-**

"GET DOWN!" Ricky shouted as he dove at Robin and Chopper and tackled them to the ground. **FWUMP! **

**BOOM! **A concentrated blast of air flew overhead head and sliced down the trees behind them.

"Scary…" Chopper whimpered.

"My, Mr. One Eye," Robin remarked as she laid underneath Ricky, "I had no idea you were so bold. Out here in the forest with Mr. Doctor watching? What would Miss. Navigator think?"

Ricky's face flushed, "In case you missed it, we just got _attacked_!" Ricky hissed, "Eighteen million five hundred berries. That's the exact amount that Zoro's swords are worth. And whoever has them just used one of Zoro's new techniques to level the tress in the exact area we were just standing."

"Then why are you still on top of me?" she countered. "If you're making a move, just say it. I can be discrete, Miss. Navigator won't even know."

Ricky's blush deepened and he sprang off of Robin, now eager to face death at the hands of whoever had just attacked them.

"Humans are confusing," Chopper muttered, "What was that about?"

"Mr. One Eye and Miss. Navigator are both young with developing feelings for each other," Robin explained. "Teasing them amuses me."

Chopper and Robin stood up beside Ricky and found him staring down with a dark skinned man with dark purple hair in cornrows, purple armor, and three familiar swords. The kanji for 'diligence' was on his forehead.

"Those swords belong to a friend of mine," Ricky addressed Tansei. "I'd like to ask you to please return them or I'll have to take them back by force."

"Not gonna happen," Tansei replied. "You three made us look weak in front of the villagers when you defeated Jitsu and his men. Weakness can not be tolerated. All three of you will be coming with me so High Priest Nagai can punish you for your transgressions."

"This confirms my theory," Robin commented. "He has 'diligence' written on his head which is the virtue that counters the sin sloth. Now Mr. Swordsman is incredibly lazy and this man is wielding his swords and pulling off Mr. Swordsman's signature techniques. Clearly someone has an ability to bring out the sin weakness in someone while passing on their strength to someone of their choosing with the corresponding virtue."

"I'd bet my money on that High Priest guy," Ricky reasoned as he drew _Akakyuuketsuki_. "If we're up against Zoro's Santoryu then this is gonna get rough." Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point form while Robin crossed her arms over her chest and prepared her Devil Fruit Powers. "Let's get our Nakama's treasure back."

**-x-**

"I AM THE MIGHTY CAPTAIN USOPP!" Usopp proclaimed as he stood on the railing of the Going Merry's front deck. A long yellow cape flapped dramatically behind him. "I'M THE GREATEST SNIPER IN ALL THE WORLD!"

"Oy… quit it with the shouting…" Zoro complained as he laid on the deck in the same spot Ricky, Chopper, and Robin had left him. "I'm trying to sleep here…"

"YOU CAN'T SLEEP IN THE PRESENCE OF CAPTAIN UUUSOOOOOP!" Usopp shrieked.

"My aren't you confident," Sanji remarked as he sat on the railing next to Usopp and glanced up at him with a smile that was normally only reserved for an attractive woman. "I like that…" Sanji reached out and slowly ran is hand up Usopp's leg.

Usopp jumped away from him and did a 'manly' pirouette that caused his cape to billow out. "YOU ARE _NOT_ PERMITTED TO TOUCH THE MIGHTY CAPTAIN UUUSOOOPP!"

**KRASH!** The galley rattled as Luffy pounded on the door of the locked refrigerator.

"GIMME FOOOD!" Luffy shouted at the sealed kitchen appliance.

"Not gonna happen," Nami said, "that's _my _food now."

"_YOUR _FOOD?" Luffy repeated. "_I'M _THE CAPTAIN! THE FOOD'S _MINE!_"

"Not anymore!" Nami growled, "That food is _mine_, the treasure is _mine_, the ship is _mine_!"

**WHAM! WHAM! **Luffy pounded on the refrigerator door. "TAKE THE LOCK OFF!"

"You're not eating my food!" Nami snapped.

**WOING! **Luffy stretched his mouth wide opened and attempted to swallow the refrigerator whole. **CHOMP!**

"Idiot," Nami mumbled, "That's made of _metal_ you can't eat it."

"Grrrrraaahhh…" Luffy growled as he gnawed at the refrigerator. "OPEN THE LOCK!"

"No," Nami refused. "Now I've got better things to do with _my _time… like move Ricky's safe into _my_ room." Nami slipped out of the galley leaving Luffy to gnaw on the refrigerator.

**-x-**

"Red Blade… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" Ricky charged Tansei and slashed his sword.

"DEMON SLICE!" Tansei surged forward to meet him and lashed out with all three of Zoro's swords. **KA-KLANG! **The two collided and Ricky was overpowered and went flying backwards.

**WHUP! **Chopper ran over and managed to catch Ricky before he slammed into a tree and the two of them went skidding backwards and kicked up a trail of dirt. **SKISSSHHH! **

"Looks like my style's stronger than yours," Tansei remarked.

"It's not _your_ style!" Ricky growled.

"It is now!" Tansei countered.

"Ocho Fleur!" **WHAP! **Eight arms grew out of Tansei's body and the ground underneath him. "Clutch!" Robin's extra arms wrenched backwards but Tansei wrenched back, **KRACK!**

"AAAH!" Robin yelped and stumbled backwards clutching her arms as Tansei overpowered her and broke free.

"This is bad, he's got Zoro's freakish strength too," Ricky realized.

"TIGER HUNT!" Tansei surged at them and lashed out with Zoro's swords.

"Red Blade… HURRICANE!" Ricky went spinning towards Tansei. **KLA-KLA-KLANG! **Ricky's red blade collided with all three of Zoro's before he was once again sent flying backwards courtesy of Zoro's superior strength.

"Diez Fleur!" Ten arms sprouted out of Robin and she used all twelve of her arms to catch Ricky. **WHAP! **But she was caught off guard by how fast Tansei had sent Ricky flying and ended up falling to the ground when Ricky slammed into her net of arms. **WHUMP! **When they landed Ricky was practically sitting in her lap. "Well, you're certainly insistent. But is now really the best time?"

"Can you take this seriously?" Ricky snapped as he rolled off of her.

"Why should I when you're not?" Robin countered.

"_What_?" Ricky demanded.

"RAAAAH!" Chopper roared as he rushed at Tansei in his Heavy Point form. **SWISH! **Tansei weaved back to avoid a hook punch then lashed out with Zoro's swords. **SWISH! **Chopper shrunk down to his Brain Point form and Zoro's swords flew over his head. Chopper quickly transformed into his Walk Point form then surged forward and slammed antlers-first into Tansei's stomach.** WHAM! **Finally, Tansei went flying while Chopper shifted back into Heavy Point and stood tall.

"What do you mean I'm not taking this seriously?" Ricky hissed. "I'm doing all I can but Zoro's always been a better swordsman than me."

"I was under the impression that you weren't _just _a swordsman," Robin pointed out. "Mr. Doctor fought him using a different method and _he_ prevailed."

Ricky glanced over at Chopper then at Tansei who had recovered from Chopper's attack.

"Oh, okay," Ricky said, "Now I get it." Ricky charged at Tansei who lashed out and swung Zoro's swords at him. **SWISH! **Ricky dropped down and rolled under Tansei's arm then surged up off the ground and into the air. **TMP! **Ricky planted his feet on a tree trunk and launched himself off. "Flying… ARROW KICK!" Tansei spun around in time to see the steel bottoms of Ricky's boots connect with his face. **THWAK! THUD!**

Tansei crashed to the ground while Ricky stood back up and Chopper came over and stood behind him. "I hope you didn't expect this to be easy," Ricky taunted Tansei, "because we're just getting started."

**-x-**

"Hellooo Miss. Nami," Sanji swooned as Nami came out of the men's quarters carrying Ricky's keypad locked safe. "Might I have a kiss?"

"Hmm… carry this safe to my room and I'll think about it," Nami replied.

"YES MY LOVE!" Sanji gushed. He scooped up the safe and pranced off to Nami's room. Nami grinned as she followed after him and watched as he set it down in the middle of her room. "All set Miss. Nami, now about my kiss?"

"Hold on," Nami said, "How much money do you have on you?"

"Only a couple thousand berries," Sanji answered.

"Give it," Nami ordered, "Or no deal."

Sanji pulled out a wad of money and held it out to her. Nami grinned as she snatched it and counted it.

"Now… my kiss," Sanji reminded her.

"Oh, right," Nami agreed. **PUNT! **Her foot planted between his legs and Sanji dropped to the ground. "I _said_ I'd think about it. I thought about it and decided against it. I _take_, I don't _give_." Nami left the room.

"Uuggghhh…" Sanji groaned, "I love it when they're rough…"

Up on deck, Usopp stood glaring down at Zoro. "HOW DARE YOU BLOCK THE PATH OF THE MIGHTY CAPTAIN USOPP!"

"Aw, shut up and let me sleep," Zoro grunted.

"NO!" Usopp snapped. "You can't tell me what to do! I'm—"

"Shuuut uuuup," Zoro groaned.

"MAKE ME YA LAZY BUM!"

"**RAAAAAAHHHH!" **Luffy came running out of the galley with the refrigerator hoisted over his head and then threw it over the railing and down to the deck. **WHAM! **The refrigerator smashed into the deck but the lock remained firmly in place.

"NOOOOOO!" Luffy wailed as he stomped over to the refrigerator. "OPEN! GIMME FOOD!"

**-x-**

"This will be a better test of my new fighting style than I first thought," Tansei remarked.

"Too bad it's a test you're going to fail," Ricky retorted. He surged forward, "Red Blade…" Tansei crossed Zoro's swords to block Ricky's attack. "EXPLOSION!" **KA-BOOOOOM! **Jun's blood that still resided with Ricky's sword exploded and blasted Tansei backwards.

"How dare you!" Tansei growled as he staggered up and swung all three of Zoro's swords, "One hundred eight caliber PHOENIX!" Tansei sent three concentrated blasts of air flying at Ricky. **BA-BA-BOOOM! **The blasts slammed into Ricky and sent him flying. Chopper shrunk back down to his Brain Point form causing Ricky to fly over him and smash through a tree. **KRASH!**

Tansei bent down and charged Chopper with two swords pointing out like a pair of horns. "BULL NEEDLES!"

"DIECISEIS FLEUR!" Sixteen arms sprouted out of Tansei's back and wrenched his arms behind his back.

"RAAAAHHH!" Tansei roared and yanked his arms back. **KRA-KRACK!**

"AAAAHH!" Robin dropped to her knees and cradled her arms as she felt the pain of the man overpowering and wrenching free from all sixteen of her arms.

Seeing Ricky and Robin go down, Chopper did the only thing he could think of. "RUMBLE!" Chopper tossed the familiar yellow ball up into the air and caught it in his mouth. **CHOMP!**

"Whatever you are, you're still going to die," Tansei insisted. **SKISH! **He charged at Chopper and lashed out with Zoro's swords.

"Arm Point… ARM BOOST!" Chopper's arms bulged and grew muscular. **KLA-KLANK! **He lashed out and deflected Zoro's swords with his hooves. "Horn Point… HORN BOOST!" Chopper dropped onto all fours and his horns grew to resemble moose antlers, then he surged forward and drove them into Tansei's armored stomach. **WHOMP! KRESH! **Tansei's amror shattered on impact and he went flying backwards. **WHAM! **

"Damn… monster…" Tansei growled he staggered back up. His armor dropped to the ground and left his broad muscular chest bare.

"**Speed Step!" ZZZOOOOM! **Ricky sped through the clearing and was suddenly behind Tansei and lashed out his leg while Tansei turned around, "Machete BACK KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky's foot smashed into Tansei's chest and he went flying back into the middle of the clearing.

"I can't fail… I won't lose…" Tansei growled as he got back up and charged at Ricky.

"Dos Fleur… GRAB!" **WHAP! **Two arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed Tansei's ankles. Despite having Zoro's strength, he couldn't do anything to stop himself from tripping. **FWUMP! **Chopper darted forward and hefted Tansei up onto his horns then launched his head up. Tansei lost his hold on Zoro's swords as they dropped down and embedded in the dirt while he was sent flying up into the air over the tree tops,** WHING! **

"Jump Point… LEG BOOST!" Chopper stood back up on two legs in a slim humanoid form. **SKISH! **He leapt over to Ricky and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and then surged off of the ground and up into the air. **SHOOOM!**

Ricky and Chopper erupted up over the tree tops and flew up past Tansei. They peaked at about a hundred feet up in the air. "Heavy Point… WEIGHT BOOST!" Chopper transformed into Heavy Point form and threw Ricky down at Tansei. "FINISH HIM BIG BROTHER!"

Ricky pointed his sword down in front of him and spun around in mid air. He looked like a black and red drill as he came rocketing down out of the sky. "Red Blade… METEOR!" **SLA-SLA-SLISH! **Ricky slammed into Tansei and his sword tore into the man's bare chest. **BOOOOM! **The two smashed down into the ground and sent a wave of dirt flying up around them.

"Guard Point… FUR BOOST!" Chopper came flying down through the tree tops and smacked into the ground. **BOING! **But the reindeer's fur protected him from the impact. The fur shrunk down and revealed Chopper back in his normal Brain Point form.

The dirt and dust settled and revealed Ricky standing over the bloody and unconscious form of Tansei. Ricky sheathed his bloody sword then pulled the three sheaths off of Tansei's waist and went around and collected Zoro's three swords.

"These don't belong to you," Ricky told the unconscious man, "And like I said before, I'm taking them back."

Robin stood up and rubbed her arms, "That was unpleasant," she commented. "But the writing on his forehead is gone. Do you think that means Mr. Swordsman is back to normal?"

"Let's get these swords back to the ship and find out," Ricky replied.

Leaving Tansei lying unconscious behind them, Ricky, Robin and Chopper once again headed back the way they came and made their way back to the Going Merry.

**-x-**

"Oh, hello there," Sanji greeted Zoro as he sat down next to the sleeping swordsman. By now, even Luffy had learned to back away from the cook's advances which left Zoro as the only one left unmoving. "Miss. Nami wouldn't give me a kiss… but I suppose you'll do…"

"Uggghhh…" Zoro groaned in protest as Sanji leaned in.

Suddenly the kanji on Zoro's forehead disappeared and his eyes shot wide opened. The first thing he was Sanji's lips. So he reacted as any normal guy would.

**POW! **Sanji went skidding across the deck.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING PUTTING YOUR UGLY MUG NEAR ME!" Zoro shouted as he surged to his feet. He glared at the cook when he suddenly felt something missing. He glanced down and suddenly had the urge to kill. "Whoever took my swords… is gonna die!"

"Don't look at me," Nami replied from where she was sitting against the door to the storage room casually counting some money, "If you had anything valuable on you, I would've taken it while you were sleeping."

"Greedy bitch," Zoro muttered. She didn't even bother denying it. But it was safe to say that Zoro was back to his usual self.

**-x-**

Up the mountain and in the temple Sessou, Kyouken, and Hakuai were all training in their newly acquired fighting styles when the doors opened to reveal High Priest Nagai.

"Tansei has fallen," Nagai informed his disciples. "Those three are a menace. Jitsu died from his injuries. And now they've defeated Tansei."

"What are your orders, my Lord?" Kyouken asked.

"When they see the state of their friends they'll no doubt head here," Nagai stated. "Guard the stairs. Kill anyone that approaches."

"Kill, my Lord?" Sessou questioned.

"These pirates have proven too dangerous to let live," High Priest Nagai resolved. "They must be eliminated before they ruin anything else."

"Your wish is our command, my Lord," Hakuai agreed. He and the other two disciples bowed and left the temple.

If Ricky, Chopper, and Robin were planning on reaching the temple, they had three huge obstacles that they needed to overcome.

**-x-**

The action continues next chapter where Ricky, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin fight their way up the mountain. But what will they do when they find themselves facing off against their Nakama's fighting styles?

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	3. Up the Mountain

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**Up the Mountain:**

**-x-**

Ricky, Chopper, and Robin returned to the Going Merry and were surprised to find Zoro sitting on top of a bound and gagged Usopp, Sanji lying unconscious near the door to the anchor room, and Luffy wailing on the refrigerator.

"Hey Zoro, got a present for ya," Ricky called out as he tossed Zoro his swords.

Zoro got off of Usopp and caught them, "Thanks," he said, he gave them a nod of gratitude as he put his swords back on his waist where they belonged.

"What happened here?" Chopper asked as he glanced around the deck.

"Oh, this one started shouted at me for not bowing in his presence," Zoro answered as he motioned down to Usopp, "So I shut him up." Zoro motioned to Sanji, "That one was hitting on me so I decked him. He went down real easy too. Luffy's trying to get food out of the locked refrigerator but since I don't know the combination either he's mostly left me alone. And Nami's in her room trying to break into Ricky's safe."

"Sounds like pride, lust, gluttony, and greed to me," Robin commented.

"Huh?" Zoro asked.

"Do you remember how you lost your swords?" Ricky inquired.

"No," Zoro replied, "Last thing I remember, I fought some High Priest guy and his four lackies. The lackies went down easy enough but the Priest caught me off guard and everything went blank. The next thing I know, I woke up to find Pervy-Cook's leaning in to…" Zoro shuddered. "Ya know, I'd rather not talk about it. All I know is, my swords were gone and these four were all acting weird."

"FOOOOOOD!" Luffy suddenly shouted. He leapt off of the broken but still sealed refrigerator and advanced on Chopper with his mouth watering. "Choooppeeer… I'M GONNA EAT YOU!"

"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper screamed and ran off with a hungry Luffy chasing after him. "NOOT THIIIS AGAAIIN!"

**Krek… **The door to the storage room opened and Nami stepped out onto the deck. Her eyes immediately locked onto Ricky.

**FWUMP! **Robin, who had been standing next to Ricky, suddenly found herself on the ground with Nami glaring down at her.

"Stay away from my guy!" the girl snarled at her. "He's _mine_, got it?"

Robin opened her mouth to reply but suddenly noticed a newly conscious Sanji lying on his side next to her.

"Fancy meeting you here Miss. Robin," the cook greeted her. Robin sat up and made to get away but Sanji sat up with her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You don't have to hurry to get up. Why don't you stay down here with me? I can think of a few things we could do…" With hearts in his eyes, Sanji started leaning in.

"I'd rather not, Mr. Cook," Robin replied. Four arms sprouted out of Sanji and wrenched the arm that was around her waist behind his back. Then another two arms sprouted out of Sanji's shoulders and clamped over his mouth. Robin stood up and glanced down at the 'lust' kanji on the restrained cook's face. She flinched when Sanji started licking the palms of the hands clamped over his mouth. And she quickly moved them so they kept the cook rooted to the deck.

Sanji stared up at Robin with a perverted grin, "What are you staring at?" Robin questioned.

"You're wearing a skirt," the cook stated as he shamelessly looked up it from below her. Robin leapt back and created some more arms to hold the lustful cook down then turned around to find that Ricky had his hands full dealing with Nami.

"I'm not your property," Ricky told her as he slowly backed away from the greedy girl.

"Yeah, you are," Nami insisted as she advanced on him. "The ship's mine, the treasure's mine, and _you're _mine." Ricky backed into the main mast but Nami kept going until her body was pressed full against his. She grinned up at him, "So why don't you tell me the combination to the keypad lock on that safe of yours?"

"The main reason I got that lock was to keep you from getting my treasure," Ricky answered, "Telling you the combination would make it a waste of money."

Nami glared at him, "You'd better start talking, Mr. Money Bags, cause _no one _keeps my stuff from me!"

"You can't just claim my money for yourself," Ricky protested.

"Yeah, I can," Nami assured him. She slid down his body and latched onto his leg then fished into his bottom right pocket and pulled out the treasure inside. There was a lot considering he had planned on taking Robin clothes shopping.

Nami stood back up holding the sack of gold and the wad of bills, "See? This money's mine now. I'll put it to better use, since you were just going to spend it on _her_." Nami looked over her shoulder and glared at Robin.

Nami's eyes narrowed as she looked over at Robin, "Those are my clothes," she realized, "GIVE 'EM BACK!" Nami leapt at Robin, looking fully intent on ripping her clothing right off of her.

**WHUP! **Ricky hooked his arms around Nami's waist from behind and pulled her back. "I don't think I like this side of you," he commented.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Chopper screamed as he came running out of the galley with Luffy still chasing him.

"COME BACK CHOPPER!" Luffy hollered. "I'M THE CAPTAIN! I ORDER YOU TO LET ME EAT YOU!"

"NOOOOO!" Chopper shrieked. "SOMEONE HEEEELP!"

"This is starting to get really annoying," Ricky remarked.

"I think Mr. Swordsman has the right idea," Robin noted as she glanced over at Zoro and the still bound, gagged and _silent_ Usopp.

**-x-**

A moment later, Luffy, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp had all been restrained and were now tied together with their hands behind their back on the middle of the deck.

"So do you guys wanna explain what the hell is going on here?" Zoro asked.

"We think High Priest Nagai did something to you and the others to make himself and his men stronger," Robin answered.

"The High Priest guy has some ability to amplify the sin within one person while transferring their strength and abilities to another," Ricky continued for her. "Do you remember fighting a guy with purple armor?"

"Yeah," Zoro replied, "He damn near took my head off with those brass knuckles."

"We found him in the forest," Chopper chimed in. "And he was using your swords."

"He had your strength too," Ricky added, "when we found you before that, you were extremely lazy and couldn't even muster the effort to care about your lost swords."

Zoro glanced over at their bound Nakama, "So… the High Priest guy messed with their minds and gave their abilities and their stuff to his men."

"Yeah," Chopper said, "but after we beat the guy with your swords, you returned to normal."

"So logically, if we defeat the High Priest and his disciples the others will return to normal as well," Robin resolved.

"So we have to up the mountain and beat 'em up," Zoro summarized. "Heh heh, works for me. I was gonna suggest that anyway."

"Then let's go," Ricky prompted, he glanced over at their bound Nakama, "Hang tight guys, we'll have you back to normal soon."

Ricky, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin left the ship leaving Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji sitting bound on the empty deck.

But they made one huge mistake: they left Luffy, Sanji and most importantly Nami ungagged, which meant they missed the greedy grin that spread across Nami's face once they were gone.

**-x-**

**Whir-whir-whir… **As they neared the edge of the forest Ricky's sensitive ears picked up the sound of something spinning towards them.

"HEADS UP!" he warned the others before he dove to the ground. Chopper shrunk down to his Brain Point form while Zoro ducked behind a nearby tree.

A blue cross came flying through the trees towards them.

"Is that a boomerang?" Zoroa asked.

"Quatro Fluer… Catch!" Four arms sprouted out of Robin's arms and she using all six to catch the incoming object. **WHAP!** "Got it."

Ricky looked over his shoulder at her and saw that the cross was actually two familiar pieces of blue pipe fitted together. "Hey that's Nami's…"

"ROBIN! DROP IT!" Chopper shouted. Back in Alabasta he remembered Nami's Clima-Tact doing something unpleasant to Usopp when it was in that familiar cross configuration.

**SHOOOOM! **Robin was too slow to heed his warning and all the compressed air that the Clima-Tact had gathered on its flight towards them blasted out of the end and sent Robin smashing through the trees behind her and flying off into the forest.

"If half of Nami's Clima-thing just sent Robin flying..." Zoro observed.

"Then that means they've only got one part left for defense," Ricky concluded.

**SKISH! **Ricky and Zoro bounded through the trees with Chopper racing along with them in his Walk Point form. They surged out into the clearing around the base of the mountain only to find a thin blonde man with tattered robes standing at the base of the steps leading up towards the temple. The only problems were, he had all three parts of the Clima-Tact and THERE WERE _THREE _OF HIM!

"Damn," Zoro cursed.

"Did you expect me to give up my weapon that easy?" Hakuai taunted. "It's a boomerang, it comes back when it throw it."

Ricky frowned while Zoro gripped his swords, "Oh yeah?" Zoro retorted. **SKISH! **Zoro surged towards the blonde man and drew all three of his swords, "TIGER HUNT!" **SLISH! **Zoro slashed his swords through all three copies only to stare in surprise when they all vanished into vapor. "Wait… they were all mirages?"

"His voice wasn't coming from the steps ahead of us," Ricky stated, "It was coming from somewhere in the forest around us."

"Then where the heck is he?" Chopper wondered as he glanced around warily. "I didn't get a chance to get his scent so I can't smell him…"

**Tmp… tmp… tmp… **At the sound of footsteps, Ricky and Chopper whirled around ready to attack but relaxed when they saw it was only Robin.

"Miss. Navigator will be most displeased," Robin stated, "I've ruined some of her clothes." Both the shirt and the skirt had been torn in different places during Robin's trip through the trees. Robin frowned then looked up and addressed the other three Straw Hats, "You three go on. I'll handle this."

"Are you sure?" Ricky questioned.

"I trust that Miss. Navigator isn't as strong as Mr. Swordsman," Robin reasoned. "I just have to find where he's attacking from then it's all over. You three go on, I'll catch up when I'm done."

Ricky nodded then he and Chopper turned around and ran over to Zoro then the three of them began racing up the first flight of stairs towards the temple. Each flight had over a hundred steps, and since there were five flights… they had a long way to go.

"**How noble of you to stay behind and allow your friends to go on," **a voice drifted through the trees towards Robin.

She spun towards the source and sprouted eyes on the far side of the nearby trees so she could see better but as her eight individual eyes peered through the forest she couldn't find anything.

"**Too bad for you throwing my voice was a talent I had **_**before**_** I gained your friend's weather manipulation abilities."**

"Weather manipulation?" Robin repeated. She suddenly realized that she was at a major disadvantage here seeing how she'd never actually _seen_ Nami fight in battle. All she knew was that the hot-tempered girl used her fists to hit her crewmates when they angered her. Robin settled herself in for a battle that might end up taking longer than she had previously anticipated.

"**I don't want to give you a false sense of hope for your friends, so I ought to warn you," **the voice came again, only this time from behind her. Robin spun around and searched through the trees but again found nothing. **"The other disciples are waiting further up the mountain to ambush them."**

The voice shifted and was suddenly coming from her right. **"Your generous offer to stay behind is what has sealed your doom. Together, you and your friends might have defeated Jitsu and Tansei but now you're along and I'm afraid you haven't got a chance."**

Robin frowned as she searching in vain for her elusive opponent. His voice had come from her left, from behind, and from her right but she had looked in all three directions and he was nowhere to be found. The clearing in front of her was just that _clear_, so where the hell was he?

**-x-**

Ricky, Zoro, and Chopper reached the top of the first flight of stairs and were halfway across the landing that led to the second flight when a voice shouted from above them.

"**CONCASSÉ!" **A pink haired woman wearing black robes and glassed came flipping down at them with her leg poised for attack. **SKISH! **The three pirates leapt out of the way of the incoming attack and the woman's foot slammed into the ground, **THOOM!**

Chopper lunged at the woman in Walk Point form, "BAD MANNERS KICK COURSE!" **THWHAM! **Sessou swung her leg up and connected with Chopper's torso and sent the reindeer flying up into the air.

"I guess we know who has Sanji's kicks," Ricky remarked.

"Normally, I'd happy to kick that damn cook's ass," Zoro stated as he drew _Wado Ichimonji_, "but this doesn't feel right…"

**SKISH! **Sessou launched herself at Zoro with her leg straight out for a flying kick. **SWISH! **Zoro swerved to the side to avoid it then lashed out and smashed the flat of his blade into the back of her head, **WHAK! **Sessou dropped down… ONTO HER HANDS!

"ZORO LOOK OUT!" Ricky shouted.

Zoro spun around in time for the woman's foot to connect with his face, **THWAK! **Zoro went flying while Sessou spun around and stood back up.

"I hope _you _don't plan to hold back because I'm a woman," Sessou growled. **SWISH! **She lashed out her leg for a high spinning kick, **WHAK! **Ricky raised his own leg to block it then spun with the kick and whipped his leg around, "SPINNING WHIP…" Ricky trailed off, not only was she a woman but she was also wearing glasses. His natural chivalrous nature kept him from kicking her in the face.

But while Ricky hesitated, Sessou capitalized, "COLLIER SHOOT!" **THWAK! **Sessou jumped and drove her other leg into Ricky's neck. He went flying and almost fell off the edge of the mountain… **Whap! **But he managed to catch himself at the last second and was left dangling from the edge with one hand.

"I hate you chivalrous types," Sessou spat and she turned her glare back at Zoro. "You come charging in all ready for a fight but the second you realize I'm a woman you start holding back. It's not a merciful act of kindness… I see it for what it really is… pathetic cowardice!"

Zoro stared wide-eyed as Sessou's glasses turned red, her hair became short bark blue instead of dark pink, and her robes were replaced with a Marine uniform.

"GAAH!" Zoro let out a manly shriek, "NOT YOU AGAIN!"

"If you cowards are too weak to fight me then I'll just finish you now," Sessou resolved. She was caught up in her rage and didn't notice the growing shadow around her feet until it was too late. **WHOMP! **Chopper came falling down out of the sky and landing right on top of Sessou.

"Ugghhh…" Chopper groaned as he shifted back into Brain Point and staggered up to his feet, "You two… go on… I'll fight her…"

"Chopper, you've already used a Rumble Ball," Ricky reminded him as he pulled himself up from the edge. "You can't fight her."

"_You_ can't fight her, big brother!" Chopper argued. "And since you and Zoro aren't gonna do it, then I'll just have to beat her _without _a Rumble Ball."

"Chopper… are you sure you've got this?" Zoro asked.

Chopper puffed out his tiny chest, "Of course," he boasted, "I'm a man! And I won't back away from a fight!"

"Okay," Ricky conceded, "we'll leave it to you then. Good luck." Ricky nodded to Zoro and the two of them raced to the stairs and started running up them.

Sessou pushed herself up off of the ground and glared at Chopper, "Ugh, disgusting creature…"

Chopper blinked in surprise. He hadn't had much contact with humans but in the short time that he had he'd found that human females found his Brain Point form 'cute'. Mana had certainly thought so. And Ricky had used his 'cuteness' to steal those dancer girls from Sanji back in Nanohana. Chopper was surprised to find that _this_ human female actually found him _disgusting_.

"_I guess that means she's not gonna hold back," _Chopper realized. _"And if she fights like Sanji then I can't afford to either." _Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point form and got ready.

"Ugh," Sessou scoffed, "I thought your disgusting raccoon form was be enough… now you're some hideous yeti!"

"HEY!" Chopper shouted. "I'VE GOT FEELINGS YA KNOW!"

"Well the only thing you'll be feeling for the foreseeable future… IS PAIN!" **SKISH! **The woman launched herself at Chopper and the fight was on.

**-x-**

Ricky and Zoro reached the top of the second flight of stairs and were mildly surprised that there was nobody there to ambush them. They shared a glance then shrugged and pressed onward and started up the third set of stairs. They reached the third landing and again found no one there to greet them.

"This is getting weird," Ricky stated, "the other two were one after another. But we just went through two levels without seeing anyone."

"I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth," Zoro replied.

"I'm just saying that its odd," Ricky insisted as they started up the fourth staircase.

"**EXPLODING STAR!" KA-BOOOM! **The stairs in front of them exploded and Ricky and Zoro were blasted down to the third level landing.

"Damn it…" Ricky complained as he and Zoro got back up. Zoro squinted and spotted the utterly average looking man with short brown hair and pale robes. He had Usopp's slingshot drawn and was training it on them.

"I'll take this one," Zoro quickly volunteered.

"Really?" Ricky asked.

"He's a sniper with Usopp's weapons," Zoro explained. "He's on the level up above us. Can you even see him?"

"No," Ricky admitted, once again cursing his lack of depth perception.

"You know Luffy better than the rest of us put together," Zoro pointed out. "If anyone can beat a guy using his fighting style, it's you. Can you use that speed technique of yours to get up there?"

"No, it only works on mostly flat areas," Ricky informed him, "I can't even turn with it."

"Right then," Zoro resolved, "Start up the stairs. I'll create an opening so you can get by."

Ricky launched himself back up the stairs taking them five at a time. He jumped around the hole that had been blasted in them and continued running up them.

Zoro squinted and saw Kyouken loading his slingshot and aiming at Ricky.

"Oh, no you don't!" Zoro growled as he drew _Kitetsu III _and _Yubashiri_. "Two Sword Style: SEVENTY-TWO CALIBER PHOENIX!" **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro slashed his swords in a circle and sent two blasts of air flying at Kyouken. The sniper showed surprising agility and sprang to the side to avoid them. **BA-BOOOM! **The air blasted into the rock wall of the mountain where he'd been standing and caused part of it to collapsed, **KA-BOOOSH!**

When the dust settled, Kyouken was left on the other side of the wreckage from the stairs that Ricky was nearly at the top of.

**SKISH! **Ricky leapt up the last few stairs and lashed out with is own sword, "Red Blade… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" A red-tinted blade of air flew off of Ricky's blade and up the remaining stairs. Kyouken leapt further to the side to avoid it and the blade sliced into the mountain behind him, **SLASH!**

Dust billowed as Ricky raced across the landing and started up the final flight of stairs. Zoro scowled when he saw Kyouken once again train Usopp's slingshot on Ricky.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Zoro called up to him. "I'm your opponent. And if you take your eyes of me for an instant… it'll be the last mistake you ever make."

"Fine then," Kyouken resolved, "High Priest Nagai can handle your friend. I suppose I'll settle for defeating you. I hope you realize how outmatched you are here. Tansei proved that you are a competent swordsman but you are not a long distance fighter like me."

"That cannon blast I sent your way begs to differ," Zoro countered.

"Too bad I saw it coming then," Kyouken replied. "I'm not bragging, I just want you to know what you're up against. With your friend's sniping abilities I can see your monster friend fighting Sessou from all the way up here."

"Sharp eyes or not, you're still gonna lose," Zoro insisted.

**-x-**

"Phew," Ricky sighed, "I finally made it to the top." He stared at the large temple that stood before him. "If I can beat this guy quickly, I can stop his abilities before the others get hurt."

**Kreeeek… **Ricky pushed opened the double doors and entered the temple. It didn't take him long to find the man he was looking for. High Priest Nagai was standing on the other side of the large room Ricky had just walked into.

Ricky took in the man's loose robes, his dark eyes, the long braid of dark blue hair going down his back, and the kanji for 'temperance' on his forehead.

"So you're High Priest Nagai," Ricky noted.

"And you must be the pirate that shorty was kind enough to warn me about," Nagai replied.

"Shorty?" Ricky repeated.

"The one with the nose," Nagai clarified.

"You mean, Usopp?" Ricky questioned, "He's got the second longest nose I've ever seen, only second to 'Saw Tooth' Arlong's."

"No matter, let's get to the reason you came all the way up here," Nagai suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Ricky agreed, "I'll beat you and undo what you did to my Nakama then they'll finish off your men and this island can be free from your rule."

"You fool," Nagai scoffed, "You don't realize what's been accomplished here under my rule. With my powers and my disciples at my side, I've create an island without sin. In the villages everyone is equal. There's no ego, no anger, no lust, no jealousy, no laziness. No one has unique material possession, everyone does what they're told, they have what they need and no more, and no one thinks of rebelling. On this small island in the Grand Line, I've created peace."

"If you can actually call that living," Ricky protested. "I've seen the people in your so-called 'peaceful' villages. They're all terrified of you and your men. There's no freedom and they're clearly not happy. An excessive amount of a sin may be bad but they're all still necessary in small doses."

"That's the savage thinking of a pirate talking," Nagai said with a frown. "And that's why I make sure to make you and your kind disappear so you don't disrupt the peace on my island."

"Savage thinking?" Ricky repeated, "I'm being rational. If a person isn't a little envious of others then they'll never be motivated enough to improve their own station in life. Having a little greed can motivate a person to make money so they can live in a life of comfort. If a person can't be proud of their accomplishments, then what's the point of doing them? What's wrong with a swordsman lazing about and taking a nap in the middle of the day when he spends his nights training? Stuffing yourself like a gluttonous pig isn't right but what's wrong with someone enjoying a hearty meal? If you don't have some lust in a relationship then how can there be any passion? And I'm not up here because I'm an angry, wrathful person, I'm here to defeat you because of what you did to my Nakama. Everyone has a little bit of each sin within them and that's fine, it's the unhealthy amount that you forced upon my Nakama and who knows how many others that's harmful."

"Enough!" Nagai snapped. "Your foul pirate ideals have no place on this island! I'll have to remove them… permanently."

"Fine," Ricky replied as he got in a fighting stance, "I'm ready for you."

"No you're not," Nagai assured him with a sinister grin as he charged at Ricky.

"_No Devil Fruit Power can copy the abilities of another Devil Fruit User," _Ricky thought to himself, _"So while I may have to contend with Luffy's inhuman strength… he won't be able to copy Luffy's rubber powers which will make this much easier."_

"GUUUUUUM… GUUUUUUUUM… BUUULLEEEET!" Nagai drew his arm back then lashed out at Ricky. Ricky leaned back out of his opponent's reach. **POW! **Ricky was caught completely off guard when Nagai's arm extended fully AND THEN CAME OUT EVEN FURTHER! Nagai's fist slammed into Ricky's face with all of Luffy's freakish strength behind it. Ricky was sent flying across the room and slammed into the double doors. **WHAM! **Ricky's body knocked the doors out of their frame and he landed in a heap on top of them.

Ricky rolled over and held his face as he stared over at Nagai in shock, somehow the deranged High Priest had managed to mimic one of Luffy's rubber attacks.

"What… the hell… was that?" Ricky wondered.

**-x-**

"That is ridiculous!" Nami snapped. She was tied between Sanji and a still gagged Usopp while Luffy was press tied to behind her. "Who wants to get out of this?"

"I do, Miss. Nami!/Meee! I'm sooo huungryyy!/Mmmpph!" the other three agreed.

"Okay, I can get us out of this… on one condition," Nami offered. "If I release you, you guys have to join _my _pirate crew."

"WHAT?" Luffy shouted, "I'M THE CAPTAIN! THIS IS MY PIRATE CREW!"

"Yeah, and look where your leadership's got us," Nami pointed out. "Now I'm taking over. Sanji, what do you think?"

"I'LL FOLLOW YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, CAPTAIN NAMI!" the cook swooned. Clearly he didn't care about getting punted in the balls before.

"Usopp?" Nami leaned over to Usopp and bit down on the knot that was keeping his gag in place. She yanked on it with her teeth and the gag came unraveled. "Wanna join me?'

**PTOOII! **Usopp spat out the sock that had been stuffed in his mouth then glared at Nami. "Why would _I _join _your_ crew? _I _should be Captain!"

"Because _I _can get us out of here," Nami pointed out. "But how's this, I'll let you be my First Mate. The others are all insane and go rushing off into deadly situations without a thought, you're at least reasonable. That means you're in charge of everyone but me. What do you say? Vice-Captain Usopp?"

"YOU'VE GOT A DEAL!" Usopp agreed. "I'M VICE CAPTAIN UUSOOOP!"

"Luffy, we're waiting on you," Nami prompted.

"I'M THE CAPTAIN!" Luffy protested. "IT'S MY CREW! YOU CAN'T TAKE IT!"

"I think I just did," Nami replied, "but I'll tell you what: if you join _my_ pirate crew… I'll take the lock off the refrigerator. And I'll buy you dinner for every enemy pirate captain that you beat."

Luffy stared at the broken refrigerator that he'd spent all this time struggling to open. His brain tried to remind him of his life's ambition of becoming King of the Pirates but at the moment, the only thing he was listening to was his stomach… which was empty. **Grrrmmbbggrrrmmmrr…**

"Okay, okay," Luffy finally conceded, "I'll join you're stinkin' crew! Now lemme eat!"

"Welcome aboard," Nami said with an evil grin. "But before you can eat, I've gotta get us untied. Sanji-dear, would you please reach to the side and undo the knot in the ropes tying me?"

"OF COURSE!" Sanji agreed he reached to the side and grabbed the knot then used his skillful hands to undo Nami's bonds.

"Hehehehe," Nami cackled as the ropes came free and she turned around and started undoing the ropes tying her 'crew'. "Stupid Ricky. He tied us so we couldn't untie ourselves. He never thought that we'd be able to work together to get free. Boys, as your new Captain, I release you." The ropes came loose and Sanji, Usopp, and Luffy sprang free.

"Now food!" Luffy exclaimed. "Food! Food! Food! Food!"

"Right, we had a deal," Nami said as she went over to the refrigerator and dialed the combination on the lock. **CLICK! **The lock came off and Nami pulled the door opened, "Eat up, Luffy."

"FOOOOD!" Luffy hollered. He dove face-first into the refrigerator and started pigging out.

"Hm, I never thought _you'd _be willing to give someone something," Usopp remarked as he eyed his greedy Captain. "And why don't _I _get any? _I'm _the Vice Captain!"

"The refrigerator's broken," Nami reminded him. "That food was all going to go bad in an hour anyway. Besides, with everything he did to it, all the stuff in there's broken and spilled. I didn't think you'd want to lower yourself to eating something so disgusting."

"What are your orders, Captain Nami?" Sanji asked his violent, greedy, and – most importantly – sexy Captain.

"We're going up the mountain," Nami informed the others. "They have my Clima-Tact. And NO ONE steals from me! Once we retrieve it, then we'll find Ricky and make him join the crew."

"Why do you need Ricky?" Sanji questioned, "You've got me! Aren't I enough?"

"Oh Sanji," Nami sighed as she turned to face him, "As a Pirate Captain my goal is to get as much treasure as possible." Nami reached out and casually brushed his cheek. "So naturally I want the world's best treasure _hunter_ on my crew." **Whap! **Nami grabbed Sanji's tie and yanked him down to eye level, "So at my side or at my feet he _will_ be joining my crew, got it?"

"Got it… my dear Captain…" Sanji wheezed.

Nami grinned and released him. "Luffy, are you done yet?"

"No," Luffy answered, "but there's no food left."

"Then let's get going," Nami prompted him, "I'll give you more food once we get Ricky and my Clima-Tact."

"Aye-aye!" Luffy agreed. "THEN LET'S GOO!"

Nami grinned and glanced at Usopp and Sanji, "Hehehe! He's like a rubbery, pirate-fighting _pet_, I just need to keep him fed and he'll do whatever I tell him. Now then, Nami Pirates, let's move out and claim what's _mine_!"

**-x-**

Back at the base of the mountain, Robin continued to search through the forest in search of her elusive opponent. **Whir-whir-whir... **Robin heard the now familiar sound of Nami's Clima-Tact flying towards her and quickly leaned to the side to avoid it. **WOOSH! **The familiar blue cross flew past her into the clearing and was caught by one of three Hakuai's that were standing out in the middle of it.

"There he is," Robin realized, "Now to find out which one's the real one. Seis Fleur... GRAB!" Six arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed at the legs of her opponent and his clones, only for all three sets of legs to shimmer and disappeared into thin air. "What... they're all mirages?"

**"CYCLONE TEMPO!" WHAK! **Robin had unknowingly fallen for the same trick as Zoro and had been distracted by the three mirages which allowed the real Hakuai to hit her from behind with the Clima-Tact which unleash a blast of concentrated air into her back.**SHOOM! **Robin was sent flying into the clearing.

"Diez Fleur... CATCH!" Robin flew through what remained of the three mirages then ten arms grew out of the ground and caught her and set her back down on her feet.

**"I planned ahead and prepared the area specifically for this fight," **Hakuai informed her from somewhere in the forest. **"You just made things easier for me by sending your friends away."**

"Maybe," Robin replied, "but you've made things easier for me as well. Now I'm out in the open and I'll see all of your attacks coming."

**"Not quite!"** Hakuai taunted her, **"You're standing in the middle of my trap!" CHOO! **A flaming arrow came flying at her from out of the trees to her left.

_"Does Ms. Navigator actually use arrows?"_ Robin idly wondered as she weaved around the arrow then sprouted ten eyes on the trees in the area that the arrow had come from. One of the eyes spotted a blonde man with an even grin before... **FWOOOOSSHH! **Flames shot up around her and Robin suddenly found herself surrounded by a ring of fire. Robin looked through the eye that had spotted Hakuai only to find that he'd used the split-second distraction to disappear again.

**"Like I said," **Hakuai's voice came from the opposite side of the clearing. **"I prepared the area for this battle. You're standing in the middle of a patch of oil that I specially prepared." **Robin knew that he wasn't fast enough to have gotten there already and that he was throwing his voice again so she decided to focus on the more pressing matter THE FLAMES WERE GETTING CLOSER!

Robin grew an extra pair of feet out of the bottom of her boots and attempted to launch herself out of the ring of fire. "AAH!" Only for the bare feet to burn when they made contact which the boiling oil they'd grown out of. The feet disappeared in a cloud of burning flower petals and Robin was left with only her shoes to protect her from the heat.

**"COOL BALL!" **A stream of blue bubbles came flying out of the forest towards the fire. The cool air collided with the burning flames and created steam which resulted in... **"FOGGY TEMPO!" **The burning flames were quickly hidden by a horseshoe of flames leaving only the flames behind her visible. **"Your friend's knowledge of the weather is quite impressive. You see, the water vapor in the Cool Ball rapidly increases in temperature when it meets the flames which results in increasing air density which creates the fog you're standing in." **

Robin could no longer see anything and was now completely blinded by the blanket of fog surrounding her._ "So much for being able to see him in the clearing," _Robin thought to herself. She felt the still-burning flames closing in on her. But she couldn't see them no matter what direction she looked in. The fog had even gone up over her head so she could no longer see in any direction as the intense heat got even closer.

**"RAIN TEMPO!" **A moment later, Robin was hit by a spray of water. She went on the defensive and prepared to grow arms in the area they were coming from but suddenly realized that the water spray wasn't only hitting her but it was also dousing the invisible flames that were still burning all around her. Robin allowed herself to be sprayed by the strange sprinkler so she could escape the ring of fire when the flames got low enough.

But suddenly the spray stopped. **WHAK! **Robin was struck in the chest by a familiar cross that she was really growing to hate. **"CYCLONE TEMPO!" ****WHAP! **She quickly wrapped her real arms around the Clima-Tact. She knew it was going to blast again but this time it would blast her out of the fire and by holding it to her it wouldn't go back to Hakuai. **SHOOOOM! **Like it had twice before, the Clima-Tact blasted her with a concentrated gust of air and sent her flying. Robin grinned as she was blasted out of the flaming ring and the foggy cloud.

As she flew out of the cloud she spotted Hakuai blowing a pair of yellow bubbles up into the air with the final part of the Clima-Tact. "SEIS FLEUR!" Six arms finally grabbed onto her sold opponent. "Got—" **WHAM! **Robin slammed back-first into the side of the mountain went crashing down to the ground. **THUD!**

"Ugghh..." Robin groaned as she pushed herself back up to her feet. Her real arms were still holding two pieces of Nami's Clima-Tact, her other arms were still holding Hakuai."Dos Fleur!" Another two arms grew out of Hakuai's chest and wrenched the final piece of the Clima-Tact away from Hakuai and tossed it over to her. Robin grinned as she put the three pieces of the Clima-Tact back together in a long staff and casually rested it on her shoulder as she eyed her unarmed opponent. "This fight's over. Any last words?"

"Yes, four," Hakuai answered. "Look up." Robin looked up and her eyes went wide when she suddenly found herself staring up at a black storm cloud. "THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!"

Robin knew three things about lightning: One, it struck the tallest thing in an area. Two, water conducted it. Three, metal attracted it. She was six foot two, soaking wet, and was currently holding a metal pole over her shoulder. Faster than Robin could say 'Clutch' a bolt of lightning shot down out of the storm cloud and struck her dead on. **BA-ZZZZZZZTTT! **

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Robin's world exploded in pain as the lightning struck her. She dropped to the ground and everything went dark.

**-x-**

"RECEPTION!" Up on the first level of the mountain, Sessou swung her leg at Chopper's head.

"AAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed and jumped away from Sessou in his Heavy Point form to avoid another one of Sanji's powerful kicks.** SWOOSH!**

_"What am I gonna do?" _Chopper wondered. _"I can't survive another one of Sanji's kicks! But I already used a Rumble Ball to beat that other guy and get Zoro's swords back. I can't use another one so that means I can only use three forms to beat this lady!"_

"You won't get away!" Sessou snapped as she lunged after Chopper. **SKISH! **Sessou used one leg to push off of the ground and lashed out with the other for a flying kick. "BAS COTE!"

"YAAAHH!" Chopper yelped as he shrunk down to his Brain Point form causing the kick to fly over his head. **SWISH!**

_"I can't even use Brain Boost!" _Chopper complained.

**TMP! **Sessou landed behind Chopper and lashed her leg out behind her at her suddenly small opponent's back, "LONGE!" Chopper transformed into Walk Point and lunged to the side. **SKISH! **"TENDRON!" Sessou quickly lashed out for a side kick at the reindeer's collarbone. Chopper quickly went back to Brain Point and jumped over the low kick. **SWISH! **"FLANCHET!"Sessou took the dodged in strike and lashed out for another kick aimed at the stomach of her now air-born opponent.

"RAAAH!" Unable to dodge, Chopper transformed into Heavy Point and smacked Sessou's leg off course, **WHAK!**

Sessou spun around and flipped over into a handstand then swung her legs around at Chopper's chest. "QUASI!" Chopper shrunk down into Brain Point to avoid the spinning kick as well as the one following it, "QUEUE!" **SWISH! SWISH!**

Sessou swung downward and aimed a sweeping kick at her much smaller opponents waist. "CUISSEAU!" Chopper transformed into Walking Point form and jumped over it. **SKISH! **Sessou kept spinning and went for another kick, "JARRET!"

Still in the air above Sessou's kick, Chopper lashed out his antlers and drove them into her chest as she was starting to come back up. **WHAM! **Sessou went flying but flipped in midair and landed in a crouch. **FWIP! **Meanwhile, Chopper's attack sent him flying backwards but he managed to land on all fours across from his opponent. **TMP!**

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" Sessou snapped as she launched herself at Chopper for a flying kick. "VEAU..." Chopper dashed forward to meet her. "SHOOT!" Just as Sessou's foot was about to slam into him and take his head off, Chopper shifted into Brain Point, dropped down and rolled under her. **SWISH! **Sessou kept going and smashed into the side of the mountain,** KA-BOOOSH!**

"Phew..." Chopper sighed in relief as he stood back up and shifted back into Heavy Point form, "That... was a close one..." Chopper turned around to see what happened to his opponent, "GAAAH!" The mountain that Sessou had hit now had a huge cave carved into the side of it. But what was worse, SESSOU WAS GETTING BACK UP!

"Uggghh..." Sessou groaned, "You're just a weak little Zoan. You can't keep dodging forever."

"She's right," Chopper realized, "Pretty soon I'm not gonna have enough energy left to dodge those kicks. If I'm gonna survive this then I've gotta hit her in Heavy Point. But the only way for me to get close is if I..." **GULP! **"...block her."

"COLLIER!" Sessou launched herself at Chopper and swung at his neck.

"I CAN'T BLOCK THAT!" Chopper screamed. He quickly dropped down into his Brain Point form causing the kick to sail over his head.**SWISH!**

"EPAULE!" Sessou brought her other leg up and lashed it down at Chopper's shoulder. But Chopper quickly transformed into Walk Point and lunged backwards to avoid it. **SKISH! THWHAM! **Sessou's leg slammed into the ground and created a crater.

"SCARY!" Chopper shrieked.

Sessou launched herself and Chopper then dropped down into a one-handed handstand and swung her leg around at Chopper's stomach.

Chopper went back to Heavy Point. _"Here it goes, I'm gonna try and block it." _**WHAP!** Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point form and used both arms and all of his strength to catch the kick. **WHAP! **"SELLÉ!" **THWAK! **Sessou's other leg swung around and connected with Chopper's unguarded back and sent the reindeer flying.

**FWUMP! **Chopper landed in a heap on the ground but slowly staggered back up. _"Damn... Sanji's kicks aren't just strong... they're fast too... and they can come from anywhere..."_

"POITRINE!" Sessou lashed out for a straight kick to Chopper's chest. **SKISH! **Chopper shrunk down into Brain Point to avoid it. "GIGOT!" **THWAK! **Sessou's legs swept around and slammed into Chopper's side. With Sanji, the move usually targeted the leg but since Chopper was a lot shorter than the average opponent the kick ended up hitting higher than normal.

**KRASH! **Chopper hit the ground but once again managed to stagger back up. _"I've taken three kicks so far... maybe I can withstand another one and hit her back... What did Big Brother say about Steel Shield? I've gotta tense all the muscles in my chest and stomach."_Chopper transformed back into Heavy Point. _"I have to make them as hard as I can, like steel."_

"What's the matter?" Sessou asked her suddenly stationary opponent, "Aren't you going to try and dodge again?_"_

"I'm not going to dodge," Chopper stated. "I'm gonna block it."

"Hmph, fool!" Sessou taunted as she launched herself at Chopper for one final kick, "MOUTON..."

"STEEL SHIELD!" Chopper concentrated and tensed all the muscles in his front. The front of his large frame bulged as the large muscles tensed.

"SHOOT!" **THWHAM! **Sessou's foot slammed into Chopper's chest at full force.

**KOFF! KOFF! **Chopper coughed up blood and went skidding backwards. **TMP! **He dropped to his knees and clutched his broken ribs._"I couldn't do it... Ricky trained his technique for years__to get it to the level that it's at now. I just started using it today."_

"That's that," Sessou concluded as she walked over to Chopper. "You put up a fight, beast. But it's over now."

**-x-**

"I'm right here, come and get me," Zoro taunted his opponent up near the top of the mountain.

"I hate to disappoint you," Kyouken replied, "but I'm staying up here. And I'm going to keep you down there. EXPLODING STAR!"**CHOO! **Kyouken fired off a shot at Zoro using Usopp's slingshot. **SLISH! **Zoro sliced the projectile clean in half using_ Wado Ichimonji_. The ball flew past him, hit the ground and exploded. **KA-BOOM-BOOM! **

"Fine," Zoro said, "If you're not gonna come down here then I'll just have to _bring_ you down! THIRTY-SIX CALIBER PHOENIX!"**BOOOM! **Zoro slashed his sword and fired a concentrated cannon blast of air at Kyouken. **FWUMP! **Kyouken dove to the side and the blast smashed into the mountain behind him. Rocks rained down from overhead but Usopp rolled out of the way of the falling rubble.**KROOOSSHH! **_"I'm too far away to hit him. My only long distance attacks are powerful, not fast so he's got plenty of time to dodge 'em."_

"Take this!" Kyouken called out as he dug into Usopp's arsenal bag, "CALTROP HELL!" **WHING!** Kyouken threw a collection of sharp caltrops at Zoro. Most of them landed all around him but for the ones that were on target he casually smacked them out of the way using his lone sword. **WHAK-WHAK-WHAK!**

"Nice try," Zoro taunted. "But I'm not scared of Usopp's toys."

"Yeah, but now you can't move," Kyouken pointed out.

Zoro glanced down at the caltrops surrounding him then shrugged, "I wasn't planning on it."

"Good, then take this!" **FWING! **Kyouken threw some kind of jar at Zoro. Since he couldn't dodge, he did what he did before and defended himself with his sword. **SLISH! **Zoro sliced the jar in half and stared down at his feet in mild surprise as the oil and grease inside pooled around his feet.

"Damn it, not this crap again," Zoro complained as he stared at the grease and oil at his feet. He remembered Usopp greasing a pass in preparation for their battle against the Black Cat Pirates. But it back fired and thanks to that greedy-bitch he'd been left lying at the bottom of the slippery pass. It had been a real pain getting back up it. Now he really couldn't dodge or he'd slip. Good thing he wasn't planning on dodging.

"Now you're trapped!" Kyouken stated as he raised Usopp's green slingshot and loaded something Zoro hadn't seen before into it, "SHURIKEN SHOOTING STAR!" **SHWING! **Zoro's eyes went wide as the chain of sharp bladed weapons flew at him then suddenly split apart. **WHIR-WHIR-WHIR-WHIR-WHIR-WHIR!**

"Usopp's never used that before..." Zoro realized. "No choice, I've gotta deflect them..." **SWI-FWUMP! **Zoro swung his sword but when he pivoted his foot he lost his balance due to the grease pooled at his feet and went crashing down... onto the caltrops. **SHUNK! SHUNK! SHUNK!**

"I bet your friend was saving those for a special occasion," Kyouken remarked, "like now."

"Ugghhh..." Zoro groaned as he staggered back up. Blood leaked out of the wounds on his back and sides. "Okay, now you've got my attention..."

"Not for long," Kyouken retorted, "SMOKE STAR!" **CHOO!**

"CRAP!" Zoro cursed as he weaved around the projectile. It whizzed past him and smashed into the ground. **FWOOOSSHH! **Zoro found himself surrounded in a cloud of smoke.

"TRIPLE EXPLODING STAR!" **CHOO-CHOO-CHOO! **Zoro couldn't see the projectiles but knew they were coming for him so he lashed out blindly,** SLISH! **Zoro's luck served him well and he managed to cut one even blind... BUT THE OTHER TWO HIT HIM! **KA-BOOM-BOOM!** Zoro was blasted backwards out of the smoke cloud and once again went crashing down on a bed of caltrops. **SHA-SHUNK!**

Zoro staggered back up, "That packed a punch... Usopp must've upgraded his gunpowder."

"Here, catch," Kyouken suggested, **SHWING! **Zoro looked up and saw a bottle flying at him.

**WHAP! **Zoro caught the bottle and grinned. "Booze? Now _this_ is an attack I like. But if you wanna get me drunk you're gonna need a lot more."

"LEAD STAR!" **KRESH! **The lead marble smashed the bottle and booze splashed all over Zoro.

"What a waste," Zoro complained as he looked down at the spilled booze. He felt a faint burning sensation as the alcohol dripped into the opened caltrop wounds on his sides.

"FIRE STAR!" **CHOO! **Zoro's eyes widened as the orange projectile whizzed towards him.

"Shit!" Zoro cursed, "Booze burns!" He weaved to the side but suddenly realized that the puddle of grease and oil had spread and he crashed down onto more caltrops. **SHUNK! **As the caltrops sank into his side Zoro saw the orange ball hit the oil puddle. "OH CRAP!" **FWOOOSSHH! **The oil burst into flames which quickly spread to the rest of the puddle... and Zoro. "GAAAH!" Zoro drove his sword into the ground and attempted to stand up and escape the burning flames.

"SURE-KILL EXPLODING STAR!" **CHOO! **Zoro was in no position to dodge. The ball struck him on the chest and exploded, **KA-BOOOOOM!**

When the smoke finally cleared, Zoro was nowhere in sight.

"That'll teach the cocky brute to underestimate his opponent," Kyouken remarked as he watched the flames continue to burn on the oil where Zoro had once stood.

**-x-**

"How'd he copy that attack?" Ricky wondered up in the temple. He stood up and stepped off of the double doors he'd just been sent through the High Priest that had somehow _stretched _to copy one of Luffy's super-strong rubber attacks.

High Priest Nagai charged at Ricky and pulled his arms behind him, "GUUM… GUUUMM…"

Ricky quickly clenched his chest and stomach muscles, "Steel Shield!"

"BAAAZOOOOKAAAAA!" Nagai's arms shot out at Ricky's chest but fell short, he started to relax his muscles only for the High Priest's arms to come out even further and slam into him at full force, **KER-WHAM!**

Ricky went flying backwards courtesy of one of Luffy's strongest attacks. He'd been caught off guard again and his partial Steel Shield technique hadn't managed to stop the attack. **FWUMP! **Ricky landed on his back and held his stomach as he slowly got back up.

"There's no way you can copy Luffy's Devil Fruit Powers," Ricky insisted as he glared at the High Priest, "So that means… your arms…"

"Have you finally figured it out?" Nagai asked as he stretched his arms out in front of him. Where a normal person's arm ended in a hand, High Priest Nagai had a _SECOND _elbow which left him with extra-long arms. "My mother was from the Long-Arm Tribe."

"The Long-Arm Tribe…" Ricky repeated, "I heard stories about them back on my old crew. But I never thought I'd meet one, especially here of all places."

"With my long arms I can copy your friend's signature punches even if I'm not made of rubber," Nagai explained.

Ricky grinned, "You just gave away your trump card," he pointed out. "Now that I know what you are, I can dodge those arms of yours and kick your ass." Ricky charged at Nagai ready to avoid his Luffy-like punches.

Nagai easily laid his opened palm on the ground and bent his leg back then lashed it out at Ricky. "GUUUUUM… GUUUUUUUUM…"

**SKIIISSSSHH! **Ricky skidded to a stop and stared in shock, "No…"

"STAAAAMP!" Nagai's leg launched out and slammed into Ricky's chest… WHILE HE WAS STILL FIFTEEN FEET AWAY! **THWHAM! **Ricky went flying backwards and smashed back-first into the front wall of the temple. **WHAM!**

"Uggghhh…" Ricky groaned and held his ribs as he sat up. "Your legs…"

"That's right," Nagai replied. He undid the clasp at the neck of his loose cloak and pulled it off. Underneath he was wearing a sleeveless Chinese-style tunic with the kanji for 'patience' but more importantly, the High Priest looked like a frog due the knees on his extra long legs being bent up at his armpits. "My _father_ was from the Long-_Leg_ Tribe."

Nagai stood up to his full – EXTREMELY lanky – height. His long arms reached his knees like a normal person's but his extra long legs left him towering over Ricky at nearly twenty feet tall with a braided blue ponytail that fell to the waist of his normal-sized torso.

Ricky's eye was wide as he took in his long-limbed opponent's extremely lanky body, "_Now_ I get why you called Usopp 'Shorty'."

"Indeed," Nagai replied, "By my standards, his nose is quite short."

"This just got a lot more complicated," Ricky realized as he stood back up.

"There's no way you can beat my reach," Nagai stated, "And with me in possession of your Captain's unnatural strength… there's no way you can win. You and your friends are doomed."

**-x-**

Nagai translates to 'Long' in Japanese while all the other henchmen names translate to the virtue that they supposedly represent. I was originally just going to have Nagai be from the Long-Arm Tribe but recent manga chapters, or more specifically Baron Tamago, inspired me to change it.

Things look bad for the Straw Hats. Hopefully they'll be able to regroup and make a comeback.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	4. Comeback

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**Comeback:**

**-x-**

"Flying… ARROW KICK!" Up in the temple on Bonsatsu Island, Ricky launched himself at High Priest Nagai but the long-limbed priest's small body lurched to the side and Ricky went flying past him. **WOOSH! **Ricky dropped into a roll and stood back up as the priest turned to face him.

"_Damn," _Ricky cursed to himself, _"I'm fine with fighting larger opponents because most of the time that just makes them bigger targets. But while this guy's long legs might make him huge his body and head are still normal-sized which it much harder to land a clean hit."_

**SKISH! **Like a frog, Nagai crouched down then used his long legs to launched himself up off of the ground and into the air. Nagai flew over Ricky's head and pressed his feet together then lashed them both down at Ricky. "GUM… GUM… SPEAR!" **KRASH! **Ricky dove to the dive and Nagai drove his feet down into the floor.

**SKISH! **Ricky himself launched up into the air over Nagai's head then came down feet-first, "Bludgeon STOMP!" Ricky shot his feet down at Nagai while his feet were stuck in the floor.

Nagai looked up and drew back his arm then threw it at Ricky, "GUM… GUM… PISTOL!" **KA-POW! **Nagai's fist connected with Ricky stomach as he was coming down and once again Ricky was sent flying across the temple but this time he managed to land in a crouch. **TMP!**

"Have you realized how futile your efforts are yet?" Nagai asked.

"You kidding? I'm just getting warmed up," Ricky countered. "As lucky as you may think you are for getting Luffy's strong fighting style, what's unlucky is that I'm the guy who knows the most about how to combat it."

"Too bad I'm not using his full style," Nagai pointed out. "My long limbs make it so I can mimic his stretching abilities. But no body-type can copy the unique inflation abilities that were granted to him by his Devil Fruit Powers."

Ricky grinned, "I know. And that's what's going to make this a whole lot easier."

**-x-**

Hakuai grinned as he walked over to the burned and prone form of Nico Robin as she laid motionless on the ground after being struck by lightning.

"You put up a valiant effort," Hakuai praised his defeated opponent, "I'll give you that much." He bent down and picked up Nami's Clima-Tact. "But it wasn't enough to defeat me."

He missed the ghost of a smile that appeared on Robin's face. She heard his footsteps getting closer to her. She felt him pick up the Clima-Tact that was lying next to her. His voice was coming from right above her which she knew was exactly where he was standing. She knew exactly where he was now.

"**Ocho Fleur!" **Robin's eyes snapped open and two arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed Hakuai's legs. Four arms grew out of his back and managed to wrench the man's arms behind his back. In her weakened state, she needed double the strength that she normally would to overpower someone. **Klak! **The Clima-Tact dropped to the ground while the final pair of arms crew out of Hakuai's shoulders and grabbed his neck.

"WHAT? NO!" Hakuai shouted in horror. "NO! NO! NO! YOU CAN'T!"

"CLUTCH!" **KER-RACK! **Her arms wrenched backwards and Hakuai's back snapped. The man dropped to the ground and Robin was pleased to see the kanji on his forehead fade.

Robin had won the battle but now found herself severely weakened after being struck by lightning. She managed to sit up and grabbed Nami's Clima-Tact and used it to push herself up to her feet. She took a step but then her leg jerked in a sudden spasm and she collapsed. **FWUMP!**

"Ugghh…" Robin groaned, "Not only is getting struck by lightning extremely painful… but the effects last for a while after… It's definitely something I'd like to avoid in the future…"

Robin clutched the Clima-Tact to her chest and finally allowed herself to lose consciousness.

**-x-**

"Aah!" In the forest, Nami let out a sudden yelp as she dropped to her knees and the kanji on her forehead disappeared.

"Are you alright, Captain Nami?" Sanji asked with concern. "I'll be happy to carry you…"

"I'm hungry!" Luffy complained, "Can we hurry up so I can eat?"

"Captain?" Nami repeated as she stared up at Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji. "What's going on?"

"You ordered us to go and reclaim your Clima-Tact and make Ricky join your pirate crew," Usopp stated, "If you can't remember that much maybe _I _should take over."

"My pirate crew?" Nami questioned. That didn't make sense. She hated most pirates.

Suddenly she remembered what happened up at the temple. How the High Priest had touched Luffy's forehead and how he was suddenly hungry. And how he'd touched Sanji's forehead and the pink haired chick had taken down her and Usopp with Sanji's signature kicks.

"_That High Priest must've done something to me," _Nami realized. She quickly read the kanji on her 'crew's' foreheads. _"Gluttony, Pride, and Lust. Three of the Seven Deadly Sins. If he did the same to me then it's hardly a surprise that I'd be Greed. I must've taken over the crew somehow. If we're heading up the mountain to get my Clima-Tact then that means one of the High Priest's disciples have it. And if we're going up the mountain after Ricky then that means he and the others are already trying to deal with it. If I'm normal again but the other three aren't then that means someone beat the disciple that was using my Clima-Tact."_

"Um… this way crew!" Nami ordered the others as she raced ahead towards the mountain. "We've gotta get my stuff back!" The others quickly followed behind their Captain.

**-x-**

"GUUUUM… GUUUUUM… BUUULLEEEET!" Nagai charged Ricky with his long arm cocked back for a punch. But suddenly he tensed and stopped. "Ugghh… Hakuai…"

Ricky quickly capitalized and lunged up off of the ground. "Jumping… JAVELIN KICK!" **CRUNCH! **Ricky lashed out his leg and connected with the High Priests' unguarded jaw.

**FWUMP!** Nagai fell on his back and Ricky grinned as he stood over him.

"From the looks of things, one of my Nakama beat one of your disciples," Ricky realized. "And you felt it when your powers on your henchman were disrupted."

"Grrrr…" Nagai growled as he got back up, "It's no matter. Sessou's new abilities are even stronger than Hakuai's. Even if one of your motley little pirate crewmates managed to make it passed one of my disciples, there's another one waiting to stop them."

"Maybe," Ricky replied, "Or maybe when my Nakama beat your other two henchmen that'll give me another two openings to kick your face in."

"It was a fluke!" Nagai snapped, "It won't happen again!"

**-x-**

"ROBIN!" Nami shouted as she ran out into the clearing and over to her unconscious crewmate.

"You know what they say," Sanji whispered to Usopp as they followed behind Nami, "Unconscious girls can't say 'no'."

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Nami snarled at him.

"**Ugghh… Miss… Navigator?" **Robin weakly called out. She opened her eyes and looked up at Nami. "I thought I heard you shouting. Here… I got your weapon back…" Nami smiled and took her Clima-Tact.

"Thanks Robin," Nami replied with a grateful smile.

"I'm just glad such a dangerous weapon is back in the right hands," Robin commented.

"It might just be me because I'm super smart," Usopp bragged, "But since when does Captain Nami 'thank' someone?"

"Last time she thanked me with a rough kick in the balls," Sanji stated.

"She said she'd give me food," Luffy added.

"Robin… you're hurt…" Nami realized, "Usopp! Take her back to the ship."

"Why do _I _have to do it?" Usopp complained. "_I'm _Vice-Captain!"

"Because this is really important and you're the only one I trust with it," Nami told him. "Sanji can't be trusted alone with her and Luffy would try to eat all our meat. You're the best choice."

"Well of course I am," Usopp bragged as he puffed out his chest. "I'm Vice-Captain Usopp!" Usopp came forward and he and Nami helped Robin up and threw one of her arms over Usopp's shoulders.

"Thank you… Mr.… Long Nose…" Robin said.

"You sure, you've got her?" Nami asked.

"Of course I've got her!" Usopp insisted. "Don't question the greatness of Vice-Captain Usopp!"

"Good," Nami remarked, "We'll continue up the mountain and help the others."

Usopp carried Robin towards the forest while Nami led Luffy and Sanji up the first flight of steps. Nami could practically feel Sanji's eyes on her butt as she ran up the steps ahead of him but knew there were more pressing matters to worry about at the moment.

**-x-**

"Huff… huff… huff…" Chopper panted as he knelt on the ground and clutched at his recently broken ribs.

"It's over, beast," Sessou stated as she walked up to him and raised her leg overhead. "And I've already wasted enough time on you. You can't block my attacks and now because of your injuries you can't dodge them. Good bye. EPAULÉ…" Sessou jumped up for a downward kick at Chopper's shoulder.

"RAAAAH!" Chopper roared as he surged up off of the ground and lashed out his big fist. "HEAVY… GONG!" **KER-WHAM! **Chopper's fist slammed into the woman and sent her flying backwards. **THUD! **Sessou dropped to the ground and laid there motionless.

"I… did it…" Chopper wheezed, "I got her… tehe…he…he ow… laughing hurts when you've got broken ribs…"

"**That's not the only thing that'll hurt in a couple seconds!" **Chopper gaped in alarm as Sessou pushed herself back up to her feet. SHE WITHSTOOD HIS ATTACK!

"GAAAH!" Chopper shrieked in terror. Sessou clearly had Sanji's ability to take a beating.

Sessou momentarily held her chest where Chopper had hit her then once again started advancing on the terrified reindeer. "As I said before, I've wasted enough time on you. It's over, beast."

**Click! SWISH! **Sessou and Chopper gaped in surprise as Sessou's lock belt was suddenly undone and the bottoms of her black robes were suddenly down around her ankles exposing the woman's pink _bloomers _to all who cared to look. The underwear looked like something a grandmother would wear – a normal grandmother mind you, not Dr. Kureha who Chopper learned wore panties more fitting of Nami when she ordered him to do the laundry. Speaking of Nami...

"Hehehehe," Nami laughed from where she was crouched down behind Sessou, "Gotcha."

"You… little…" Sessou growled as she blushed crimson and struggled to face the cackling pirate with her bottoms down around her ankles.

Nami stood back up and pointed her Clima-Tact at Sessou, two parts were stuck together to form a small pole and were fitted into a middle hole on the third part making it look like a long 'T'. "TORNADO TEMPO!" **BA-BOOM! Peep! Peep! Peep! **A pair of familiar wind-up birds shot out of the two side holes.

"That's it?" Sessou asked. "Damn brat, you had me worried for nothing!"

Sessou completely missed the two birds wrapping around her arm and leg that is… until the 'T' segment started spinning and pulled them tight. **FWUP! FWUP! FWUP! FWUP!**

"Wha-what are you doing?" Sessou sputtered. She struggled to fight free but with her bottoms binding her legs together at the ankles she couldn't free herself. "NOOOOOO!" **WHRRL! WHRRL! WHRRRL! **The woman screamed as she started spinning along with the 'T' pole. "STOOOP IIIT! HEEEELP!" **BOOOOOOM! **The spinning 'T' pole fired off of the rest of the Clima-Tact and sent Sessou spinning into the side of the mountain. **KER-RASH!**

When the dust settled, Sessou's bottoms had been left behind at Nami's feet and a hole the size and shape of an upside-down Sessou had been made in the side of the mountain.

Nami smirked and looked over her shoulder in time to see the kanji fade from Sanji's forehead.

"Um… Miss. Nami… what happened?" Sanji asked as he rubbed his head in confusion. "The last thing I remember is wanting to give that High Priest son-of-a-bitch a good ass kicking."

"Are you gonna eat that raccoon?" Luffy inquired as he glanced hungrily at Chopper.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Nami shouted, "Sanji, there should be an unconscious woman in that hole over there. Could you untangle her from my Clima-Tact and bring it back to me?"

"Of course, Miss. Nami!" Sanji quickly agreed and went over to the hole and peered into it. "Oh, the poor dear was blasted a good five feet in here."

Nami knelt down next to Chopper, "Chopper, are you okay?"

"I… I think so…" Chopper answered, "I've got some broken ribs but I'll pull through. You came just in time. Sanji's fighting style is really tough. Without a Rumble Ball I didn't stand much of a chance against her. Big Brother was right, I need to learn the Steel Shield technique so I can fight better with my three original forms."

"Ricky!" Nami suddenly gasped. "He's up at the top, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Chopper answered, "He and Zoro went on ahead."

"And knowing Zoro, he's probably covered in blood," Nami realized. "Think you can manage the trip up?"

"I'll try," Chopper told her, he struggled to stand but with his injuries he ended up collapsing. **FWUMP! **"It's no good."

"Sanji!" Nami called out.

"Yes, Miss. Nami!" Sanji replied as he returned with her Clima-Tact. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Nami said as she took her weapon back, "Chopper's the reason you're normal again. Would you mind repaying the favor by carrying up the mountain so he can patch up Zoro?"

"Alright," Sanji agreed as he scooped Chopper up onto his back. "Moss Ball will need all the medical help he can get."

"Can't I just have one bite?" Luffy requested.

"CHOPPER'S NOT FOOD!" Nami yelled at him. "Let's go guys, the longer it takes us to get up there, the longer Zoro's gonna have to bleed to death."

**-x-**

"GUM… GUM… PIIISTOOOL!" Nagai lashed his long arm out at Ricky.

"_One major weakness to Luffy's powers is that when he stretches one of his limbs out, the limb becomes a bigger target for the enemy to attack," _Ricky thought to himself as the fist rushed towards him. _"Luffy's combats this weakness by using his body's elasticity to quickly snap back into his original shape after executing a strike. This guy however only has long limbs which means they won't snap back after an attack."_

**WOOOSH! **Ricky leaned to the side to dodge the punch and spun sideways as he prepared to attack Nagai's extended arm.

Nagai's eyes widened when he saw Ricky going for his arm, he reached for his shoulder with his other arm in an attempt to pull his arm back in a similar manner that Luffy would but all that was forgotten when he felt another one of his henchmen fall.

"Sessou…"

**THWAK!** Ricky smashed his foot full force into Nagai's lower elbow then kept spinning and drove the steel bottom of his boot into Nagai's upper elbow before he had a chance to recover. **THWHAM! **Nagai spun sideways and went crashing down to the ground.

"Damn you!" Nagai growled as he held his arm.

"_Another major difference between this guy and Luffy is that Luffy's rubber body is good for absorbing the impact of most blows," _Ricky commented to himself. _"This Luffy-impersonator doesn't have that particular advantage and now with two broken elbows one of his arms has been rendered effectively useless."_

"One limb down," Ricky announced, "Only three more to go."

"So that's your plan!" Nagai snarled, **SHOOM! **He executed another frog-jump and launched himself up into the air. "IT WON'T WORK!"

**-x-**

"Looks like Sessou's lost," Kyouken observed as he stared down the mountain using Usopp's incredible eyesight. "High Priest Nagai will be most displeased. I supposed I'll have to collect my arsenal so I'm prepared for my new guests."

"**You're not… gonna touch them…" **Kyouken's eyes widened in surprise as a bloody and burned Zoro pulled himself back over the edge of the lower level of the mountain and once again stood defiantly below him. Kyouken could see that Zoro's swords were coated in a thin layer of dirt which meant he'd stabbed them into the side of the mountain to keep himself from falling.

"You're still alive?" Kyouken questioned, "I suppose I should've done a more thorough search when I couldn't find your body."

"That's a mistake you're gonna regret," Zoro assured him. "You've been doing all the attacking. Now it's my turn." Zoro held both swords in one hand while he drew _Wado Ichimonji _and got his three swords properly situated. **SKISH! **Zoro leapt over the oil trap and the caltrops and landed on the steps then began running up them.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Kyouken shouted, "FIRE STAR!" **FWING! **Kyouken fired the orange projectile at his charging opponent and as expected of Usopp's aim it struck the swordsman on the chest. **FWOOOOOSSSHHH! **Zoro's body was soon covered in flames… BUT HE KEPT CHARGING!

Zoro ignored the fire and ignored all the other injuries that he'd suffered from Usopp's arsenal and kept pressing onward. He numbed his body to the pain it was in and focused solely on the task… and opponent… before him. Zoro touched his swords to his burning body and they soon caught on fire along with him.

"WHAT… WHAT ARE YOU?" Kyouken demanded as Zoro bounded up the last few steps. "THIS CAN'T BE REAL!"

**SKISH! **Zoro leapt over the hole he'd blasted in the ground and flew at Kyouken and lashed out with all three burning swords, "FLAMING… DEMON SLICE!" **SLA-SLOSH! **Zoro's burning swords slashed through Kyouken's body as he flew past and then landed behind him in a crouch. **Tmp! **Kyouken let out a faint gasp before he dropped to the ground unconscious. **FWUMP!**

"He may be a loudmouth, but Usopp's got some pretty nasty toys in that bag of his," Zoro remarked. "I'm glad that's finally over." Zoro sheathed his swords then dropped to the ground. **FWUMP! **He rolled over to smother the flames on him before finally succumbing to his injuries and losing consciousness.

**-x-**

"Be happy I brought you back here," Usopp told Robin as he sat her down against the main mast. "I'm not just some errand boy, ya know."

"I'm aware of that, thank you Mr. Long Nose," Robin replied.

"That's _Vice-Captain_ Long Nose to you!" Usopp insisted, "Or even better Vice-Captain UUu…" The kanji suddenly disappeared from his forehead and Usopp was left staring blankly. "Uh… what was I doing just now?"

"Loudly shouting your name," Robin informed him.

"Oh? Was I doing something brave and heroic?" Usopp asked.

"Not exactly," Robin admitted, "but I do appreciated you bringing me back here. I had a rather unpleasant encounter with that weapon Miss. Navigator wields."

"The Clima-Tact?" Usopp questioned.

"You heard of it?" Robin inquired.

"Heard of it?" Usopp exclaimed, "I MADE it! Of course, Nami's found a lot more uses for it than I could've ever thought of."

"I learned a few of them first hand," Robin stated, "You certainly made an effective weapon. I hope it doesn't fall into the wrong hands again."

"Fall into the wrong hands?" Usopp repeated. "What's going on?"

"I suppose I could fill you in," Robin commented. "How much do you remember from when you were at the temple?"

**-x-**

**SKISH! **Ricky lunged out of the way and Nagai slammed into the ground where he'd been standing. **BOOOM! **Nagai pushed himself back up and swung his long leg around at Ricky, "GUUM… GUUM… WHIIIP!" **WOOSH! **Ricky ducked under Nagai's spinning leg then jumped up into the air. **SKISH! **With Ricky coming right at him and with only one working arm, there was only one move Nagai could make. "GUUM… GUUUM… PIISTOOL!" **WOOSH! **Ricky predicted Nagai's obvious move and veered around his fist then grabbed his arm. **WHAP!**

**Tmp! **Ricky dropped to the ground and used the momentum to flip Nagai over his shoulder and onto his back. **WHAM! **While still holding the High Priest's arm up off the ground, Ricky lashed out his leg and drove the steel toe of his boot into his shoulder. **THWAK-KRACK! **Nagai's shoulder shattered now leaving both of his arms useless.

"Luffy's body is made of rubber while you're still only flesh and bone," Ricky stated, "You can't compare to him with that cheap imitation of his fighting style."

"THEN I'LL BEAT YOU WITHOUT ANY ARMS!" Nagai insisted as he dragged himself away from Ricky with his legs and stood back up.

"Hmm… maybe you have Luffy's durability," Ricky noted, "But it looks like your body can't hold it properly."

"GUUUM… GUUUUM… STAAAMP!" Nagai lashed out his leg at Ricky. "UGGH!" But suddenly lurched and stopped in mid-attack when he felt his final disciple fall. "Kyouken…"

"And that's the last opening I need," Ricky stated. "Thanks Zoro." He spun under Nagai's extended leg and slipped behind him. "Quarterstaff… SWEEP!" **THWAK! **Ricky's foot smacked into the leg Nagai was standing on and made the High Priest to drop to his knees. Ricky slipped back around Nagai and lunged at him with a spinning kick aimed at the long-limbed man's now reachable stomach. "Machete… BACK KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky's foot slammed into Nagai's stomach causing the High Priest to double over in an awkward looking bow. **SKISH! **Ricky jumped into the air and raised his leg up overhead, "Jumping… AX KICK!" **THA-WAK! **Ricky drove his heel down into Nagai's exposed neck. **WHAM! **Nagai's face was driven down into the ground while Ricky landed and launched himself back at the Priest and drove his feet into the man's side, "Low… ARROW KICK!" **THWHAM! **Nagai was sent rolling across the floor. **SKISH! **Ricky launched himself up into the air and flew overhead. When he was above Nagai – who stopped rolling – Ricky came down feet-first, "Bludgeon STOMP!" **THWHOMP! KREK-KREK-KRAK! **Nagai's ribs broke under the force of Ricky's feet slamming into his chest. Even if he had somehow withstood the injury, the Sea-Stone that was now firmly planted on his chest rendered the High Priest helpless.

"Sea… Stone…" Nagai wheezed. He hadn't noticed it before since Ricky's attacks had all been hard and fast. But now that he was exposed to its effects for a longer period of time, he finally felt it and felt the last remaining effects of his Devil Fruit Powers wear off.

"Your men have fallen and now you have too," Ricky stated. "You may have had the fighting styles of my Nakama but you can't copy their heart. That's why you lost. And that's why the so-called peace you created on this island is all a lie. You've trampled on their hearts and broken their wills. But now that you're defeated, your reign is over and they can finally start living happy lives."Ricky stepped off of the prone priest and turned to leave. "I hope you learned something from all of this."

"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" Nagai screamed. He lunged off of the ground and ignored the pain in his shattered shoulder as he lashed out his arm and slapped Ricky on the back. **WHAP! **"Since your Captain's fighting abilities won't work for me… I'll use _yours _instead!" The 'patience' kanji glowed on the chest of Nagai's Chinese style robes. "And now that I know your unarmed style, I know that I won't even need my arms to pull off most of your moves. I'll use your abilities to defeat those friends of yours and with all of you dealt with my control over this island will be stronger than ever."

"Bad idea…" Ricky said as slowly reached up and undid his eye patch.

"What?" Nagai growled, "I've had enough of you! JAVELIN KICK!" Nagai lashed out at Ricky for his own signature kick. **WHOOSH! **Ricky spun around and with an outstretched arm stopped the kick before it even reached him.

"Hah-ha," Ricky's red eye glowed brightly along with the kanji for 'Wrath' on his back. "You've just made the biggest mistake of your life! And now… I'm gonna make you regret it!"

**-x-**

**Ricky's Wrath:**

**-x-**

"Zoro… Zoro… are you still alive?" Nami asked as she shook the wounded swordsman.

"Yeah… unless I'm in hell…" Zoro grumbled, "Which would explain why you're here…"

"Yup, he's fine," Nami informed the others.

"Did Usopp's stuff do all that to you?" Sanji questioned as he stared down at the injured Zoro. "You must be slipping."

"He's a lot tougher than you think," Zoro assured him. "The guy went down easy enough but the challenge was getting close to him. He had all sorts of toys made for the sole purpose of keeping his opponents away from him."

Chopper looked up from his inspection of Zoro's injuries, "You're lucky that most of your injuries aren't too deep. The problem is that you've got external and _internal _burns."

"I'll live," Zoro insisted.

"Those look bad," Luffy stated. "What the heck happened to you?" Nami and Sanji looked between them at Luffy who was standing there with a kanji-less forehead like he'd been there the whole time.

"Luffy!" Nami exclaimed. "You're back!"

"That must mean that Big Brother won!" Chopper realized.

"Won? Huh? What's going on?" Luffy inquired. "Weren't we up at the temple?"

"Yeah," Sanji attempted to explain, "but we—"

"Actually we were just heading back there to meet Ricky!" Nami interrupted. "C'mon, let's hurry! Chopper, we'll leave you to deal with Zoro. Head back down to the Merry and we'll meet you there once we help Ricky finish dealing with that damn High Priest."

"Right," Chopper agreed, "Make sure someone tells the villagers that the High Priest's been beaten, those poor people need some good news to brighten their lives."

"Sure," Nami told him, "Luffy, Sanji, let's go!" The three left Chopper behind to deal with Zoro and took off up the remaining flight of steps to the temple.

**-x-**

When they arrived at the temple they were surprised to see that the huge double doors had been knocked out of their frame and were lying flat on the floor.

"Must've been some battle," Sanji remarked as they stepped over the doors and once again entered the temple.

"I wonder what Ricky did to that priest-guy," Luffy wondered.

"Stuck him in a big cage," Nami answered.

"How'd you know that?" Luffy asked.

"He's right over there," Nami pointed out. Luffy and Sanji looked over where she was pointing and found High Priest Nagai trapped in a large cage.

"If the priest guy's over there then where's Ricky?" Sanji questioned.

"KEEP THAT MONSTER AWAY FROM ME!" Nagai shrieked.

"'Monster'?" Nami repeated. "The only monster here is you!"

"**Would you prefer 'demon'?"** The three Straw Hats looked across the large room and saw Ricky standing there with an angry scowl on his face and a glowing red eye.

"Ricky, what's going o—" **ZZZZOOOM! **Luffy was cut off when Ricky sped across the room and appeared right in front of them and lashed out both arms. **WOOOSH! **Luffy and Sanji were sent flying back out the opened doorway.

A sinister grin spread across Ricky's face as he turned to Nami who started backing away.

"Ricky! Snap out of it!" Nami urged him. "You're under the effects of the High Priest's Devil Fruit Powers!"

"I know that," Ricky replied, "And I like it!" Ricky pulled back his arm.

"EEK!" Nami shrieked and flinched away.

**POW! **Luffy's fist came flying through the doorway and slammed into Ricky's chest and sent him flying backwards.

"Nami! Get back!" Luffy ordered as he followed his fist back into the temple. "I don't know what's going on… but I'll handle Ricky. You and Sanji deal with the Priest."

Luffy walked past Nami and approached Ricky who stood back up and glared at him from across the room. "You're gonna pay for that you rubber freak."

"I'm not a rubber freak, I'm your brother!" Luffy insisted. "And since you're acting like an angry bastard it's my job _as your brother_ TO KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Then come and die," Ricky taunted him.

"GUUUM… GUUUM… BAAAZOOOKAAA!" **SHOOM! **Luffy shot his rubber arms across the room at Ricky.

"Red Eye… DOUBLE PUNCH!" Ricky lashed out both arms and a pair of telekinetic punches from the red eye met Luffy's fists in the middle of the room. **WHAM! **Even thought there was nothing visibly flying towards Luffy's fists the sound of something connecting with it through the temple as Luffy and Ricky were both sent skidding backwards after their powerful attacks collided.

Nami's attention was torn from the fight when Sanji grabbed her hand. "Miss. Nami, do you think you can get that cage opened?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll see what I can do," Nami agreed as she and Sanji went over to the cage.

"Listen bastard!" Sanji growled at the trapped Nagai, "We'll let you out of there but in exchange you've gotta undo what you did to Ricky."

"Are you _insane_?" Nagai hissed. "The effects of my Devil Fruit Powers are the only things keeping me _alive_! That maniac likes what I did to him and he decided not to kill me so he could stay that way!"

"Miss. Nami, would you mind getting the cage opened?" Sanji requested, "It looks like I need to beat some sense into this guy."

Nami reached into the waistband of her skirt and pulled out a lock pick. She usually kept one on her ever since she first started cracking treasure chests as a pirate thief. She made the mistake of leaving her old lock pick in her regular clothes when she changed into her dancer outfit back in Alabasta. Those clothes – and the lock pick – were stolen by the Warusagi that tricked Luffy when they were crossing the desert so she had to buy a new one. After getting trapped in Crocodile's cage for so long during such a dire situation Nami made sure now to always have her lock pick on her just in case..

"Gimme a few seconds," Nami instructed Sanji as she got to work on picking the lock.

"NO! LEAVE IT LOCKED!" Nagai yelled. "If you fools take me out there'll be no one to stop your rampaging friend!"

"Oh yeah?" Sanji countered, "How 'bout that guy?" Sanji motioned over to Luffy and briefly turned his attention to the fight going on between his Captain and his wrathful First Mate.

"GUUUM… GUUUUM… PIIISTOOOOL!" **SHOOM! **Luffy shot his rubber arm out at Ricky but with a dismissive wave of his arm Ricky made Luffy's fist veer off course and sail right by him. **Whap! **Luffy's extended hand grabbed onto a statue behind Ricky and yanked Luffy forward. **SHOOOM! **"GUUUUM… GUUUUUUM… SIIICKLEEEE!" Luffy stuck his other arm out and aimed for Ricky's head as he flew at him.

"Red Eye… PUNCH!" **WOOSH! **Ricky lashed out his fist and a telekinetic punch connected with Luffy's chest and sent him flying backwards. But Luffy flipped over in midair and landed on his feet in a crouch. **TMP!**

"That… hurt," Luffy realized as he rubbed his rubber chest where Ricky had punched him. His body hadn't absorbed the impact like it normally did but then again Ricky hadn't used a physical attack.

"What's the matter? Are you already regretting your decision to fight me?" Ricky asked.

"Nope, I'm just getting started!" Luffy insisted.

"Good," Ricky replied, "Because I wouldn't have stopped anyway."

**-x-**

**CLICK! **The lock on Nagai's cage popped and Nami swung the door open then quickly moved out of the way. "He's all yours Sanji!"

"Oh no you don't!" Nagai growled. "Javelin… KICK!" **THWAK! **Nagai's long leg lashed out and connected with Sanji's jaw. Since it wasn't incased in steel like Ricky's normally was it lacked some of its effectiveness.

"So you're gonna make this hard," Sanji realized as he stood back up and rubbed his chin.

"I like your angry friend's health plan better than yours," Nagai replied. "I already lost to that maniac once using the rubber freak's fighting style. He doesn't stand a chance now that he's even stronger. He's keeping me alive so he can stay how he is, you two on the other hand he'll have no problem with killing!"

"You dumb-ass, Luffy's body is made of rubber," Sanji pointed out. "You couldn't hope to copy his style. Luffy can hold off Ricky, and if I take you out, Ricky'll go back to normal."

**-x-**

"GUUUMM… GUUUUMMM… ROOOCKEEET!" Luffy used his hold on another statue behind Ricky to go rocketing towards his opponent. **SHOOM!**

**FWUP! **Ricky dropped down onto his back and shot his legs up as Luffy came flying over him, "Red Eye… UNDERBELLY KICK!"** WHOMP! **Luffy was launched his up into the air thanks a pair of telekinetic kicks. Ricky stood back up then snapped his hands down and shot himself up into the air after Luffy. **SHOO!**

Luffy reached the peak and started dropping causing Ricky to fly up past him, then he flipped over and shot his legs down. "Red Eye… STOMP!" **THOMP! **Another pair of telekinetic kicks sent Luffy flying back down to the ground.

Luffy remembered Ricky using this combination to nearly knock out Arlong so he quickly countered. "GUUM… GUUM… BAAALLOOOON!" **FWOOF! **Luffy inflated himself and slammed into the ground. **BOING! **His round rubber body bounced off the floor and he deflated in midair then flipped and landed in a crouch.

Ricky came down right in front of him and Luffy quickly stretched his arm out behind him, "GUUUM… GUUUUM… BUULLEEEET!"

Ricky didn't have enough time to block the rapidly incoming punch so he did the next best thing. "Steel Shield!" **KA-POW! **Luffy's fist connected and sent Ricky skidding backwards but because Ricky had developed this technique for the main purpose of withstanding attacks like the one Luffy had just hit him with he was left unarmed.

**-x-**

"Machete… BACK KICK!" Nagai lashed his long leg out behind him at Sanji but the cook dodged to the side. "You don't stand a chance against me! With these kicks and my long legs, I'm stronger than you _and _I've got a longer reach." Nagai lashed out for another long kick.

**THWAK! **Sanji met Nagai's kick with a kick of his own and deflected it. "Hate to break it to ya. But Ricky's not stronger than me, and neither are you."

"Spinning… WHIP KICK!" Nagai spun around and whipped his deflected leg at Sanji. **THWAK! **Sanji kicked Nagai's leg away from him then surged forward for a flying kick. "Steel Shield!" **THWHAM! **Sanji's foot slammed into Nagai's chest but with his already broken ribs the High Priest couldn't hope to tense his muscles enough to block the blow. **WHAM! **Nagai slammed into the front of the cage and dropped to his knees.

"Ricky's kicks don't hold a candle to mine ya lanky bastard," Sanji taunted.

**-x-**

"GUUUUM… GUUUUUM… WHIIIP!" **SWISH! **Luffy swung his leg around at Ricky's head but with a wave of his hand Ricky forced Luffy's legs upward and made it go over his head. **SKISH! **Luffy pushed off of the ground with his other leg and stretched it up over his head while in the air above Ricky, "GUUUUUM… GUUUUUM… BAAAATTLEEEE AAAX!" Luffy stopped the spin from his whip and snapped his other leg down at Ricky from overhead.

"Red Eye… UPPERCUT!" **WOOSH! **Ricky lashed his fist upward and blocked Luffy's kick with a telekinetic punch. **SHOO! **Ricky launched himself up into the air so he was level with Luffy and lashed out his arm. "Red Eye… PUNCH!" **WOOSH! **Ricky's telekinetic punch connected with Luffy's chest and sent him flying across the room where he crashed into the wall above the empty doorway. **WHAM! **Luffy's body dropped and hit the ground. **KRASH!**

**-x-**

"Maybe you are stronger than me," Nagai confessed, "but you're not faster! Speed Step!" **ZZZZZOOOOM! **Nagai sped towards Sanji.

"SAUTÉ!" Sanji kicked off of the ground and caught the High Priest off guard with his own speed technique followed by a fast kick to the chest. **THWAK! **

Nagai was sent flying and slowly pushed himself back up. "Ricky taught me how to do that technique," Sanji stated, "but I have to ask, how did you overcome the fact that the technique leaves your legs numb the first few times you use it?"

"What?" **FWUMP! **Nagai's long legs gave out and he dropped to his knees.

Sanji capitalized on the opening and launched himself up into the air, "COLLIER! EPAULÉ!" **THWAK-WHAK! **Sanji drove one foot down into Nagai's collar and the other into his shattered shoulder. **FWIP! **Sanji flipped off of Nagai and landed in a handstand. "COTELETTE!" **THWAK! **He connected with a spinning upside-down kick to Nagai's broken ribs then followed up with a kick to the back. "SÉLLE!" **THWAK!**

**FWUMP! **"Uggghhh…" Nagai groaned as he fell on his face. He pushed himself back up to his knees only to be met with another kick from Sanji.

"POITRINE!" **THWAK! **Sanji's foot connected with Nagai's chest then he followed up with a sweeping kick to the thigh, "GIGOT!" **THWHAM! **Once again, Nagai was brought down to the ground. **FWUMP! **

"Impossible…" Nagai gasped, "How could Sessou possibly lose if you're so much stronger…"

"**That was because of me," **Nami said as she caught Nagai off guard by coming out of nowhere and pulling him back up to his knees, "GET HIM SANJI!"

Nami dove out of the way while Sanji launched himself at the kneeling Nagai, "MOUTON SHOOT!" **BA-BA-BA-BAM!** Sanji's foot smashed into Nagai's chest, brutalized his remaining ribs and sent him sailing across the room. **KRASH! **Nagai slammed through a wall and was left lying still on the ground. This time he didn't get up.

**-x-**

Ricky tensed when the kanji disappeared from his forehead. "What the…"

"GUUUM… GUUUUUM… BAAAZOOOOKAAAAA!" **WHAM! **Luffy's fists slammed into Ricky's unguarded stomach and sent him flying into a wall near the hole Nagai had made. **KROOOSH! **The wall had barely withstood the long-limbed High Priest slamming through it, Ricky smashed into it was too much and it crumbled. **KRASH! KRASH! KRASH! **Ricky was left buried in the rubble of the collapsed wall.

"The priest is taken care of and Ricky's back to normal," Sanji resolved, "It looks like our work here is done."

"Good," Luffy replied, "That eye of his is a real pain."

**FWING! **The rubble flew up into the air and was scattered across the room.** "Heh-heh-heh!" **The familiar laugh caused shivers to go down Nami's spine while Luffy and Sanji immediately went on guard.** "Did somebody call me?" **Rick stood in place of the rubble, the Eye of the Devil was still glowing brightly and his hair was standing up in straight spikes.

"Oh no!" Nami gasped, "The High Priest's Devil Fruit made it so _Ricky_ was the one attacking us before and Luffy just knocked him out! Now there's no one to keep the Eye in check!"

"I don't know how I regained control," Red Eye admitted, "but I'm going to make the most of this and kill all three of you right here." **SHOOM! **Rick snapped his arms down and rocketed across the room. "STARTING WITH YOU!" It took Luffy and Sanji a couple seconds to realize that RED EYE WAS GOING AFTER NAMI!

"**SAUTÉ!"** **ZZZOOOOM! **Sanji tackled Nami out of the way.

"**GUM… GUM… STAMP!" THWHAM! **Luffy's extended leg slammed into Red Eye's side and sent him crashing into the front of the cage. **KLANG!**

"Straw Hat…" Red Eye snarled as he got up and glared at Luffy. "You just couldn't wait your turn? Congratulations, now you're Number 1 on my People-to-Kill list!"

"I won't let you kill anyone," Luffy resolved as he clenched his fists.

"Heh-heh-heh!" Red Eye laughed, "You think you can stop me? Once I kill you and the annoying girl the brat will be so broken he'll _never_ regain control!"

The Eye of the Devil was once again unleashed. And now Luffy stood in front of it as the only obstacle preventing it from embarking on another blood-crazed rampage.

**-x-**

Uh oh, this doesn't look good. Next chapter it's Luffy versus Red Eye.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	5. Luffy versus Red Eye

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**Luffy versus Red Eye:**

**-x-**

Up in the Bonsatsu Island temple, Luffy and Red Eye looked ready to get their fight underway while Nami and Sanji stood over the prone form of High Priest Nagai and watched from the sidelines.

Luffy charged Red Eye with his fist cocked back, "GUUUM… GUUUUM… PIISTOOOL!" Luffy threw a hard punch but Red Eye weaved around it. **WOOSH! **Luffy's arm went flying passed him but he kept stretching it out and wrapped it around a statue. **SHOOM! **Luffy swung himself around the station and launched himself back at Red Eye, "GUM… GUM… ROCKET!" Luffy shot out his arm for a flying punch, "GUUUM… GUUUUM… PIIISTOOOL!"

But Red Eye lashed out his arm for a punch of his own, "Red Eye… PUNCH!" **POW! **Their fists collided and Red Eye was sent skidding backwards while Luffy who was still up in the air went flying but managed to flip over and land on his feet. **TMP!**

"RAAAAH!" Luffy roared as he charged back in and threw a high punch at Ricky's face. **WHAP! **Red Eye raised his arm and blocked the punch with minimal effort but Luffy's punch was a feint and he quickly followed up with another punch directed at Ricky's side only for Red Eye to use his other arm to block that punch as well. **WHAP! **With both of Luffy's arms occupied, Red Eye lashed out and kneed Luffy in the stomach, **WHAM!**

Luffy doubled over and staggered backwards Red Eye wound up and lashed out for a follow up punch, "RED EYE PUNCH!" **POW! **Ricky's fist connected with Luffy's face and Luffy went crashing to the ground and tumbled across the floor over to Nami and Sanji.

Luffy sat up and rubbed the side of his face where Red Eye had hit him, "That hurt…"

"How could that hurt?" Nami asked, "You're made of _rubber_!"

"I know," Luffy replied, "but he hits like Grandpa."

"I hope you're not getting scared already," Red Eye taunted.

"NOT EVEN CLOSE!" Luffy retorted as he shot back to his feet and charged back in.

**-x-**

On the mountain two levels below, Chopper had bandaged up both himself and Zoro and now the two of them both had long lengths of bandages wrapped around their torsos and backs.

Currently the partially mummified duo was trying to gather some of Usopp's remaining weapons that hadn't been soaked in greasy oil or Zoro's blood. Chopper felt bad bringing back Usopp's arsenal bag in such an empty state. It was missing two lengths of suriken, the container of caltrops, the bottle of rum, and the container greasy oil and was much lighter than normal. The only things that had been untouched over the course of Zoro's fight with Kyouken were Usopp's collection of hammers and his mini-blackboard.

"That'll be enough to keep Usopp from getting upset," Chopper stated as he dropped the last of the clean caltrops in Usopp's bag.

"Now we've gotta figure out whether to follow the others up to the temple or head back down to the ship," Zoro said.

"I haven't seen Robin yet," Chopper said, "She might be injured."

"Nami probably convinced Usopp to bring her back to the ship," Zoro reasoned, "which is probably the best place for her to recover for now."

"Then should we go help the others?" Chopper suggested.

"Knowing those four, they've already beaten the High Priest and are probably raiding his kitchen and treasure vault," Zoro remarked.

"But what if Big Brother got hurt fighting the High Priest while he was acting like Luffy?" Chopper inquired.

"Then I guess we should head up to the temple so you can treat him and bring him back to ship," Zoro decided. The two of them turned and stared up the two long flights of steps ahead of them. "I am not looking forward to this climb."

**-x-**

Luffy jumped up into the air and thrust his arms down at Red Eye for a fast barrage of punches.

But Red Eye crossed Ricky's arms in front of him and called out, "Red Eye… SHIELD!" **WHOM! WHOM! WHOM! **Luffy's punches batter harmlessly against and invisible wall above and in front of Red Eye.

"Grrrr…" Luffy growled in annoyance, "Not only does it make his attacks strong but now it's blocking mine…"

Red Eye quickly capitalized and swung Ricky's arm at Luffy, "Red Eye… RISING PUNCH!" **WHAP! **Luffy managed to block the punch but the invisible power behind it sent him flying up into the air overhead. **WOOSH!**

Red Eye snapped Ricky's arms down and launched himself up into the air above Luffy and drove his legs down at the rubber man. **SHOOM! **"Red Eye… STOMP!"

Luffy countered and quickly shot his fists up to meet Ricky's feet, "GUUUM… GUUUM… BAAZOOOKAAA!" **WHAM! **Red Eye went flying further up into the air while Luffy dropped downward. Luffy acted quickly and curled himself up into a ball. **BWOING! **His round rubber body bounced off of the floor and was launched back up into the air. Luffy uncurled himself and shot his arm out at Red Eye, "GUUUM… GUUUM… PIIISTOOOL!" **SHOO!**

Red Eye dodged Luffy's punch but Luffy's arm keeps going and his fist smashes through the ceiling above him, **POW! **Luffy's extended hand grabbed onto the edge of the hole in the ceiling and his stretched arm retracted bringing him rocketing up to Red Eye. **SHOOM!** Luffy stuck his other arm out for an attack, "GUUUM… GUUUM… SICKLE!"

Down below, Nami and Sanji are left watching Luffy and Red Eye's mid-air battle in awe.

Red Eye lashed out when Luffy got close and sent a telekinetic punch at Luffy's extended arm. **WHOOSH! **The punch connects and causes Luffy's to spin out of control as his body is pulled closer by his other arm. **WHING-WHING-WHING-WHING!**

Red Eye lashed out again and fired a series of fast punches, "Red Eye… RAPID PUNCHES!" **POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!** Luffy's spinning body recoiled from being struck by Red Eye's barrage of invisible strikes before he goes crashing down to the ground. **BOOOM!**

Red Eye dropped down and landed next to him in a crouch, **TMP!**

"I know what you're trying to do," Red Eye taunted as he stood over Luffy. Luffy glared at him and drove his feet down into the floor. **Shunk! Shunk! **"You know that this body has been through two fights already and you're hoping that by withstanding my attacks while keeping up a contestant flurry of your own that the brat's injuries will take effect and I'll get worn out enough to give you an opening. It's clever… for you. Too bad I can read your simple mind like a book. You won't be able to keep this up for long and once you reach your breaking point I'll tear you apart."

"READ THIS!" **WHAP! **Luffy shot out his arms and grabbed onto the front of Ricky's shirt. While Red Eye was boasting, Luffy had twisted his rubber body around multiple times and twisted his arms together. "GUUUUM… GUUUUM… WIIIINDMIIIIIL!" **WOOOINNNG! **Luffy's rubber body began unwinding and his twisted arms yanked Red Eye off of the ground and swung him around in midair with an attack that neither he nor Ricky had ever seen before. **WOOOSH! WOOOOSH! WOOOOSH! WOOOOSH!**

When Red Eye was sufficiently dizzy and his body had finished unwinding, Luffy swung Red Eye behind him and prepared to swing him over his shoulders for his next big attack, "GUUUM… GUUUM… HAAAMMEEEER!"

But before Luffy could bring the hammer down, Red Eye grabbed Luffy's wrists and pushed his feet off of a nearby wall. **Whap! SHOOM! **Red Eye flipped over Luffy's and landed unharmed on his feet in front of him. **TMP! **Then Red Eye turned around and used Luffy's stretched and twisted arms to yank Luffy out of the floor and up into the air. **WOING! **Luffy's arms started untwisting causing the rubber pirate to spin around while Red Eye pulled him through the air. **WHIR-WHIR-WHIR-WHIR! **Red Eye grabbed up higher on Luffy's arms and swung Luffy over Ricky's shoulder and slammed him head-first down into the floor at his feet. **WHAAAAM!**

"Heh-heh-heh!" Red Eye laughed as he stood over the prone pirate whose body had made a crater in the floor. "Like I said, I can read you like a book. All your efforts are useless."

**-x-**

"Where the hell did these guys come from?" Zoro demanded. He and Chopper found themselves swarmed by the white-robed members of the Priest Police. Never one to back down from a fight, even when injured, Zoro drew his swords and started fighting back. **SLISH! SLASH! **Zoro took down two men with a pair of quick slices from his swords. "And who the heck are they?"

"Big Brother, Robin, and I ran into them when we were visiting one of the villages," Chopper answering. **WHING! **He shrunk down into Brain Point form and jumped over the head of two Priest Police then grew as he transformed back into Heavy Point and lashed out at the men below him, **WHA-WHAM! **The men went crashing to the ground but more came to replace them. "They were with that green guy that we beat and work for the High Priest to keep the people from opposing him."

"They should've realized that if we took out all of the High Priests men that they're hardly a challenge even if there are a lot of them," Zoro stated. **SLA-SLA-SLASH! **Zoro lashed out with all three swords and took down a cluster of five men. "That explains my second question. But how did they get up here? We never even saw them coming!"

"Hahahaha!" one of the Priest Police laughed, "Only the High Priest's elite forces know about the secret elevator. Outsiders are forever forced to take the stairs, making them easy prey."

"Elevator?" Zoro and Chopper repeated at the same time. They stopped fighting and shared a glance then grinned. They'd just been granted a perfect opportunity to avoid another long climb. "Heh heh…" "Teeheehee!"

Much more motivated, Zoro and Chopper threw their injured bodies into the fight with gusto.

**-x-**

"Sanji! Luffy's getting clobbered!" Nami exclaimed, "You've gotta do something!"

Sanji nodded and moved to get involved in the one-sided fight but before he could Red Eye looked over at them and the Eye of the Devil started glowing.

**SHUNK! **"AAAAAAHHH!" Nami screamed out in agony as she was stabbed through the chest with a familiar blood-red sword.

Nami dropped to her knees and clutched her chest. She blinked. There was no blood, no pain, and most importantly, no sword.

"It wasn't real…" Nami realized, she looked over at Sanji who had gone pale and broke out into a sweat. "Sanji… did you just see yourself getting stabbed through the chest?"

"Worse Miss. Nami," Sanji replied, "I saw _you_ get stabbed through the chest."

Red Eye turned to them with a malevolent grin, "That was a warning," he told them. "If either of you refuse to wait your turn and get involved in Straw Hat's execution I'll be sure to carry it out for real." Nami and Sanji stepped back and shivered at the feel of Red Eye's cold demonic aura.

"**You… won't… touch… them…" **Luffy growled as he pushed himself out of the crater and fought back up to his feet.

"Hungry for more punishment?" Red Eye taunted him as he turned to face him.

"For once I'm full," Luffy stated. "You've been reading me wrong. I'm not trying to wear you down… Ricky told me how to _beat you_! He said that you can't kill anyone unless you break their will. I _won't _let you kill my Nakama! I _won't_ let you kill any more innocent people! AND I _WON'T _LOSE!"

"We'll just see about that!" Red Eye snarled. He snapped Ricky's arms down and flew up into the air overhead then came down legs-first. "Red Eye… DIVE!"

**WHAM! **Luffy reached up and caught Ricky's feet, he was careful to grab his boots by the steel sides to avoid contact with the Sea Stone bars on the bottom.

Luffy's body lurched downward after catching Red Eye and a bulge traveled down his legs to his feet before shooting back through his body and up his arms to his hands. His arms turned pink and stream wafted off of them.

Luffy pulled back one of his arms then faster than anyone could blink he slammed his fist into Ricky's chest. **KA-POW! **Red Eye went flying up into the air and slammed into the ceiling. **WHAM! **Then came crashing down to the floor. **BOOOM!**

"What… the hell… was that…" Red Eye demanded as he glared at Luffy from the ground.

"No idea," Luffy admitted as his pink arms returned to normal. "But it told you I wasn't gonna lose! Now get up! I'm just getting started!"

**-x-**

Zoro was once again covered in blood. Only this time it wasn't his. He and Chopper walked along a long tunnel that they'd discovered the Priest Police coming out.

"I guess we found the elevator," Zoro realized as he stared at the sliding door ahead of them. **Swish! **He grabbed the handle and pulled the door sideways to reveal the interior of the elevator.

"Do you think it's safe?" Chopper asked he peered into the wooden elevator.

"That High Priest wouldn't use it if it wasn't," Zoro reasoned as he walked inside, Chopper cautiously followed him. **SHUNK! **Zoro slid the door closed. "Look, here are the controls." Zoro pointed to a collection of buttons on the wall next to the door. "I think they've got a button for every level of the mountain. Now that I've seen this after climbing up most of it, I've lost a lot of respect for those guys. Up or down?"

"Well Usopp and Robin are back at the Going Merry," Chopper thought out loud, "The others are all up at the temple. If they're still fighting the priest maybe they need some help. And if they're done, I can tend to their injuries and we can give them a ride back down the mountain."

"Alright then," Zoro agreed, "Top floor it is." **Click! **Zoro pushed the button and the elevator lurched to live and starting rising.

Now that the door was closed and they were just waiting to reach their floor they realized that the elevator wasn't completely silent.

"Aah, what's that noise?" Chopper complained as he clamped his hooves over his ears.

"Ugghh… I think it might be _music_," Zoro answered as he glanced around the elevator, "It's coming from those two snails on the ceiling."

"I feel like I'm gonna fall asleep just standing here listening to it!" Chopper exclaimed. "If they call this music then they really are evil!"

"Be strong Chopper," Zoro advised, "We just beat twenty of their guards, we can handle some annoying music."

"Yeah, but those guards went down easy!" Chopper pointed out, "We're stuck with this until we reach the top!"

"Uggghh…" Zoro groaned as he clamped his hands over his own ears, "It's just a little further. We can take it." As Zoro and Chopper were subjected to the horror of elevator music the battle between Luffy and Red Eye waged on up in the temple.

**-x-**

"GUUUM… GUUUUM… PIIISTOOOL!" **SHOO! **Luffy threw a punch at Red Eye. **WHAP! **But Red Eye chopped it out of the way with ease.

"Looks like that fast punch of yours was a one-time fluke," Red Eye taunted. "But this isn't!" **WOOOSH! **Red Eye spun around in a full circle then kept going and did two more full spins. "Red Eye… SPIN KICK!" **THWAK! **Luffy was caught off guard when Ricky's long leg lashed out and connected with the side of his face. Luffy's head snapped to the side and spun all the way around and left him looking off to the side in surprise.

"EEP!" Nami squeaked while Sanji flinched. Luffy's rubber neck saved him as it was clear to them that most people's flesh and bone necks would've been broken from that hard kick.

Red Eye quickly capitalized while Luffy's head was still unwinding and lashed out his hands for a fast flurry of punches, "Red Eye… RAPID PUNCHES!" **POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! **Once again, Luffy's body recoiled as it was struck by each of the invisible punches. Before Luffy can recover, Red Eye jumped up into the air and shot out his legs, "Red Eye… FLIP KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky's long legs slammed into Luffy's chest and Luffy is sent flying while Red Eye flips off of him and lands in a crouch. **TMP! **But while Red Eye landed safely, Luffy kept going and smashed through the statue he'd grabbed earlier. **KREESSHH! **Luffy fell to the ground and was buried under the rubble from the destroyed statue.

Red Eye grinned and turned to Nami and Sanji, "Alright, now it's your turn," he announced.

Sanji frowned as he stepped in front of Nami, "I'll defend you to my last breath Miss. Nami," Sanji vowed.

"Heh-heh-heh! Great!" Red Eye laughed in response, "Because that's the general idea!"

**KROOOSH! **Luffy suddenly burst out from the rubble and glared across the room at Red Eye. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THEM!" Luffy shouted. "AND I ALSO TOLD YOU THAT I WAS JUST GETTING STARTED! I'm not dead yet so our fight's not over!"

"You're only delaying the inevitable!" Red Eye snarled.

**SHOO! **Luffy stretched his arm out at Red Eye for another punch, **SWISH! **Red Eye ducked under it and lashed out for a punch of his own, "Red Eye… PUNCH!" **WOOOSH! **The invisible punch connected with Luffy's stomach and sent him flying across the room.

"Speed Step!" **ZZZZOOOM! **Red Eye crossed the room in the blink of an eye and appears between Luffy and the wall he was fast approaching. **WHAP! **Red Eye caught Luffy then spun around and threw him up into the air. S**WOOOSH!**

**SKISH! **Red Eye snapped his arms down and launched himself up into the air over Luffy's head. "Red Eye… DIVE!" **THOOM! **Red Eye slammed feet-first into Luffy's back but stayed on him until they both went crashing down into the floor. **KRAAASSH! **The floor shattered under the impact but after a couple seconds Red Eye stood up again.

"Heh-heh-he—" Red Eye's laughter is cut off when Luffy stood up too.

"Is that all… you've got?" Luffy panted.

"WHY WON'T YOU STAY DOWN, YOU RUBBER FREAK?" Red Eye yelled. "Red Eye… PUNCH!" **WOOSH! **Luffy went sailing across the room and crashed to the ground. **THUD! **But then he immediately got back up. "What… the hell… ARE YOU?"

Sanji glanced over at Nami, "This reminds me of something the old geezer said back when Luffy was fighting Don Krieg at the Baratie. Krieg hit him with every weapon in his arsenal but Luffy just kept coming back for more. Zeff said '_Even with a hundred thousand more weapons our Chore Boy can still bring him to his knees because he does not know fear. Krieg may have more pirates in his command, he may have terrible weapons that cause mass destruction to everything in his path, but he will never have that kid's heart.' _Red Eye can't beat Luffy because our crazy Captain's will is unbreakable."

"I already told you…" Luffy growled as he got back up after another one of Red Eye ineffective attacks, "I WON'T LOSE! GUUUUM… GUUUUUM… GAAAATLIIIIING!" **SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! **Luffy shot out his fists for a rapid-fire barrage of punches.

"Red Eye… SHIELD!" Red Eye crossed Ricky's arms in front of him and Luffy's punches battered against the invisible shield.

"Red Eye might not be able to beat Luffy," Nami noted, "But Luffy's gonna need some help if he's gonna win." She glanced at Sanji and grinned when her crafty mind formulated a plan. "Sanji, I'm not gonna apologize because you're probably gonna enjoy this. But remember, it doesn't mean anything."

"What doesn't?" Sanji asked in confusion.

"HEY RED EYE!" Nami hollered across the room before she grabbed Sanji and kissed him full on the lips.

Ricky's left eye widened a fraction of an inch but in that instant Red Eye's concentration weakened and one of Luffy's punches broke through his shield and slammed into Ricky's stomach. **WHAM! **With Red Eye's shield now broken, Luffy kept up his attack and pummeled Red Eye with a barrage of heavy punches to the torso. **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!**

**BOOM!** Red Eye slammed back into the wall behind him but Luffy didn't let up for an instant and kept laying into him. **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! **Large cracks formed in the wall as Ricky's body was embedded into it by the sheer force of Luffy's inhuman punches.

When Luffy finally stopped his attack he pulled Red Eye out of the wall and threw him up into the air. **WHOOSH! **

**FWOOM! **Luffy inflated himself like a balloon and twisted his upperbody around before he leaned down and blew himself up into the air. **SHOOOM! **Luffy went spinning up into the air after Red Eye and lashed out with another furious barrage of punches, "GUUUUUM… GUUUUUUM… STOOOOOORRMM!"

"Red Eye… Shield!" Red Eye crossed his arms and attempted to block Luffy's storm of punches.

"RRAAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy roared as he poured on more power.

Ricky's previous injuries from fighting Nagai and Luffy coupled with the vicious pounding Red Eye had just taken from Luffy left him with a feeble defensive wall. Luffy's strong will completely overwhelmed it and his punches broke through. **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!**

**THOOM! **Red Eye slammed against the ceiling but Luffy didn't get up and kept hitting him. **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! KROOOSH! **Red Eye smashed through the ceiling but Luffy kept up his attack and flew up after him. **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! KROOOSH! **They smashed through the ceiling of the next room up and briefly discovered the temple's third floor before Luffy's barrage of punches blasted Red Eye through the roof and up into the sky above the temple. **KROOOOOSH! **

Luffy finally stopped his attack and they both dropped down through the holes they made on the way up and went crashing down to the floor. **BA-BOOOM!**

When the dust cleared, Luffy got up and stood tall over the unconscious form of Red Eye. The battle was over. Luffy was victorious.

"SANJI! HE WON!" Nami cheered. "LUFFY DID IT! SANJI… SANJI?" Nami glanced at the cook beside her for the first time since she kissed him and realized that he'd fainted. But he had a delirious grin plastered on his face.

**Whap! **Luffy dropped down to his knees and clamped his hands over Ricky's right eye. "Nami, find his eye patch!" Luffy ordered. "I don't wanna have to do that again."

"I'll check his pockets!" Nami offered eagerly as she dropped Sanji and raced over.

**-x-**

**Freedom:**

**-x-**

"GUYS WE'RE HERE!" Chopper called out as he and Zoro charged out into the main room of the first floor of the temple. They both stopped and stared at the sight that greeted them. Unconscious Nagai, unconscious Sanji, unconscious Ricky with his eye patch on, Nami sitting on his stomach casually counting some money she's taken from his pocket, but the most shocking of all, Luffy sitting still against a big cage with a frown on his face.

"What happened here?" Zoro asked.

"The lanky guy's powers made Ricky act like a jerk," Luffy answered, "So I had to kick his ass." Luffy dragged his foot on the ground. "I hated fighting my brother when he was like that."

Zoro and Chopper shared a glance unsure of what to make of their subdued Captain.

"How'd you guys get up here?" Nami asked as she glanced over at the still broken entrance to the temple and then the door they'd come in through.

"We found the elevator," Zoro answered.

"But it plays evil music," Chopper added.

Zoro glanced at Luffy, "We got lost on the way in here and found the kitchen."

Luffy was instantly on his feet, "YOU DID? WHERE?"

"Go through the door we came in and turn right," Zoro told him, "Keep going straight down the hall and you'll run right into it."

"I'M COMING FOOD!" Luffy cheered as he raced passed Zoro and Chopper of the room.

"Uh… Zoro…" Chopper piped up, "The kitchen was to _our_ right when we came in here. The way Luffy's going it's to the _left_."

"Oh… oops," Zoro said, "He'll find it eventually." Zoro glanced over at Sanji. "What happened to him?"

"I kissed him and he fainted," Nami informed them.

"You sure that didn't _kill_ him?" Zoro asked.

Nami shrugged, "It's been a while since I checked," she admitted, "but Chopper, you might wanna check on Ricky. Luffy did a real number on him."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU SITTING ON HIM?" Chopper shrieked as he ran over. Nami got up while Chopper hovered around Ricky checking him for injuries, "WE'RE GONNA NEED MORE BANDAGES!"

"Do you have more back on the ship?" Nami inquired, "Just do what you can now and we'll bring Ricky down there when Luffy finishes pigging out and you can finish treating him then."

"I guess that'll work," Chopper reasoned as he took off his medical bag and started tending to Ricky's injuries. "And then I can check on Robin too."

"In the meantime, what're we gonna do with him?" Zoro questioned as he stood over the still unconscious form of High Priest Nagai.

"There's a big cage over there," Nami pointed out, "Why not use it?" Zoro grabbed Nagai and dragged the long-limbed man over to the cage. "If there's an elevator we can easily collect his men while they're still unconscious and put them in there too."

"I think Long-Nose has some rope in this bag," Zoro stated as he fished into Usopp's arsenal bag and pulled out some rope that he tied around the High Priest's arm and leg joints.

"Uggghhh…" Sanji groaned as he sat up, "What happened?" He saw Nami and his eyes turned to hearts, "Miss. Nami! Is it true? Have you finally decided to give up on the One Eyed swindler and be with me instead?"

Nami shook her head, "Sanji, I told you it didn't mean anything," she reminded him, "I was only trying to distract him. If it meant saving all our lives I'd kiss _Zoro_!"

"Glad it didn't come to that then," Zoro commented from the cage.

"Watch it Moss Ball!" Sanji snapped, "Or I'll lock you in that cage!"

"That'd be pointless," Zoro retorted, "I can cut steel now. If you lock me in here it'll be a waste of a good cage."

"Boys," Nami lightly scolded them, "If you're done fighting why don't you go find Luffy? Then the three of you can go pick up the priest's men. I'd like to get out of here _today_."

"Yes Miss. Nami!" Sanji happily agreed.

"Don't tell me what to do," Zoro growled. **Clank! **He shut the cage door and fished more rope out of Usopp's bag before throwing the bag at Nami. "Luffy, Sanji, and I will deal with the henchmen. Give that back to Usopp when you bring Ricky back down to the ship." Nami nodded and Zoro headed out of the room with Sanji following behind him. "I'll take the stairs and get the one I beat, you and Luffy can take that damn elevator and get the other two."

Nami took a moment to glance at the Log Pose on her wrist and noted that it'd be set in a couple hours then turned to Chopper and watched as he tied a long length of bandages around Ricky's bare chest. "How is he?"

"You were right, Luffy really did a number on him," Chopper stated, "I've reset his broken bones. Knowing him, he'll just need rest to deal with his remaining internal injuries." Nami nodded, "By the way, one of the High Priest's men is somewhere out in the forest. He was using Zoro's swords but Ricky, Robin, and I beat him. Someone should go and get him."

"Is he stable enough for us to move him?" Nami asked, "We can take him down to the ship so he can rest and you can check on Robin."

"Yeah, he's stable," Chopper answered, he transformed into Heavy Point form and hefted Ricky up onto his back, then fished into his medical bag and pulled out a handful of cotton balls he stuffed four in his ears and offered the rest to Nami, "For the elevator."

Nami blinked and skeptically took the cotton balls then hefted Chopper's medical bag and Usopp's arsenal bag onto her shoulder and followed Chopper out of the room.

**-x-**

"MAKE IT STOP!" Luffy howled as he clamped his hands over his ears hoping to drown out the sound of the elevator music. "MY EARS ARE SCREAMING!"

"LUFFY! YOUR SHOUTING'S ONLY MAKING IT _WORSE_!" Sanji yelled. "I knew that lanky bastard was evil but this is pushing it!"

"BUT IF WE YELL LOUDER WE WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAR IT!" Luffy shouted back.

"I'M NOT PUTTING UP WITH YOU YELLING ALL THE WAY DOWN!" Sanji hollered.

Nami idly prodded the cotton in her ears and sent an appreciative nod in Chopper's direction. The humanoid reindeer nodded in response and glared up at the snails on the ceiling that were emitting the torturous music. On Chopper's back, the unconscious Ricky shivered.

**-x-**

Nami and Chopper made it back to the Going Merry with Ricky and found Usopp and Robin sitting on the main deck casually drinking cups of tea.

"Robin, are you okay?" Chopper asked as he laid Ricky on the deck and ran over to Robin. "I heard you got hurt."

"I'm alright now, Mr. Doctor," Robin answered. "I was in a lot of pain before but it's gone away. I'm just a little numb now."

"I should still give you a check up," Chopper reasoned, "I'm the ship doctor so I'll decide if you're okay."

Meanwhile, Nami gave Usopp his arsenal bag back, "Robin brought me up to speed, how'd it go up at the temple?" he inquired.

"Ricky managed to beat the High Priest and brought Luffy back to normal," Nami answered, "but he managed to get Ricky while his guard was down. But Luffy managed to beat him. The other three are gathering all the henchmen and putting them in a cage with the High Priest."

"We still need to get the purple guy and the green guy that we beat before," Chopper reminded Nami as he prodded Robin's side. "Can you feel that?"

"Barely," Robin replied.

"Hmm," Chopper said, "You seem okay, the numbness will most likely fade in several minutes. If the pain comes back I want you to tell me right away."

"Alright, Mr. Doctor," Robin agreed.

Chopper turned back to Nami, "And someone needs to tell the villagers."

"I'll do it," Usopp offered, "I'd like to at least do _something_ and if the guys are already beaten I could just pick and bring them to the others."

"If Mr. Doctor will permit it, I'll accompany you," Robin offered. "I know where to find a village and I remember where we left both of the men. I'd also like a chance to see the temple."

"Can you walk?" Chopper questioned.

"I made the tea," Robin stated. That was answer enough.

"Okay, but Usopp look after her just in case," Chopper instructed. "As much as this pains me, you should take the elevator to the temple. Go around the base of the mountain you'll find a cave. It's normally sealed with an iron gate but Nami picked the lock so it won't be a problem. Follow the cave and you'll find the elevator." Chopper fished into his bag and pulled out a bunch of cotton balls, "Just… take some of these with you. You don't have to listen to the evil music."

"Evil music?" Usopp repeated, "Please! I'm Captain Usopp! I'm not afraid of some crummy music. Let's go Robin!"

"Perhaps we should listen to him?" Robin suggested.

"Are you scared of _music_?" Usopp asked her. "C'mon, it can't be that bad!"

Robin sighed then stood up and followed after him. Nami and Chopper shook their heads as they watched them go.

"You tried to warn them," Nami said, "I feel sorry for Robin but Usopp probably deserves it."

"Wapol's the only person I'd wish that elevator on," Chopper told her before he went over to Ricky and picked him up. "I'm gonna get Ricky situated downstairs."

As Chopper disappeared below deck with Ricky, Nami took a moment to glance around the deck and went wide eyed at the sight of the destroyed refrigerator.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" she shrieked. "Are those… _bite marks_? There is _no way_ that I'm paying for a new one." Downstairs the unconscious ship financial manager shivered.

**-x-**

"This clearing looks familiar," Robin observed as she and ventured through the forest and eventually came across the unconscious form of Tansei. "There he is."

"You guys beat that guy, he's huge!" Usopp noted, "Of course I could've beaten him real easy."

"Good," Robin replied, "because he's waking up."

"WHAAA?" Usopp squeaked.

"**Uggghh…" **Tansei groaned as he slowly pushed himself off of the ground.

"HE'S AWAKE!" Usopp screamed.

"But this time he doesn't have Zoro's strength and swords," Robin reminded him.

"Oh, then beating him should be a piece of cake," Usopp realized and puffed out his chest, "Stand back Robin, Captain Usopp can handle this!"

"If you insist," Robin agreed.

"YOOUU!" Tansei snarled when he spotted Robin, "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

"EEP!" Usopp shrieked, suddenly faced with the large angry muscular man, he turned to run.

"Hmm," Robin said, "it seems that the High Priest made it so his men could remember what happened under the influence of his powers while his victims couldn't."

"I might not have your friend's fighting style," Tansei admitted, "SO I'LL CRUSH YOU WITH MINE!" Tansei slipped two pairs of brass knuckles onto his hands and charged the Straw Hats.

This time Usopp really did run away, but he only got three steps before he skidded to a stop. Forgetting that his new Nakama was a trained assassin with Devil Fruit Powers, Usopp only saw a large, armed muscular man charged at an unarmed woman… an unarmed woman that he was supposed to be looking after.

"HOLD ON!" Usopp shouted as he jumped in front of Robin, "I'LL BE YOUR OPPONENT!" Robin blinked while Tansei glared at him.

"Then I'll crush you _first_!" Tansei growled.

Usopp reached down and fished into his arsenal bag, "Hey where's all my stuff?" he wondered. "Oh well… take this… UUUUSOOOOPP…" Usopp pulled out a small blackboard and raked his nails down it. "NOOOOIIIISEEEE!" **SKREEEEEEESSSHH!**

"GAAAH!" Tansei yelped as he covered his ears.

Usopp dropped the chalkboard and pulled out a slingshot and one of his remaining hammers. "UUUUSOOOOP HAAAMMEEEER!" Usopp loaded the hammer into the slingshot and fired it. **WHING! **Tansei had survived the screeching noise and was charging again so he ran right into Usopp's flying hammer. **WHOMP! **Tansei's upperbody lurched back from the impact and he staggered backwards.

"Seis Fleur!" Two arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed Tansei's ankles, another two wrenched his arms backwards, and the final two came out of his shoulders and grabbed his jaw. "CLUTCH!" Robin's arms wrenched backwards and this time the man didn't have Zoro's insane strength to save him. **KER-RACK! **The man dropped limply to the ground. **FWUMP!**

Usopp glanced down at Tansei then over to Robin, "I softened him up for you," he insisted.

"Of course you did," Robin agreed. "Although, would you mind doing me another favor?"

"What?" Usopp asked. "I don't wanna fight another guy."

"You won't have to," Robin assured him. "I'll take him to the temple and you can tell the people about the High Priest's defeat. Because of my bounty, I'd like to avoid contact with the villagers. And something tells me that you'll enjoy delivering the good news."

"What makes you say that?" Usopp questioned.

"You're still wearing that yellow cape," Robin pointed out. The yellow cape that Usopp had put on when he was under High Priest Nagai's powers was still around his shoulders.

Usopp blushed then turned up his long nose, "I liked the way it looked in Ayako's pictures," he defended himself.

"So you'll do it?"Robin asked. Usopp nodded. "Thanks. Keep going and you'll find the village."

**-x-**

Up at the temple, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji stopped what they were doing at the sound of screaming coming from the elevator.

"**OH DEAR GOD! THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! WHO LISTENS TO THIS?"**

**Shunk!** The door slid opened and the monster trio blinked in sync when they saw Robincalmly standing there without a single hair out of place.

"Mr. Straw Hat, Mr. Swordsman, Mr. Cook," Robin greeted them before stepping out of the elevator and walking passed them. "Excuse me, I'm going to explore the temple for a moment."

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji stared after her.

"Wasn't she just…" Luffy started to ask.

"I think so," Sanji answered.

"And now she's…" Luffy said.

"Looks like it," Sanji agreed.

"Wow," Zoro remarked.

"Who's that guy?" Luffy wondered as he pointed to Tansei who was laying unconscious on the floor the elevator.

Zoro clenched his teeth, "He's the guy who took my swords," he growled.

"How do you remember that?" Sanji questioned. "Luffy and I couldn't remember anything from after the lanky bastard attacked us."

"Ricky, Chopper, and Robin told me about him," Zoro replied. "I think I'll _personally_ see him to the cage." Zoro hefted Tansei onto his shoulder and carried the large man into the main room of the temple.

"He forgot to bring rope," Luffy pointed out once Zoro was gone.

"Something tells me he's not gonna need it," Sanji informed him.

"**This'll teach you to take things that don't belong to you! And that goes for you guys too!"**

"You still hungry?" Sanji offered as he casually lit up a cigarette.

"Of course," Luffy answered.

"Let's go find that kitchen," Sanji suggested.

**-x-**

"HEAR ME, PEOPLE OF BONSATSU ISLAND!" Usopp shouted as he stood on the roof of a building in the village that Ricky, Chopper, and Robin had been at before. "I COME BARING NEWS!" They people milled about continuing their lives and pretended they didn't hear him. "HEY! LISTEN!"

"Just ignore him," Usopp heard a mother instruct her child, "the Priest Police will be here to get him in a few minutes."

"HAH! NOT LIKELY!" Usopp scoffed. "BECAUSE MY MEN AND I HAVE ALREADY BEATEN THEM!" Against their better judgment, some of the subdued villagers turned to look at him. "Oh, I see that I've gotten some of your attention. THAT'S RIGHT EVERYONE! I, THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP, AND MY CREW OF HEROES HAVE DEFEATED THE HIGH PRIEST AND HIS DISCIPLES!"

"You're a liar and fool!" one man snapped, "High Priest Nagai can't be beaten."

"But I'm _not_ lying!" Usopp insisted. He was only exaggerating a little. "You saw three of my men here earlier! They defeated that green guy and the men that were with them. Then they beat the big purple guy. I fought him again myself for good measure. Then they rejoined the rest of my crew and we climbed the mountain together and took out the High Priest's remaining disciples along the way until finally we reached the top AND I DEFEATED THAT LONG-LIMBED BASTARD MYSELF!"

"You'd better shut your mouth!" another man advised. "When High Priest Nagai hears this blasphemy he'll come here and make you disappear."

"No he won't, BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY BEATEN HIM!" Usopp announced, "AND I'D DO IT AGAIN TOO!" Usopp flipped his yellow cape around, took down the shoulder straps of his overalls, then turned his back to the temple and MOONED IT! "AHAHAHAHA! COME AND GET ME, YA LANKY JERK! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP!"

"Don't look," the mother ordered her child, "That man's an insane pervert."

"High Priest Nagai keep his long limbs a closely guarded secret from outsiders," an older man commented. "How would he know about them if he hadn't fought him?"

Usopp pulled his overalls back up and turned back to the villagers. Despite their reluctance to believe him, the crowd of people listening had grown.

"I hope that was enough to earn me a visit from the High Priest," Usopp remarked, "because I promise you, none of his men are coming." Usopp sat down on the roof he was standing on. "I'm going to wait right here, and no one will come. And once you realize that that's true then you'll realize that everything else that I've told you is true as well."

**-x-**

"Hmmm…" Robin said to herself as she stood in a room on the third floor of the temple and read an inscription on the wall, "Interesting."

Robin walked over to the large hole in the floor and glanced down into it and peered through the room below her, and finally settled on a large crater that was at the bottom of the first floor. Obviously the results of the fight between Luffy and Ricky that Nami had mentioned.

Then Robin looked up at the cloudy sky through the hole that had been made in the room. A chain of arms grew out of the edge of the hole and reached down to her. She grabbed one hand and was pulled up through the hole and onto the roof of the temple.

A gentle breeze blew through Robin's hair as she stood on top of the temple and glanced around her. Being on top of a mountain and the three-story temple on top of it left her standing incredibly high up in the air, she was so high up that she was practically _inside_ a nearby cloud. At this altitude she towered over the Royal Palace in Alubarna which was easily the tallest building in all of Alabasta. She looked up above her and the puffy white clouds seemed closer than ever before.

"This is quite the view," Robin remarked, "Too bad the temple is no longer used for its original purpose. It could have led to an interesting discovery."

**-x-**

"I think I've waited long enough," Usopp decided as he stood up on the rooftop. The crowd below had grown to the point where the entire village had gathered to see what would happen. "As you can see, no one came. I spoke against the High Priest and his men, and nothing happened to me. BECAUSE HE'S ALREADY BEEN DEFEATED!"

"High Priest Nagai has always been quick to capture outsiders…" one man commented, "even if he did fight him and managed to escape with his personality intact, the High Priest and his disciples would have tracked him down by now."

"Could he be telling the truth?" another man wondered.

"OF COURSE I AM!" Usopp exclaimed. "I'M THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP! AND I HAVE DEFEATED THE HIGH PRIEST! HIS REIGN OVER THIS ISLAND IS NOW FINSIHED!"

Usopp was further surprised to see that villagers, rather than rejoicing, looked confused.

"If you really did beat him… then what are we supposed to do?" someone asked. "We've lived under his command for so long…"

"What do you mean 'what are you supposed to do'?" Usopp repeated, "You can do anything you want. Don't you get it? YOU'RE FREE! He can't tell you what to do anymore! YOU'RE ALL FREE TO LIVE YOUR LIVES HOWEVER YOU WISH! SPREAD THE WORD, YOUR ISLAND HAS BEEN FREED BY THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP!" Usopp struck an over-the-top heroic pose.

The villagers finally overcame their shock. And the tiny sparks of hope that had been long thought lost due to the High Priest's oppression flared up into roaring bonfires of joy and elation as the villagers let out loud cheers.

"YEEEEAAAAAHHH!" "WE'RE FREE!" "PRAISE THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP!"

Usopp smiled and took a bow and basked in the praise.

"Is there anything we can do for you, Great Captain Usopp?" a villager asked.

"Actually… could I get some rope?" Usopp requested. "My crew and I used the last of ours to tie up the Priest and his men. If you venture up to the temple you'll find all of them bound and trapped together in a large cage."

A group of men ran off, "Get the Great Captain Usopp as much rope as we can!"

"_Hmm… maybe I should've asked for a new refrigerator," _Usopp idly thought to himself. _"But it's too late now. I don't want it to look like we want to be paid for our heroic services."_

Usopp was presented with four long coils of rope which he hefted onto his shoulders.

"Now I'm afraid I must be off," Usopp announced much to the crowd's dismay. "My crew and I are setting out to free other islands that are being oppressed by those that are evil. But always remember, TODAY WAS THAT DAY THAT YOU WERE FREED BY THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP AND HIS CREW OF HEROES! BE SURE TO LIVE YOUR LIVES FREELY, TO THE FULLEST, AND WITHOUT ANY FEAR IN MY MEMORY!" Usopp took an exaggerated bow. "And now… farewell!"

Usopp leapt from the building he was standing on to the building next to it, then darted across that roof and jumped over to the next one. **SKISH! **With on final large leap he bounded off of the rooftop and flew over the wall surrounding the village. **KRASH! **And planted face-first on the ground.

"At least… no one saw that…" Usopp groaned as he pulled himself back up, spat out the dirt he'd almost swallowed, and ran off into the woods. In his wake, he'd left an elated, joyful, and newly freed village.

**-x-**

The Going Merry had set off and the Straw Hats – minus Ricky – were sitting together around the table in the galley while Sanji cooked something.

"Have any of you ever heard about the Sky Island?" Robin suddenly asked out of the blue.

"What's that?" Luffy asked. "Can I eat it?"

"It's an island of legend that's believed to exist up in the sky," Robin explained, "And I don't believe it's edible."

"Actually… I think I heard something about that once…" Nami recalled, "It was back in Alabasta when we were crossing the Sandora Desert… Ricky was reading this book on legendary treasures. When I asked him about it he mentioned he was reading about the legendary city of gold on an island in the sky."

"Does he still have it?" Robin inquired.

"Yeah, I think he finished reading it after your desert adventure," Nami answered. "What's with the sudden interest?"

"Well, I did some exploring of the temple earlier," Robin told her, "And I learned that temple was built hundreds of years ago when the people of the island saw giant winged silhouettes standing on top of the clouds. The islanders thought that they'd seen the angels up in heaven so they constructed the temple on top of the mountain so they could be closer and attempt to communicate with the angelic people that they'd seen on top of them and maybe even God."

"I doubt they were actually angels in heaven," Zoro said skeptically, "but maybe there's an island in the sky somewhere and there are people living on it. "

"So you mean there are people _living_ on the clouds?" Chopper asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Well… even the tallest of tails can sometimes be based off of the tiniest grain of truth," Usopp reasoned.

"They wouldn't have built the temple if they hadn't actually seen them," Robin reasoned. "Over the years, the temple's original purpose was forgotten. And when High Priest Nagai took over the island it became a symbol of his oppression."

"So you want to read Ricky's book to learn more about the Sky Island?" Nami asked. Robin nodded. "I called first dibs on it but I'll let you read it first if it gives us a chance of finding that City of Gold I heard about."

"A Cit of Gold?" Luffy repeated. "COOOL! HEY GUYS! LET'S GO TO THE SKY ISLAND!"

"We don't even know if it exists yet Luffy!" Usopp snapped.

"It's gotta!" Luffy insisted. "So let's find it!"

"If you'll allow me some time to research it, maybe I'll be able to find a way of getting there," Robin requested.

"Everybody eat up," Sanji instructed as he came from the stove and placed a collection of plates on the table. Nami and Robin's meals were noticeably fancier than the others.

"YAAAAY! FOOOOD!" Luffy cheered as the Straw Hats dug in.

"Hey Sanji… this tastes funny…" Usopp commented, "What is it?"

"Snail," the cook answered. **PTOOI!** Usopp and Nami spat out their food but Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin looked positively vengeful.

"Here Luffy, you can have ours," Nami offered as she slid her and Usopp's plates over to Luffy who was already almost finished with his own meal. She turned to Chopper, "Do you know when Ricky's going to wake up?"

"**About thirty seconds ago," **Ricky's voice came from the door as he walked in.

"RICKY/BIG BROTHER!" Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper cheered.

"Good to see you along the living again, Mr. One Eye," Robin greeted him. Zoro and Sanji simply nodded.

Ricky's eye locked with Luffy's, "Sorry I lost control and gave you so much trouble back there," he apologized. "I let my guard down for a second and I nearly killed you."

"I thought you weren't supposed to remember what happened under the influence of the High Priest's Powers?" Robin questioned.

"Um…" Ricky said nervously while Robin's eyes flashed suspiciously.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, breaking some of the tension, "Don't beat yourself up about it. I already did it for you."

"Yeah, thanks for that, bro," Ricky replied.

"Ricky, do you think Robin could borrow that treasure book you read in Alabasta?" Nami asked. "We need her to investigate the Sky Island."

"Uh, sure," Ricky agreed, "Do you think I could have my safe back? I woke up and sensed all my treasure coming from your room."

"If it's in my room, I guess it's mine then," Nami reasoned with an impish grin, "I had no control over how it got there." Ricky and Zoro's three collective eyes narrowed.

**-x-**

"GIMME BACK MY CLOTHES!" Nami roared as she stormed out of the storage room and onto the main deck wearing only a towel. Her hair was wet from recently bathing, when she'd finished she discovered that not only were the clothes she'd brought into the bathroom with her missing but so was all the clothing down in her room. All she had left were her bed sheets and the towel she had on now. She glared at Ricky as he sat against the main mast with Zoro.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Ricky replied, "I had no control over it so I can't return them."

"BULLSHIT!" Nami snapped, "_YOU _STOLE THEM!"

"No, I didn't," Ricky insisted, "Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper stole all your clothes. It seems they were under the impression that Sanji would cook an extra meal for whoever took the most."

"So you _did_ have control over it!" Nami pointed out, "You directly influenced them!"

"No, I didn't," Ricky replied, "_Zoro _did."

Nami's eyes widened and she turned to glare at the swordsman sitting next to Ricky.

"Ricky's money is our money," Zoro answered without being asked. "He's always been a lot more generous than you and I don't wanna end up owing you of all people money again."

"I simply did nothing to stop them when I saw them taking your clothes," Ricky stated. "You have a nice collection of underwear by the way." Nami's face went red in both embarrassment and anger. But she wasn't going to allow herself to be shown up by _Zoro_.

"Then I'm gonna take back the clothes Robin borrowed from me," Nami decided.

"**I'm sorry Miss. Navigator but I'm not wearing your clothes," **Robin's voice came from behind her. Nami turned and found Robin sitting against the wall next to the storage room door. "Mr. One Eye was happy to loan me something." Nami realized that Robin was wearing a pair of black cargo pants that were a bit short and bared her ankles and bare feet. A red button down shirt was straining to her large bust confined and revealed bits of a black shirt she wore underneath. "For what it's worth, Mr. One Eye has very nice taste in underwear as well."

"You're wearing his _underwear_?" Nami questioned.

"Of course," Robin answered, "These pants don't fit me very well. I wanted to be safe and wear something under them. These tight undershorts fit me much better. And I can only imagine how Mr. One Eye looks in them." Ricky's face had gotten progressively redder the longer Robin talked about his underwear.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Zoro asked Nami, "Just give Ricky back his safe and his money and you can have your clothes back."

Nami knew that she'd lost. She had only been teasing Ricky about the safe and had fully intended on giving it back. She enjoyed only having to worry about her own money and having someone spend money on her for a change. But she had obviously taken too long and the others had banded together against her. She knew that Ricky and Robin were both very intelligent and that at times Zoro could be as sharp as his swords. She couldn't win against all three of them working together.

"Okay fine," she conceded, "Ricky can have his safe back. Now I'm gonna get my clothes." She quickly swept passed them and slipped down into the men's quarters.

"I'll make sure _all _she takes is her clothes," Zoro volunteered as he followed her down.

"How much of this outfit can I keep?" Robin inquired.

"I want the shirt and pants back," Ricky told her, "You can have the rest."

"Thank you," Robin said, "Now I have something to trade Miss. Navigator so she'll let me borrow her clothes until we make land I can get some of my own."

**-x-**

Late that night, Ricky sat alone in the galley drinking a mug of rum. Robin was the only one still awake and was sitting up in the crow's nest reading his book on legendary treasures. Despite their recent adventure together, she still didn't trust them enough to let her guard down and sleep down below deck in Nami's room.

"Why was I wrath?" Ricky thought out loud. "The eye's the one that's evil… right?"

**-x-**

And that's it. That's the end of my Original Story Arc. As you can tell by now, the real purpose of it was to settle the 'who would win a fight between Luffy and Red Eye' query. I'll be the first to admit that Nagai and his men weren't well developed but their purpose was to take on the fighting styles of the Straw Hats so I could put together the inter-crew fights that I'm sure a lot of people wanted to see… or read.

Let me know which fight was your favorite, Luffy vs. Red Eye, Ricky vs. Luffy (Nagai), Sanji vs. Ricky (Nagai), Zoro vs. Usopp (Kyouken), Chopper vs. Sanji (Sessou), Robin vs. Nami (Hakuai), or Ricky, Robin, and Chopper vs. Zoro (Tansei). I know a lot of people probably would've liked to have seen Zoro vs. Sanji but I don't think I could've done that one justice.

Chopper and Robin never got 'sinned' because their unique Devil Fruit Powered fighting styles can't be copied. And I know I did a lot of hating on elevator music in this chapter. But my personal hell would be me trapped in an elevator being forced to listen to elevator music for all of eternity. *Shivers*

And finally, I tied in the bit with the Sky Island to ease the transition back into canon as I begin the Jaya Arc.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	6. Caught Log

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**Caught Log:**

**-x-**

A day after the Straw Hats' adventure on Bonsatsu Island, the Going Merry sailed onward through clear waters with slightly cloudy skies overhead.

Luffy was as usual sitting on the figurehead, "Hey, what kind of island is gonna show up next?" he wondered. "Is it gonna snow again?"

"I believe the next island will be an Autumn Island," Robin replied from where she was relaxing on Nami's lounge chair while reading Ricky's book on legendary treasures. She was still wearing Ricky's pants but also a pair of Nami's sandals and a colorful blouse. "From what I've heard you've been to a Pre-Historic Jungle Island, a Winter Island, a Summer Island, and the last one was a Spring Island. The islands in the Grand Line aren't in any particular order but each chain of islands usually has one island of each type."

"Awww… but snow's so coool!" Luffy complained.

"Haven't you had enough snow?" Nami asked as she came out of the storage room wearing a white spaghetti strap top that was lined in blue and bared her arms and tattoo as well as one of her yellow skirts.

"No," Luffy answered, "But I like Autumn Islands too."

Nami shook her head and went over to Ricky, Zoro, and Chopper who were sitting against the side of the ship and appeared to be watching the small white clouds overhead. She squeezed in between Ricky and Zoro and was pleased that the green-haired swordsman didn't object, only to find that he'd actually fallen asleep at some point while cloud-gazing.

"Just so we're clear," Nami stated, "_Zoro_ was the one who got me to give back your safe because it was his plan. Although, I _was_ going to give it back if you asked nicely, I'd much rather have you be in charge of paying for everything then have to spend my money on the crew's expenses. But unless Zoro wants to join our Swindling War, that one doesn't count." Despite being asleep, Zoro shivered at the thought.

"I understand," Ricky replied, "I'm also letting you keep the money you stole from my pocket when I was unconscious."

"You'd better," Nami said, "'Cause I've given Sanji permission to savagely beat anyone other than Robin that touches my clothes."

"That one looks like a Lapin!" Chopper called out as he pointed up at a cloud in the sky.

"I don't see it," Ricky commented as his eye narrowed in a half-squint.

"That's because of your lack of depth perception," Nami told him.

"Well I've only got one good eye," Ricky pointed out.

Nami leaned against him and pointed her arm up into the air in front of him, "Can you see how the side of that cloud over there curves around a little? Chopper's looking at it from profile view and that's its back."

"Oh, okay, I think I see it now," Ricky realized, then he glanced over at Nami, "How do you remember what the Lapins looked like? I thought you were asleep."

"Not completely," Nami answered, "but I was pretty out of it at the time. I took a peek while you guys were running from them."

The galley door swung opened and Sanji and Usopp stepped out onto the deck. "We're finally done taking inventory," Sanji announced. "Despite Luffy destroying the refrigerator, we have enough food preserved to last us two days. I'm hoping we'll reach another island within that time so we can restock."

"THEN LET'S EAT!" Luffy exclaimed.

"NOT A CHANCE!" Usopp snapped. "_YOU'RE_ THE REASON WE'RE IN THIS MESS TO BEGIN WITH!"

"Huh… I don't remember destroying the refrigerator," Luffy remarked, "but I _do _remember Sanji saying we had enough food to last two days."

"HE JUST SAID THAT!" Usopp yelled.

"That's only the case if you don't eat it all!" Sanji growled.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" Nami suddenly shrieked.

Zoro jolted awake. "DAMN IT WOMAN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SCREAMING ABOUT? I WAS—" Rather than deal with him yelling at her, Nami grabbed his head and tilted it upward. The swordsman's eyes went wide. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Next to them, Ricky squinted as he tried to use his limited vision to see what had caused his Nakama to shout while Chopper was staring up at the sky with his jaw dropped and had been shocked silent.

**Tup! Tup! **Tiny splinters of wood started raining down on the Going Merry, followed by larger wooden chunks. **Tunk! Tunk! **

A large shadow fell over the Going Merry as all eight Straw Hats stared up in the air in shock. A HUGE SHIP WAS FALLING OUT OF THE SKY! The enormous ship looked like it had been the victim of a hurricane, the sails were torn, the woodwork was all coming apart, and there were huge holes in the hull.

"Out of the sky…" Luffy gasped.

"A GALLEON?" Nami exclaimed.

"WAAAAAHH!" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper screamed in terror as the huge galleon came crashing down into the water next to their considerably smaller caravel. **KA-ROOOOSSH! **Giant waves rose up at the impact and rocked the smaller ship.

"GRAB A HOLD OF SOMETHING!" Zoro shouted. The Merry lurched violently to the side and he went skidding across the deck but managed grab onto the main mast as he slid passed it. "WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T LET GO!"

Sanji held onto the railing outside the galley door while Luffy wrapped his rubber arms around the figurehead he was sitting on. Robin used some extra arms to anchor her lounge chair onto the deck. **WHAP! **Ricky once again found himself serving as a meat shield as Nami, Chopper, and somehow Usopp who'd been on the other side of the ship were suddenly clinging to him as he held onto the side of the ship.

"Why do you three always grab onto _me_?" Ricky asked.

"A better question is WHY IS A SHIP FALLING OUT OF THE SKY?" Nami screamed.

"I KNOW!" Usopp replied, "THIS IS ALL JUST A TERRIBLE DREAM!"

"GREAT! I LOVE DREAMS!" Chopper shrieked, happy to go along with the delusion.

**SPLOOOSH! **A large wave washed over the side of the ship causing Ricky's hold on the ship to slip and they went sliding across the deck. Zoro held his arm out to Ricky but he was busy maneuvering his body around so he didn't grab it. Instead, he shielded the other three as he slammed back-first into Robin's chair. **KRASH! **The lounge chair was uprooted and now all five of them plus the chair skidded across the wet deck.

Ricky yanked the chair free and positioned it in front of him causing him and the other four to slam into the cushioned chair instead of the hard wood railing. **WHA-WHA-WHUMP!** Ricky quickly reached over the chair and grabbed the top of the railing and kept it pressed against the side of the ship with his body while the other four held onto it.

The Going Merry finally stopped rocking once most of the falling galleon had landed.

"And that's why… we cling to you…" Nami panted as she clung to the chair, "Those other three are monsters… and are fine fighting off any trouble…"

"But you focus on _getting_ _out of it_," Chopper continued for her.

"They do make a good point, Mr. One Eye," Robin stated as she sat casually against the chair.

"THERE'S MORE COMING DOWN!" Sanji shouted as the remaining debris continued falling on the Merry. "LUFFY, PROTECT THE SHIP!"

"THE RUDDER!" Nami called out, "TURN THE RUDDER!"

"WHAT GOOD WILL THAT DO?" Zoro snapped.

"Usopp, what's with you?" Luffy asked as he peered off of the figurehead and spotted the sniper sitting with his eyes closed in a lotus position.

"I've cast aside my worries and reached deep within to find my happy place. And when I open my eyes, a serene landscape is all that will lay before me." Usopp slowly opened his eyes ONLY TO SEE A SKELETON FALLING TOWARS HIM! "YAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"I'll take that," Robin said as she pulled the skeleton over to her.

"DON'T BRING THAT OVER HERE!" Nami, Chopper, _and Ricky_ shrieked at the same time.

"…" Nami and Chopper went wide eyed and glanced at each other and then at the blushing one-eyed pirate next to them.

"Ricky… are you… scared of skeletons?" Nami questioned.

"Oh, it's just a skeleton?" Ricky asked, looking a little relieved.

"Indeed," Robin confirmed as she surveyed the skeleton laid out in front of her, "Unfortunately there are too many pieces missing from this one for me to properly analyze it. I'll have to find another in the wreckage."

"Then I'm okay," Ricky replied as he stood up and attempted to walk away as if he _hadn't_ just screamed like a girl.

Nami, of course, had none of it and quickly sprang up and blocked him, "What's with you?"

"Can we not talk about it?" Ricky requested.

"No," Nami refused. "Why're you scared of skeletons?"

"I'm not scared of skeletons," Ricky insisted. An annoyed looked from Nami forced him to elaborate. "I'm scared of zombies."

"ZOMBIES?" Usopp and Chopper squeaked in terror.

"Why?" Nami persisted. Ricky glanced around him and realized the rest of the crew was ignoring the last of the falling debris in favor of learning about his fear.

Ricky scowled, "Imagine you killed some people, _a lot _of people, then imagine they were somehow brought back to life and wanted justly deserved revenge."

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji paled when they realized he was talking about the hundreds of victims from Red Eye's nearly year-long murderous rampage.

"Rest assured Mr. One Eye," Robin stated as she held up the skeleton, "this one is quite dead." There was no mistaking the intrigued expression on her face.

"Ricky… I'm sorry…" Nami attempted to apologize, "I didn't realize…"

"Yeah, lucky you," Ricky snapped, annoyed at having to reveal something so personal in front of the entire crew. "But it's the kind of thing that keeps me up at night." Ricky stalked across the deck to the opposite railing and pulled off his shirt.

"Where are you going?" Zoro asked as Ricky climbed up onto the railing.

"Treasure Hunting," Ricky answered before he dove into the water. **SPLASH! **The others looked on as he swam off towards the wreckage.

**-x-**

A little bit later, the debris had finally stopped falling and the remains of the galleon were beginning to sink into the ocean.

"Alright, why did a ship just fall out of the sky?" Luffy wondered.

"Captain error?" Sanji suggested.

"The sky is clear, who knows?" Zoro replied.

"I knew coming to the Grand Line was a mistake," Usopp whimpered as he hugged Chopper. "It freaks me out! Ships full of skeletons aren't supposed to fall out of the sky!"

"What the…" Nami muttered.

"What's the matter Miss. Nami?" Sanji inquired.

"Oh no, the Log Pose is broken!" Nami complained as she stared at the glass ball on her wrist. The needle was pointing up into the air instead of toward an island. "It's pointing into the sky."

"It's not broken Miss. Navigator," Robin told her, "The Log Pose registers an island with a strong magnetic pull and its needle is reflecting that. If it's needle is pointing to the sky…" Robin went over to the toppled lounge chair and picked up Ricky's abandoned book, "It must be pointing towards Sky Island."

"SKY ISLAND?" the others repeated.

"Are you serious?" Nami asked.

"There's a floating island in the sky?" Luffy exclaimed.

"If there is then it's full of skeletons and rickety old ships!" Usopp commented while still clutching Chopper.

"That's ridiculous," Zoro scoffed. He glanced upward. "I don't see anything but sky."

"That's not exactly how it works Mr. Swordsman," Robin stated as she skimmed through Ricky's book, "The legend says that the island is a part of an entire ocean."

"No way!" Nami protested.

"WHAAAAA?" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper gasped with stars in their eyes.

"I'm still confused," Sanji stated.

"YEAH!" Luffy cheered, "RAISE THE SAILS AND SET OUR COURSE FOR SKY ISLAND! MEN, ARE WE READY!"

"POINT THE RUDDER DOWN AND POINT THE BOW HIGH INTO THE SKY!" Usopp shouted. "SKYWARD HO!" **FWUMP! **All three of them dropped to the ground and whimpered.

"Did it just hit you that… you know… we can't fly?" Sanji inquired.

"All I've heard is word of mouth and rumors," Robin admitted, "I've never actually seen it."

"Of course not because it's a lie," Nami insisted, "Islands don't float in the sky, our Log Pose is broken. That's all it is."

"Not quite Miss. Navigator," Robin replied, "You're trying to fix something that's not even broken. We should be looking for a way to get to Sky Island. You need to learn to trust you instruments. No matter how crazy things get or how weird the situation is we find ourselves in, never doubt the Log Pose. What we should be doubting is the common sense we all have that says that an island cannot exist in the sky on an ocean of nothing. That needle is point at an island. I'd be my life on it."

"**She's right Nami," **came Ricky's voice as he climbed back over the railing onto the ship. He was lugging a large safe along with him. "There's a reason the Log Pose is dome shaped. The needle points downward when it locks onto Fishman Island because it's underwater. If it's pointing upward then that means it's locked onto an island that's up in the sky."

"Have _you _ever heard of Sky Island?" Nami asked.

"Only rumors and legends," Ricky confessed, "but I might've found something that'll point us in the right direction."

"What'd you find?" Nami questioned as she eyed the safe.

Ricky put the safe down and pulled the door opened to reveal an assortment of gold coins. "I found this in what I assumed was the Captain's quarters," he explained. "There's about three million berries worth of gold coins in there but this kind of currency is centuries out of date."

"So it's useless!" Nami realized, "I thought you said you found something."

"I did," Ricky answered as he pulled a roll of parchment out from his bottom right pocket. "I also found this." Ricky unrolled the parchment to reveal a picture of an island on a sea of white. The word 'Skypeia' was written on the top.

"A map of the Sky Island?" the others chorused.

"If there's a map then that means it really exists!" Sanji reasoned.

Ricky's signature sly grin appeared on his face, "Anyone interested in finding out if the City of Gold is real?" he inquired.

"YEAH!" Luffy cheered. "LET'S GO TO SKYPEIA! WE'LL FIND THE CITY OF GOLD!"

"THE ISLAND'S REAL! THE ISLAND'S REAL!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper chanted as the joined arms and danced across the deck.

**KA-CHING! **The berri signs that appeared in Nami's eyes were so bright that they made Ricky flinch and avert his eye. **WHUMP! **Nami tackled Ricky to the ground and quickly kissed him on his left cheek and then his right cheek. "You brilliant man, I loo…" Nami trailed off when she remembered where she was and who was watching.

Nami glanced around the deck and saw Zoro pointedly looking off the side of the ship while he casually held back Sanji. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had stopped dancing and were staring at them unabashedly and Robin was pretending to read Ricky's book.

"Don't mind us, Miss. Navigator," Robin said, "feel free to continue."

"Too bad no has 'Nami jumps Ricky when they find the City of Gold' in the pool," Usopp muttered.

"Pool?" Robin repeated.

Nami blushed as she quickly pulled the map away from Ricky then spun around when Ricky sat up which left her sitting in his lap with her back resting against his chest. Ricky looked over Nami's shoulder as they both studied the old map. Luffy and Usopp were instantly sitting at Ricky's sides while Chopper was perched on his shoulders so he could peer at the map from over his head.

"Okay, so we've got a map to some place called Skypeia," Nami noted, "but we don't even know if it's real. There are plenty of fake treasure maps out there."

"Whaaaaaa…" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper gasped. Their faces grew long, their eyes grew dull, and they look utterly broken-hearted. Nami glanced over her shoulder and felt like she'd just kicked three adorable puppies.

"I mean… of course it's real…" Nami attempted to reassure them, "But we have no idea how we're supposed to get there!"

"YOU'RE OUR NAVIGATOR!" Luffy snapped, "NAVIGATE SOMETHING!"

"AND JUST HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?" Nami yelled. "I CAN'T JUST POINT THE SHIP AND MAKE IT FLY, YA KNOW!"

"Miss. Nami's a vision even when she's chewing someone's head off," Sanji swooned.

"If I had a better preserved skeleton I might be able to discern something," Robin offered.

"I'll see what I can find," Zoro volunteered, "I'd ask Ricky but Nami looks way to comfortable where she's sitting right now."

**-x-**

Zoro eventually brought back a wooden coffin which Robin wasted no time in prying opened and searching through the fully clothed skeletal remains inside.

Eventually, Robin was left piecing together the dead man's skull using her archeology tools while the others were all gathered around her. Sanji sat next to her while Zoro stood nearby watching half-heartedly, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were hiding behind the mast while Ricky leaned against it and watched over Robin's shoulder.

Luffy, of course, couldn't be asked to sit still for long and had resorted to pacing back and forth in front of the archeologist due to having nothing to do now that the remains of the galleon were completely submerged in the water.

"Are you done yet?" Luffy asked impatiently.

"Almost Mr. Straw Hat," Robin replied as she used a pair of tweezers to fit a small piece of bone into an opened space on the skull. The archeologist had diligently pieced together the skull like it was a puzzle.

"That's disgusting digging through a dead man's clothes," Chopper complained as he 'peeked' out from behind the main mast while above him Usopp recoiled in terror.

"Ugghhh…" Nami groaned as she examined the Log Pose on her wrist.

"Is that really gonna tell you something?" Zoro inquired.

"Don't know," Robin admitted.

"You're into some pretty weird stuff, Robin," Nami remarked.

"Any lady with a fascination for dead things is interesting in my book," Sanji stated.

"But why's it have to take so long?" Luffy whined.

"Don't worry Mr. Straw Hat, I'm done," Robin announced as she placed the skull on the deck in front of her.

"Looks good as new," Sanji observed as he eyed the restored skull.

"Except for these holes on the crown," Robin pointed out as she ran her fingers over two perfectly circular holes on the top. "They seem to have come from an external source."

"That's right," Sanji realized, "looks like they could've come from an arrow or a spear or something."

"Not quite, but good guess," Robin told him, "These are from a medical procedure called 'Craterization'. Right, Mr. Doctor?"

"An ancient one," Chopper confirmed, "They cut out a small hole in the skull to remove a foreign mass like a tumor and since it leaves a crater behind that's how you get the name."

"Who cares about that stuff?" Luffy exclaimed, "Didn't you say that those bones would tell us about the Sky Island?"

"Well judging from how old a technique this is, I'd say that this man has been dead over two hundred years," Robin explained.

"That explains the out-of-date currency," Ricky noted as he casually eyed one of the old gold coins he'd gotten out of the safe.

"I can also say with confidence that this man was in his early thirties when he died," Robin continued, "It must have been during his voyage that he finally succumbed to his illness… whatever it was. Much more than the rest of his bones, his teeth have remained in surprisingly good condition. He rubbed tar on them. It was a common practice in the South Blue to keep out bacterial infections. And considering the history of that reason… I'd suspect that he was with an exploratory party."

"The name on the main sail says 'St. Briss'," Ricky supplied.

Robin pulled out a reference book and paged through it, "Here it is," she noted, "The Briss Kingdom of the South Blue. They launched the St. Briss as a scout ship… two hundred and eight years ago."

"That's it!" Nami realized as she looked over Robin's shoulder at the picture in the book, "That's the ship that fell on us."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed, "I recognize that figurehead on the front."

"Then the gold I found must be what's left of their scouting funds," Ricky remarked.

"It's probably sailed the seas above us unmanned since the Captain and crew died," Robin reasoned.

"It's amazing what you can find just by looking at some old bones," Nami commented.

"But what's that mean about the Sky Island?" Luffy asked impatiently.

"It means that there_ is _a way to get up to it," Ricky informed him, "The fact that this ship almost fell on us is the living proof that it reached the Sky Island over two hundred years ago. So there has to be some way to get there that's been around for centuries."

"YEAH!" Luffy cheered, "How?"

"I'm sure you've heard the saying 'dead men tell no tales' right?" Robin questioned, "Well everything around them _does_. I'm sure if we'll be able to find some record of how they reached the Sky Island on the St. Briss itself."

"GREAT! LET'S SEARCH THE SHIP!" Luffy exclaimed, he was so eager to finally have something to do that he forgot one crucial thing. "WAAAAAAH! THE SHIP'S GONE!"

"The ship looks like it's at the bottom of the ocean by now," Usopp observed.

"If a big ship like that can reach the Sky Island then the odds are that we can do the same thing," Nami reasoned, "We just have to find all the records left on that ship."

"How are we going to do that, Miss Nami?" Sanji inquired.

"If it's sunk… WE'LL SALVAGE IT!" Nami exclaimed.

"SALVAGE!" Luffy and Usopp cheered as they pulled out a fishing pole and a net.

"WE CAN'T DO THAT!" Zoro snapped.

"Salvage, really?" Chopper questioned.

"Yeah, but we couldn't pulled a ship up from the bottom," Robin replied. "I think they'll have to come up with a more refined plan."

Nami smiled, Ricky took one looked at her and grinned. "If we can't pull it up then we'll just have to go down there," he reasoned.

Nami turned to look at him, "You thinking what I'm thinking?" she inquired.

Ricky nodded, "Usopp, is the Usopp Factory up for a big job?"

"Of course!" Usopp boasted.

Zoro shook his head and turned away from the others and muttered to himself, "They're not even together yet and they're already reading each other's thoughts. We're doomed."

"Mr. Swordsman, what's this about a pool?" Robin inquired.

"Talk to Usopp later," Zoro said. "When _they_ can't hear you."

**-x-**

Eventually Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji were outfitted in makeshift dive suits made by Usopp and the Usopp Factory. The dive suits were spare barrels that went over their upperbody. A porthole with a glass hatch was on the front for them to see through and a hose came out of the top of each barrel so they could breathe underwater. Two holes were carved into the sides of the barrels and were sealed by long gloves that went up to their shoulders. Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji's legs were coming out from the bottom of their barrels while Luffy's dive suit was made specially and had a second barrel around his legs to keep the Devil Fruit User's body out of the water.

"Shishishi!" Luffy's laughter was muffled inside of his sealed dive suit, "This is adventure! I know I've done more dangerous things but I can't remember when."

"Uggghh…" Zoro groaned.

"A little rough but they should serve their purpose," Ricky reasoned.

"Miss. Nami, I promise to find you the answers you see or I'll refuse to return!" Sanji vowed.

"I'll hold you to that," Nami teased him, "Do you guys remember what you're looking for?"

"I found the map and the safe in what I thought was the Captain's quarters," Ricky recalled, "If we got back there I think I could find some kind of log."

"You four couldn't be safer!" Usopp bragged, "those barrels are my special design! They've never been busted!"

**SPLOOOSH! **The four divers dropped down into the water and were lowered by four pulleys that had their long air hoses wrapped around them with the ends fastened to a foot pump that was made to feed air into the hoses. On top of the pulleys, four funnels were sticking out of the hoses and were used so the four divers could communicate with Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin back above water on the Going Merry.

"HEY LOOK AT THAT!" Luffy exclaimed as the four of them found themselves lowered into… A NEST OF SEA SNAKES!

"Oh boy," Ricky sighed.

**-x-**

"Can you guys call off?" Chopper requested as he stood in his Heavy Point form and held the break that would eventually stop their descent when they reached the ocean floor.

"**This is Luffy!" **Luffy's voice came through the funnel on the far right, **"And there's a ton of monsters down here."**

"**You lowered us into a nest of giant sea snakes," **Ricky's voice came out of the funnel to the left of Luffy's. **"Thanks for that."**

"**Don't listen to him," **Zoro's voice came out of the funnel to the left of Ricky's, **"They're nothing we can't handle."**

"**This is Sanji," **Sanji's voice came out of the one on the far left, **"And they're staring at me."**

Usopp stared bug-eyed at the four funnels, "They could die…" he squeaked.

"They'll be fine Usopp, don't worry," Nami reassured him. "Those four can handle anything."

"**Hey Sanji, can we eat these things?" **asked guess who.

"**Don't even think about opening that hatch so you can try one," **Ricky reprimanded him, **"That's what's keeping you alive."**

"**We'll grab one on the way back up," **Sanji offered.

"Forget about that, just keep going," Nami instructed. "Chopper, hold that break tightly."

"Right," Chopper agreed.

"Thank goodness they didn't ask me to go along with them," Usopp whimpered.

"Huh?" Robin glanced off to the side as she heard a strange noise off in a distance. It sounded like whistling followed by the crash of a bunch of cymbals. The other three perked up as the noise got closer and they heard a chant that went along with the whistling and cymbal crashes.

**TWEEEEE! **The whistle rang out. "SALVAGE!" **KRASH! **The cymbals smashed together. "SALVAGE THE SEA!" **TWEEEEE! **"SALVAGE!" **KRASH! **"SALVAGE THE SEA!"

"What's all that noise?" Usopp wondered as he lowered his sniper goggles and peered off in a distance. A large silhouette appeared on the horizon and started getting closer. It looked like a strange ship.

**KRASH! **The men on board smashed cymbals together and chanted, "SALVAGE!" **KRASH! **"SALVAGE THE SEA!" **KRASH! **"SALVAGE!" **KRASH! **"SALVAGE THE SEA!"

Meanwhile, a larger man was blowing into a whistle and seemed to be directing the chanting and the cymbal crashing. **TWEEEE! TWEEEE! TWEEEE!**

The large ship pulled up so it was nearly next to the Going Merry and a loud raspy voice called out,** "COOMPAANYY HAAALT!"** The man blew into his whistle one final time, **TWEEE!**

"SALVAGE!" the men chanted before they smashed their cymbals together one last time. **KRASH! **"Aye-aye sir!"

The four Straw Hats stared wide-eyed at the strange ship that had pulled up next to them. It could be summed up as a pirate ship for a monkey. The majority of the ship was wooden and was decorated with palm trees but the sides were large metal bananas stick up over the sides that reached up overhead. The stems of the upward bananas had pulleys attached to them and were feeding hoses down to the deck of the ship while the other end was attached to the cymbal monkey figurehead. The large white main sail was decorated with a unique Jolly Roger. Instead of a skull, it was a fully furred monkey head wearing sunglasses, and instead of crossbones, there were a pair of bananas crossing behind the monkey head.

"Are we on top of the place the ship sank?" the loud raspy voice of the leader called out.

"AYE-AYE, CAPTAIN, SIR!" the men chorused.

"When they say Captain and sir, they're talking about me!" the large man turned around, he looked a great deal like an ape, he had large bulky forearms, short spiky brown hair, a large protruding mouth like a monkey's, and a finally a brown monkey tail. Monkey-like man wore yellow-orange overalls with 'Masira' written across the chest. Underneath he wore a white tank top and a brown shirt with short sleeves that reached his large elbows. He had a green sash around his waist that was attached to a bunch of bananas on a chain. He didn't wear shoes, which exposed his hairy feel but he did pink make up on his cheeks, sunglasses, and headphones.

"PREPARE TO RAISE THE SHIP!" the man shouted to his crew. "WHAT LIES ON THE BOTTOM NOW BELONGS TO THE KING OF ALL SALVAGERS! CAPTAIN OF THE MASIRA PIRATES: MASIRA!" The monkey-like man known as Masira was a pirate with an active bounty of twenty-three million berries on his head.

"OOO! EEE! EEE!" Masira's men screeched like a band of monkeys.

"Great," Nami muttered back on the Going Merry, "a boat of unstable men, led by an unstable monkey. Why'd we have to run into guys like them?"

"HEY! What're you guys doing here?" Masira demanded as he glanced over at the Merry. "In case you didn't know, all these waters belong to me!"

"They do?" Nami questioned while Usopp attempted to hide behind the pulleys while discretely operating the air pump.

"Yeah, that's right," Masira replied, "Everything that sinks in these waters automatically becomes mine. You're not trying to take something that belongs to me, are ya?"

"So he's going to bring it to the surface," Robin realized, "Easier for us."

"But not for the four already in the water," Usopp whispered.

"We should just keep our mouths shut and let him do it," Nami told them.

"STOP MUMBLING AND ANSWER ME!" Masira shouted, "ARE YOU PEOPLE TRYING TO YANK ONE OF MY SALVAGES OUT FROM UNDER ME?"

"Excuse me, can I ask you a question first?" Nami asked sweetly as she waved hello.

"You've got questions for me!" Masira exclaimed, "Fine, sure, whatever. Ask me anything."

"Are all of you tough, good-looking men going to salvage that ship?" Nami inquired.

The flattery went right to Masira's head as he smoothed his hair and grinned, "Thank you, I see you know what a real man looks like," he boasted.

"What're you talking about?" Nami asked.

"You called us all tough and good looking," Masira reminded her, "That includes me."

"Well of course," Nami answered.

"Stooop! You're making me blush!" Masira said as he grinned and struck a pose.

"This is disturbing…" Usopp muttered then he called out, "SO! Are you guys gonna salvage that thing or what?"

"OF COURSE!" Masira assured them. "I'm not the King of all Salvagers for nothing! If there's a sunken ship before me then I'll salvage it! If it's not sunken then I'll sink it and salvage it later! Now, I know how impressed you are but we have to save it, THERE'S SALVAGING AHEAD!"

"Loser…" Nami mumbled under her breath before she smiled and called out to him, "Do you mind if we watch you big, strong men work?"

"Huh? Don't tell me you've never seen a professional salvage before?" Masira questioned, he let out a monkey-like laugh, "OOKEEKEE! You just watch us to your heart's content!"

"That's that," Nami whispered to the others, "Now we just have to wait and see what happens."

"Uuugghhh…" one of Masira's men groaned on the deck. He and a bunch of others were soaking wet and looked like they'd just taken a beating.

"Boss! There's a problem!" another one of Masira's men called out as he held one of the wounded men in his arms.

"What is it?" Masira demanded.

"Something happened to the guys who went down below to set up the cradle," the man reported.

"Was it one of those Sea Kings again?" Masira inquired.

"I don't think so," the man answered, "It looks like someone kicked him in the face."'

"WHAT?" Masira yelled. "YOU MEAN SOMEONE ELSE BESIDES OUR GUYS ARE DOWN THERE?"

"I'm gonna kill 'em…" Nami growled.

"You may not get the chance…" Usopp hissed.

"GRRAAAH!" Masira snarled then he turned and shouted at the Straw Hats, "LISTEN UP YOU!" Nami and Usopp flinched, certain that they'd been found out. "THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE DOWN THERE, SO BE CAREFUL!"

"Oh sure!" Nami agreed.

"_What a moron!" _Nami and Usopp thought to themselves.

"I WANT ALL HANDS SETTING THE CRADLE!" Masira ordered his men, "THE SHIP COMES UP IN TWENTY MINUTES! WE'VE GOT SALVAGING TO DO!"

"AYE-AYE CAPTAIN!" Masira's men chorused.

**-x-**

Down below the surface, Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji had finally reached the sunken St. Briss.

**-x-**

**Masira the Salvage King:**

**-x-**

"OOKEEKEE!" Masira laughed as he waved to the Straw Hats on the surface.

"Okay, he waving at us," Nami told the others, "Just act normal."

"Doing my best," Usopp whispered as he continued to crouch behind the pulleys and work the foot pump that was supplying Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji with air.

"Don't get stage fright fellas," Masira addressed his men, "They're observers, they wanna see something new so show 'em how it's done." Masira's grin wavered for a moment, "And if you're still nervous, trying picturing them in their underwear."

"OOH! EEE! EEE!" Masira's men screeched before they ran off to get to work.

**SPLOOSH! **A number of Masira's men dove into the water once they'd been suited up in their professionally made metal dive suits.

"They really take their salvaging seriously," Usopp remarked, "Don't they?"

"I think they're showing off because their Captain has a crush on me," Nami replied.

"MOVE IT MEN!" Masira barked as two of his men carried a long hose across the deck, "I WANT THIS DONE FAST!"

"AYE-AYE SIR!" his men replied.

**-x-**

Down below, Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji were beginning to explore the sunken wreckage.

"Hm?" Luffy grunted to himself as he noticed something. He reached out with his gloved hands and picked up a jade urn. **KRESH! **Only for the old relic to shatter in his hands. "AAAH!"

Luffy kept wandering and found himself standing in front of a mirror in a strange room. Luffy, being Luffy, started making faces in the mirror. "BLAAAAH!" But then he spotted something in the mirror. He turned around and spotted a strange contraption sticking out the sand that had pooled on the floor. Luffy waded over to it and pulled the strange thing out of the sand. Upon closer look it appeared to be some kind of worn wooden scooter.

Zoro floated into another room and spotted a number of swords shelved on the wall. He took one down and attempted to pull the sword out of its sheath. **KREK! **The handle and the top of the blade broke off as he pulled it out of the sheath. Just one look at the worn rusted blade told the swordsman that the sword hadn't been taken care of in centuries.

In another part of the ship, Sanji followed Ricky into what the First Mate had dubbed the 'Captain's Quarters'.

Sanji's eyes immediately locked onto a woman's feminine features buried under some wooden rubble. He darted over and sifted through the broken chunks of wood and eventually pulled out a woman's picture. The glass in the frame was shattered and the end of a spear had been stabbed through it.

Meanwhile, Ricky had made his way over to desk that was situated against the wall and pulled out a black book. He flipped it opened but frowned when he saw that the writing had been smudged and distorted by both time and the water.

"Damn," Ricky cursed. He went over to a nearby bookcase just as Zoro entered the room.

"You guys find anything?" the swordsman asked.

"Nothing I can read," Ricky answered as he opened another distorted book. "I should've known better and grabbed this stuff before the ship sank. Water does terrible things to paper."

"Speaking of terrible things," Sanji said as he eyed a nearby skeleton that had a spear impaled in its skull. Zoro frowned as he yanked a spear out of a nearby barrel.

"Guys, look!" Luffy called out as he floated into the room and spotted a treasure chest.

"I already saw that the first time I came in here," Ricky informed him, "there's nothing valuable in it. I already took the only gold that was worth something."

Zoro knelt down in front of the chest anyway and attempted to break off the lock with the head of the spear he'd found. **Klank! Klank! **Luffy and Sanji gathered behind him as the lock broke off and he pulled the chest opened. **BLOOP! **Air bubbles floated out of the chest, the only thing inside was an odd-looking white feather.

**KRASH! **A huge metal blade smashed through the wall of the room, startling the four pirates.

**WHIR! WHIR! WHIR! **Outside the ship, numerous blades spun around on a large metal pole making it look like a claw that had been lowered into the water by a pair of ropes. A matching was on the other side of the ship. **KROOONG! **The two claws speared into the sides of the sunken ship and trapped it in between them.

"**Cradle set!" **one of Masira's divers announced as he floated nearby.

**-x-**

"**WHAT WAS THAT?" **Luffy's shriek came up through the funnel on the Going Merry.

**WHAP! **Nami and Usopp quickly clamped on of their hands over each of the four funnels to keep Masira and his men from hearing their Nakama's cries.

"Huh?" Masira grunted as he turned to look at them. Everyone on the Going Merry froze.

"Uhh… so… why such a big monkey?" Usopp asked, attempting to draw the monkey man's attention away from the shriek he'd obviously just heard. He quickly pointed to the monkey hold cymbals that was acting as the figurehead of Masira's ship. "There! On the bow of the ship!"

"Oh that," Masira replied and let out a chucke, "Ookeekee! You've got a sharp eye. It's a special prow I designed. It aids in our salvage, just watch!" The Straw Hats let out a collective sigh of relief as Masira's attention was successfully diverted. "You're gonna love this! LOWER THE BARCO HUNTER!"

"MONKEY! MONKEY! MONKEY!" Masira's men chanted. "MONKEY! MONKEY!"

**WHIRR! **The bow of the ship extended revealing that it was a large crane, and the monkey figurehead came out of the hole it had been in revealing its hind legs and tail. **SPLOOOSH! **The monkey plunged down under the surface and was slowly lowered down towards the sunken ship.

"WOW! AWESOME!" Chopper exclaimed.

"COMPLETELY AMAZING!" Usopp gasped.

"Are you kidding?" asked Nami, who was clearly unimpressed.

**-x-**

The monkey's cymbals came apart as it descended down into the ship.

"**Forty meters to the target!" **one of Masira's men reported. **"Thirty meters! Twenty! Ten!"**

The monkey floated down to the banana that was holding using long hoses to hold the cradle together. **SHUNK! **The monkey's cymbals closed over the stem of the banana.

"**Barco Hunter joint, lock!" **

**-x-**

"EXCELLENT!" Masira exclaimed back on the surface. "ALL RIGHT! PREPARE FOR INFLATION!"

"AYE-AYE SIR!" Masira's men chorused.

Masira picked up the end of a long hose that led down to the Barco Hunter and brought the end to his mouth.

"No way!" Nami gasped, "He's going to raise the wreck with his breath?"

**HAAAAAAAAH! **Masira reared back as he took a long drag of air then he shot forward and blew into the end of the hoes. **FWOOOOO! **A huge bulge of air formed at the end of the hose and traveled down it into the water towards the Barco Hunter.

**-x-**

**BLOOP! **Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji stared in surprise as a bubble of air came out of the blade that had just speared through the wall of the room they were in.

"Is that bubble?" Luffy wondered.

**BLUUMP! **Now that it was filling with air, the St. Briss rose up off of the sea floor and floated.

**-x-**

"**The body of the ship is off of the sea floor!" **the voice of one of Masira's men echoed across the deck of Masira's ship.

"ALRIGHT, PULL 'ER UP!" Masira ordered. Amazingly, he had enough breath to shout after blowing so much air into the ship. It spoke wonders for the monkey man's lung capacity.

"AYE-AYE SIR!" a group of Masira's men chorused as they spun a large spinning wheel and began reeling in the crader.

"LET'S HUSSLE MEN!" Masira yelled at another group of his men as two of them jumped on a giant air pump. "SEND MORE AIR!" **SHUKKA! SHUKKA! **

Masira grabbed his hose and blew into it again. **FWOOOOO! **With the Captain's breath accompanied by the air being pumped by his crew, the St. Briss was quickly filled with air as it was pulled up off of the ocean floor and towards the surface.

**-x-**

"Grrr…" Luffy growled, still having no clue what was going on.

**-x-**

"**GAAAAAAAHH!" **one of Masira's men screamed from down below.

"SIR! THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THE UNDERWATER CREW!" someone shouted.

"WHAT?" Masira demanded, "TALK TO ME! WHAT'S HAPPENING DOWN THERE? IS IT THE INTRUDERS?"

"**Yes sir!" **the frantic voice of one of Masira's underwater men broke the surface. **"THEY'RE IN THE SHIP! WAAAAAH!"**

"RAAAAAAHHH!" Masira roared, "HOW DARE YOU! I'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH MY HARDWORKING MEN! IIINDRUUUUDEEEEERS!"

"EEP!" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper squeaked in terror but then stared in surprise when Masira stood there in his angry pose… and did nothing.

"Uhh… you know we're not gonna take your picture or anything," Nami informed him.

"YOU'RE NOT?" Masira exclaimed.

"He was giving us a photo op?" Usopp questioned.

"**HELP US!" **one of Masira's underwater men screamed. **"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US! AAAAHH! AAAAAAAHHHHH!"**

"I'LL BE RIGHT DOWN!" Masira shouted then he turned to his men, "Continue with the salvaging operation men!"

"AYE-AYE SIR!" Masira's men chorused. **SPLOOSH! **Masira dove off the side of the ship and into the water and started swimming down to the wreck.

"Grrr…" Masira growled as he found himself swimming passed one of the few remaining sea snakes from the nest that Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji had gone through previously.

"HSSSSS!" the sea snake reared its large head around and opened its mouth to feast on the monkey snack that was floating in front of it.

**WHIR! WHIR! WHIR! **Masira wound up his arm then lashed out at the sea snake, "MONKEY PUNCH!" **WHAM! **Masira's big fist smashed into the sea snake's face and sent it reeling away from him. **SHOOM! **Masira quickly dove downward and closed in on the St. Briss.

"The salvage looks good," Masira remarked as he watched the ship being pulled up towards him.

**-x-**

**TMP! **"Check it out!" Luffy exclaimed as he pulled off his barrel dive suit, "We don't even need the barrels now."

"We figured that out already," Ricky informed him as he, Zoro, and Sanji stood next to Luffy with their empty dive suits next to them.

"Well I don't know how they pumped this much air into a downed ship," Zoro commented. "But what I really wanna know is who they are and why they're trying to salvage this thing."

"I wonder if something bad happened to Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin back on the surface," Sanji said, "I've tried calling them but they won't respond."

**KRASH! **Masira came crashing through the wall into the room. "WHO DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU ARE?" he demanded. "ARE YOU TRYING TO MUSCLE IN ON MY TURF?"

"You look like a monkey," Luffy bluntly stated.

"Huh?" Masira questioned then he blushed, "You think I look hunky?"

"Nice make up," Luffy remarked as eyed the pink blush had somehow survived Masira's trip through the water.

"You think so?" Masira asked, "I feel it adds a refined quality to my face."

"Oh yeah, certainly adds something," Luffy agreed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Zoro growled.

"What he means to say is, who are you," Sanji said.

"Oh right, how rude of me," Masira commented, "I'm Masira the Salvage King." Then he suddenly remembered why he was down there. "AND YOU GUYS ARE TRYING TO STEAL A WRECK THAT'S IN MY TERRITORY!"

"We're doing no such thing," Ricky told him, "this ship came falling out of the sky and nearly fell on us. We're only down here figure out how."

"It fell out of the sky?" Masira questioned.

"Yeah," Ricky answered as he pulled out the black book he'd found and pulled it opened, "Can you read this?"

Masira glanced at the smeared ink, "Not a word," he admitted.

"Well we think that this ship might've fallen from the Sky Island," Ricky explained, "It's only a legend but it's the only thing that makes sense. Have you ever heard of it?"

"A friend of mine has," Masira replied. "He knows a bunch about it."

"HE DOES?" Luffy exclaimed. "HOW DO WE GET THERE?"

"I said my friend knew about it!" Masira reminded him, "Not that I did! He's back at home."

**-x-**

While they were talking, none of them noticed the large shape swimming towards the wreck as it floated in the water.

**-x-**

"THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE DOWN THERE!" Nami exclaimed back on the surface.

"IT'S HUGE!" Usopp shrieked, "Anybody just wanna run?"

**-x-**

Down below, a huge dark shape the size of an island floated up to the St. Briss.

A large mouth that was big enough to devour the galleon in one bite opened up and revealed that it was filled with enormous pointed teeth.

**-x-**

"Shishishishi!" "Ookeekee!" Luffy and Masira's laughter echoed through the Captain's quarters as the two monkeys quickly hit it off.

"Ookeekee!" Masira laughed, "Oh you guys from the East Blue have the best sense of humor!"

"I don't know about that," Luffy replied, "but nothing beats a one-ton gorilla in make up."

"Oh shut up, you know I look good!" Masira boasted.

Ricky shook his head and turned to Zoro and Sanji. "Looks like I got all the information I can out of him. With no other setbacks, we can head back to the surface and follow him back home so we can meet this friend of his."

**-x-**

**CHOMP! **The mouth of an island-sized turtle closed around the St. Briss trapping Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, Sanji, and Masira inside.

**-x-**

**SPLOOOOSSSHH! **The monster-sized turtle broke the surface causing Nami, Usopp, and Chopper to shake with terror while Robin remained passive. The enormous turtle easily dwarfed both the Going Merry and Masira's salvage ship.

"DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE ISLAND-SIZED MONSTER RIGHT IN FRONT OF US?" Nami screamed.

**-x-**

"You were saying?" Zoro asked as the room they were in was suddenly flooded with darkness.

"I said 'with no other setbacks'," Ricky reminded him, "This is a setback."

**-x-**

Phew, we're back to canon. That chapter took a lot longer than it should have but it's finally done. Next chapter, the Straw Hat's strange situation gets even stranger as monsters appear.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	7. Monsters Appear

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**Monsters Appear:**

** -x-**

Inside the mouth of an enormous island-sized sea turtle, Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, Sanji, and Masira the Salvage King stood in the remains of the St. Briss.

"Who turned out the lights?" Luffy wondered.

"My guess is that the entire wreck just became a snack for a huge sea monster," Sanji stated.

**AAAA-CHOOO! **Everyone jumped when Ricky suddenly let out a loud sneeze.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?" Masira demanded.

"Sorry," Ricky apologized as he rubbed his nose, "I just got the sudden feeling that…" Ricky trailed off and looked thoughtful. "Hey Zoro, would you fancy exploring the stomach of a giant sea monster?"

"Not really," Zoro admitted, "especially after what happened with that whale."

"It's just that I've got the strangest feeling that this isn't the first ship that this monster's swallowed," Ricky explained, "You could almost say I can _sense _it."

"OOOH!" Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji chorused as they caught on.

"You mean your Treasure…" Luffy started to blurt out. **WHAP! **He was cut off when Sanji clamped his hand over his mouth. He cast a wary glance at Masira, not wanting the Salvage King to get worked up over the potential of finding treasure in the monster's belly.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look," Zoro reasoned.

"OOO!" Luffy gushed, "If you're going on an adventure I wanna come too! I wanna find some tre—" **WHAP! **Again Sanji clamped his hand over the Captain's loud mouth.

"You know what, maybe I should just take Luffy," Ricky resolved.

"HEY! HOLD ON!" Masira protested. "This might just be because I'm super observant but I get the feeling that you guys are up to something."

"We're trapped in the mouth of a monster," Ricky pointed out, "I thought that we could take a chance to explore while we're in here. If you'd like to risk being digested, you're welcome to come along."

Masira flinched. "I'm not about to go diving into the belly of a monster!" the monkey man exclaimed, "That'd make it way too easy for the beast to actually eat me!"

"Then in that case, you stay here with these two and try to find a way out," Ricky suggested. "Luffy, you come with me. I've got a feeling that this'll be a very interesting adventure."

"YEAAAHH!" Luffy cheered, "After going in that whale, sailing through that goldfish, and escaping in that big banana, this'll be great! I bet we'll find loads of…" **WHAP! **This time, Ricky clamped his hand over Luffy's mouth.

"You guys grab anything you think is valuable and head out," Ricky instructed, "Poor Nami, Usopp, and Chopper are probably terrified. Tell them to set sail and we'll use this thing to catch up to you." With that, Ricky dragged Luffy out of the remains of the St. Briss, into the monster's mouth and down its throat.

"HOLD ON!" Masira shouted. "What did he mean 'grab anything you think is valuable'? YOU GUYS ARE TRYING TO STEAL MY TREASURE!"

"Looks like the jig is up," Zoro realized.

"It's not yours if it's sunken," Sanji growled.

"THIS IS MY TERRITORY!" Masira roared. "ANY SUNKEN SHIPS IN THIS AREA ARE MY PROPERTY! I'M THE SALVAGE KING! I'LL TEACH YOU!" Masira swung his arm around and lashed out at Sanji. "MONKEY PUNCH!"

**SWISH! **Sanji leaned to the side and avoided the attack then spun around and hooked his leg around Masira's face, "FLANCHET… SHOOT!" **THWHAM! **Sanji's kick sent Masira flying across the room and into the wall. **KRASH! THUMP! **Masira hit the deck and didn't move.

"Hmph," Sanji grunted. "Let's grab what we can and get out of here."

"Should we cut our way out?" Zoro suggested.

"Don't be stupid Moss Ball," Sanji snapped, "That'd take too long. We'll light a fire and the smoke'll cause the monster to sneeze us out."

"_You're _the stupid one, Pervy-Cook!" Zoro retorted, "This sunken ship is soaking wet! There's nothing that'll burn well enough to create that much smoke!"

"AT LEAST MY PLAN WAS PRACTICAL, YOU DUMB BRUTE!" Sanji shouted.

"_YOUR_ PLAN WAS DUMB, THAT MAKES _YOU_ THE DUMB ONE!" Zoro yelled back.

The bickering swordsman and cook stormed out of the Captain's quarters and left Masira lying on the floor as they went to gather up any valuables that remained on the sunken ship.

** -x- **

Meanwhile, the remaining Straw Hats and the Masira Pirates all stared in shock at the monstrous island-sized turtle that had just swallowed the sunken St. Briss and their crewmates along with it.

"CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN!" one of the Masira Pirates screamed in horror.

"One tooth is the size of our boat…" Nami whimpered. "That's it! We're dead!"

"There's no monster!" Usopp insisted as he clamped his hands over his eyes. "This is all just one big stupid dream that we're all having together for some reason!"

"A dream, right," Chopper was all too happy to go along with the delusion.

"Aaaahh," Usopp, Chopper, and Nami all sighed in relief having managed to convince themselves that this wasn't real. They closed their eyes and faced away from the monster, out of sight, out of mind. "It was just a dream."

"You know," Robin spoke up, "Our boys just got eaten." Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all flinched while Robin calmly eyed the bits of broken wood that were sticking out of the turtle's huge mouth. "So did that ship we were trying to salvage."

"DON'T SAY IT!" Usopp shrieked.

"Yup, it was definitely eaten," Robin confirmed, "I can see the air hoses hanging from its jaws."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Usopp hollered.

"WAAAAHHHH!" Chopper cried as he ran in circles around the deck. "A SEA MONSTER ATE MY FRIENDS! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?"

"This is all your fault!" Usopp snapped at Nami. "You're the one that said it'd be safe at the bottom of the Grand Line! I don't know what qualifies as safe in your book but in mine IT DOESN'T INVOLVE GIANT MAN-EATING TURTLES!"

"You're right…" Nami reluctantly agreed as she dropped to her knees, "But they can't be… gone… those four can handle anything… that's why we sent _them_…"

**WHOOM! **A slight tug from the turtle caused the Going Merry to violently lurch to the side. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper went sliding across the deck into the railing.

"If we don't cut the air hoses that beast will drag us down to the bottom of the ocean," Robin pointed out.

"GAAAAHHH!" Usopp screamed. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO! JUST DO SOMETHING! YOU'RE THE TOUGH AND SMART LADY!"

"Give minute, let me see what I can come up with," Robin replied.

"OKAY BOYS!" one of the Masira pirates shouted to the others. "TIME TO SAVE OUR NOBLE CAPTAIN! OUR PRIDE HONOR AND LIVES ARE AT STAKE! OUR CAPTAIN IS ALIVE AND WE WILL FIND HIM! MARK MY WORDS!"

"They're right," Usopp realized, "It's these challenging times that prove the strength by which we are made!"

"USOPP!" Nami called out.

"YEAH!" Usopp answered, eager to show what he was made of.

"CUT THE AIR HOSES AND GET US OUT OF HERE!" Nami ordered.

"_THAT'S _WHAT WE'RE MADE OF?" Usopp demanded.

"COWARD!" Chopper chimed in.

"DON'T GIMME THAT!" Nami snapped. "If the ship gets pulled under, we're done for! But if we keep the Merry safe then we'll at least have a ship for the others to come back to if they manage to escape!"

**THOOM! **Suddenly it got dark. The four Straw Hats looked up at the suddenly black sky.

"What is that?" Usopp whimpered, "It's like everything got dark."

"Scary…" Chopper squeaked.

"There's no way!" Nami gasped. "Why is it so dark? It's not that late!"

Even the turtle looked scared by the sudden darkness. Its eyes bugged out and it gaped in shock.

"IT'S TIME TO LEAVE GUYS!" Usopp hollered at the turtle in the vain hope that their Nakama could hear them inside. "NOW! LUFFY! RICKY! ZORO! SANJI!"

"Huh?" Robin blinked, the suddenly dark sky had only made her curious but a commotion on the Masira Pirates' ship caught her attention.

"This is a bad omen!" one of the pirates warned the others. "We all know that sudden darkness is the harbinger of the monsters appearing in suddenly dark skies."

"We've gotta save our Captain and get out of here!" another one called out.

**SPLA-SPOOOSH! **Two large sacks came flying out of the water and latched onto the dangling air hoses. It took the Straw Hats up on the Merry a couple seconds to realize that the sacks were being carried by two familiar pirates.

"ZORO! SANJI!" Usopp cheered as the swordsman and cook climbed up the air hoses and onto the deck.

"Set sail now," Zoro instructed.

"Yeah, we've gotta get outta here," Sanji added.

"ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?" Chopper asked.

"NEVER MIND THAT!" Nami interrupted. "TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE ARE RICKY AND LUFFY?"

"Sorry. Miss. Nami," Sanji apologized, "but we've gotta leave. That guy's crazy."

"But what about Luffy and Ricky?" Chopper asked.

"Leave?" Usopp repeated. "You mean we finally get to get away from this stinking turtle?"

"No, it wasn't a turtle, it was a monkey," Zoro corrected him.

"Yeah, a bona fide sea-monkey," Sanji added.

"Can't say I'm too surprised that he and Luffy got along as well as they did," Zoro admitted.

"Well, they're both monkeys," Sanji reasoned.

"But when we tried to take some stuff from the ship he flipped out," Zoro continued.

"I've never seen a primate act like that before!" Sanji exclaimed.

"That was Masira the Salvage King," Usopp told them.

"Never mind him!" Nami cut in, "How'd you guys get out of that sea turtle? And why didn't Ricky and Luffy come with you?"

"Ugh," Zoro groaned in annoyance, "Why do you keep talking about a turtle?"

"Hm, that's weird," Usopp noted as he glanced over at the monster turtle, "Now he's just floating there like a statue with his mouth gaping opened! Oh, I get it! Of course! That's how you guys escaped!"

"WE WERE IN THAT THING'S MOUTH?" Zoro and Sanji shouted in surprise as they turned and saw the huge turtle for the first time.

"Nothing gets passed you guys does it," Usopp muttered, "THAT'S THE TURTLE THAT ATE THE SHIP THAT YOU GUYS WERE INSIDE!"

"Hey, what's with the sky?" Sanji wondered, "It was light out when we went in there. And we couldn't have been inside for _that _long.

"Forget about that!" Zoro scolded him, "We've gotta get out of here now!"

"**RAAAAAHHHHH!" SHOOO! **Masira suddenly came flying out of the turtle's opened mouth and landed on the railing of the Going Merry. "NOT SO FAST! HAND OVER THE TREASURE THAT YOU STOLE!"

"Treasure?" Nami repeated. "Is he right? You guys found some treasure?"

"Ricky told us to grab whatever we thought was valuable," Sanji said as motioned to the two sacks he and Zoro had brought with them.

"But he sensed a lot more treasure in the monster's stomach so he brought Luffy down there with him to find it," Zoro continued. "There was so much that it made him sneeze."

**KA-CHING! **The berri signs in Nami's eyes glowed so brightly that Zoro and Sanji had to quickly look away. "Ricky… I think I love him…" Nami sighed with a delirious smile plastered across her face.

"Hey!" Sanji protested. "Miss. Nami! I brought back all this treasure for you!"

"But he went to find more…" Nami sighed with the same delirious smile.

"That's twice you've said that," Zoro muttered, "both times when he wasn't around, and both times when he was off getting a bunch of treasure. Is that all you care about? Shallow bitch."

"WATCH IT MOSS BALL!" Sanji snarled. "DON'T TALK TO MISS. NAMI LIKE THAT!"

"What do you care?" Zoro retorted, "She basically admitted that she doesn't care about you!"

"**HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!" **Masira used his impressive lung capacity to gain the attention of the Straw Hats. "STOP IGNORING ME! HAND OVER THE TREASURE OR I'LL TEAR THIS SHIP APART UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT BUT SPLINTERS!"

"_This isn't good," _Zoro thought to himself as he gripped the handle of _Wado Ichimonji_. _"If he starts rampaging the ship, we all go down."_

The Straw Hats and Masira stared down until the tense silence was broken by the whimpering of Masira's crew.

"CAPTAIN! BEHIND YOU!" one of Masira's men shouted.

"Hm?" Masira questioned as he and the Straw Hats turned to look in the direction indicated.

There in a distance stand out against the sky was an enormous silhouette. It appeared to be a man with small wings poking out from behind his shoulders. The man was gigantic, way bigger than the two giants that the Straw Hats had met. The silhouette was so unbelievably huge in the dark sky that it made the Going Merry look like a grain of sand, Masira's monkey themed salvage ship look like a pebble, and the huge island-sized turtle look like a marble.

And the man wasn't alone. Two unbelievably huge men were standing beside him on each side. Each of the five massive men had wings and was wielding a proportional spear. The silhouettes were so incomprehensibly huge that the Straw Hats, Masira, Masira's crew, and even the enormous turtle could only stare up at them in shock and horror. Even Robin looked stunned and _that_ was saying something.

"SEEEEEEAAAAA MOOOOONSTEEEEEEER!" Chopper and Masira screamed in horror.

"RUUUUUUN AAAAAWAAAAAAYYYYYYY!" Usopp hollered. The Straw Hats sprang into action and pulled out the oars. Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, and even frantically pumped the oars as fast as the possibly could in a desperate attempt to escape the monster silhouettes that had appeared in the dark sky out of nowhere.

"What about Mr. Straw Hat and Mr. One Eye?" Robin asked, her normally calm voice was laced with a trace of panic.

"THOSE TWO'LL BE SAFE INSIDE THE TURTLE!" Nami screamed, "BUT THEY'LL ONLY BE ABLE TO CATCH UP TO US IF WE'RE STILL ALIVE!"

And so the Going Merry shot off leaving its Captain and First Mate behind in the belly of a monstrous turtle in the wake of the even more monstrous men in the sky.

**-x-**

Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper paddled to the point of exhaustion until finally the silhouettes in the sky disappeared and the dark sky was replaced with the blue partially cloudy sky that had been there before.

The Straw Hats sat around on the deck of the Merry trying to wrap their minds around what they had just witnessed.

"That couldn't have been real," Zoro the ship skeptic insisted.

"Those things were taller than the sky!" Usopp gasped, for once he _wasn't_ exaggerating.

Sanji lit up a cigarette and took a calming drag, "The Grand Line is an endless parade of mysteries and annoyances," he muttered. "I mean, look at the nightmare of just making it through today."

"First there was the huge galleon that fell out of the sky right on top of us," Zoro recounted.

"Then the Log Pose's needle started pointing to the sky," Nami continued.

"A psycho make-up-wearing monkey shows up and blocks our way," Usopp added.

"And then a sea turtle came and ate our salvage ship," Chopper chimed in.

"Then darkness fell and the sky turned black," Robin said.

"Because the biggest monsters I've ever seen came and blocked out the sun!" Masira blurted out.

The Straw Hats blinked and finally realized that Masira the Salvage King was still on their ship.

**THWAK! **"BEAT IT!" Zoro and Sanji shouted as they sprang up off of the deck and kicked Masira up into the air and sent him up into the air and off the ship.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Masira screamed as he went flying off and disappeared in a distance.

**-x-**

**Treasure Hunt:**

**-x-**

"**ACHOOO!" **Ricky rubbed his nose, "Here we are…"

Oblivious to everything that had just happened to their Nakama, Luffy and Ricky had finally reached the opening at the end of the giant sea turtle's throat that let out into its stomach.

"WHOOOOOAAAA!" Luffy gasped as the two of them stared down at the turtle's stomach. It was filled with partially digested wooden ships and one mostly preserved steel Marine battleship. Even with his limited depth perception, Ricky managed to count six plus the marine ship that made seven. The state of the wooden ships seemed to reflect how long they'd been in the turtle's stomach. One had been dissolved to the point where it looked like a ship's skeleton while another just looked worn as if it had been swallowed just yesterday, which for all they knew could've been the case.

One thing that all the ships had in common however was that they'd all been sunk at some point. Some of the ships had cannonball holes in their hull, others looked like they had a bad encounter with a nasty storm. Clearly this monster had a thing for swallowing any sunken ships it could find whole.

Ricky held his hand over his nose, the feeling from all the treasure on the ships below them was almost overwhelming. "You've gotta love pirates in the Grand Line. Any of these ships would make the treasure on Don Krieg's galleon look like pocket change. We could buy a fleet of ships with all of the treasure in here and we'd still have some left!"

"Why would we do that?" Luffy wondered, "There's a fleet of ships right there! This monster's belly looks like a ship graveyard! Maybe it likes eating ships as much as I like eating meat!"

"No one in this world could enjoy eating anything as much as you like meat," Ricky retorted.

"Then maybe as much as Grandpa likes doughnuts," Luffy suggested. "Or Zoro likes booze… Or you like treasure… NO! Or NAMI likes treasure!"

"Well now you're just talking crazy," Ricky told him, "Let's start with that big pirate ship over there… it feels like it's got twenty-times as much treasure as Don Krieg's galleon did. We'll gather up whatever treasure we can find on it and bring it to that big marine ship since it doesn't look like the monster can digest the steel that it's made of."

"Okay, I'll stretch us over," Luffy agreed, **Whup-whup! **Luffy wrapped one arm twice around Ricky's waist then shot his other arm down to the big pirate ship that Ricky had indicated and grabbed onto the railing. **Whap! **"GUM… GUM… ROCKET!" **SHOOOOM! **Luffy and Ricky went flying out of the turtle's throat across the stomach and landed on the deck of the pirate ship. **TMP! TMP!**

Luffy's arms both retracted while Ricky walked towards a door that led inside the large ship, "It feels like the treasure hold's this way," Ricky stated, Luffy nodded and followed after him. "Nami's gonna freak out when she sees all this…" And with that the two got to work.

**-x-**

The Going Merry sailed onward without its Captain and First Mate and the other Straw Hats finally managed to recover from their latest shocking experience.

"Those monsters were too big for any of us to take them," Usopp remarked.

"Yeah," Chopper agreed, "if I never see them again it would be a blessing."

Usopp glanced at the reindeer that was staring off the ship beside him, "Don't sweat it," he attempted to reassure him, "if I really cut loose I could've shown those guys a thing or two."

"REALLY?" Chopper questioned.

"Sure, I fought ten of those guys a while back," Usopp replied.

"YOU FOUGHT TEN OF 'EM?" Chopper exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Nami was examining the 'loot' that Zoro and Sanji had brought back from the St. Briss. There was a collection of old vases, a suit of armor, a broken scooter-like contraption, a collections of worn and old weapons, a crutch, and Zoro's octopus. "Come on you guys!" she complained, "Couldn't you have at least brought back something that we can actually use? All you brought back was a bunch of scattered junk! We don't have a single clue here about how to find Sky Island!"

"There wasn't anything there, believe me," Zoro told her. "We looked."

"Yup, if there was something else down there we would've found it," Sanji added. He and Zoro thought back to what had happened on the St. Briss and how the ship had been a total wreck filled with skeletons that had harpoons driven through their skulls. "The ship was in terrible shape, like it had been jacked up and raided. Or perhaps a mutiny broke out and they killed each other in a violent struggle for power and survival."

"THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE NEED INFORMATION!" Nami snapped. "It could mean the difference between life and death for this whole crew! If we're going to sail to Sky Island then we need more information to stay alive or whatever happened to that ship could happen to us too! WE DIDN'T BRAVE GIANT MONSTERS SO YOU COULD BRING BACK ACREEPY OCTOPUS, SOME RUSTY SWORDS, AND A BROKEN DISH! THIS IS ALL JUNK! AND YOU GUYS ARE IDIOTS! DAMN IT!" Nami held her hand to her head and attempted to calm herself, "Did Ricky find anything?"

"He found a journal but the water had already gotten to it and we couldn't read anything," Sanji recalled. "It was the same case for all the others books down there."

"The only lead we had was that monkey," Zoro stated, "Ricky managed to get him to admit that a friend of his back home knew about the Sky Island."

Nami closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "You mean the same monkey that you guys just kicked off of the boat?"

"Uh… yeah…" Zoro and Sanji admitted.

"YOU MORONS!" Nami screamed. **WHOMP! **A hard hit sent the swordsman and the cook crashing down to the mat. "NOT ONLY DO YOU BRING BACK NOTHING BUT JUNK BUT YOU KICK OUR ONLY LEAD OFF OF THE SHIP! YOU'RE BOTH USELESS!"

Nami continued grumbling to herself as she stomped away. Usopp slipped over to them, "If you guys know what's good for you, you'll stay down," he advised.

"Bad day, huh?" Robin inquired as she eyed Nami while sitting casually on the railing.

"It's only gonna get worse working with these guys," Nami muttered, "We're never gonna figure out how that ship made it to Sky Island at this rate. I miss Ricky…"

"All's not lost," Robin replied, "maybe this'll help…" Robin proceeded to pull an Eternal Pose out of her pocket.

"An Eternal Pose?" Nami questioned as she took the Pose from Robin. "But how?"

"Oh, I took it off of that salvager's ship earlier," Robin told her, "Just in case."

To Robin's surprise, Nami burst into tears. But upon a closer look, she was smiling. "Now that Ricky's gone you're the only one I can depend on," she gushed. She took a second to examine the Eternal Pose and saw the word 'Jaya' written on the top. "'Jaya' this must've been their home port. And if what Ricky got that monkey to admit to is true then that means that friend of his lives there. So now we just have to go there and find him and maybe he can help us get to the Sky Island! ROBIN WE DID IT!"

Nami turned and addressed the others, "LISTEN UP GUYS! WE'RE HEADING FOR JAYA!"

"Who put you in charge?" Zoro grumbled.

"Luffy and Ricky aren't here and _I'm _the Navigator so _I'm _navigating our course," she replied, "besides, you couldn't navigate your way out of a paper bag without getting hopelessly lost."

"But Nami, how're we gonna go to this Jaya place without the Log Pose resetting?" Usopp inquired. "If the needle moves we might not be able to find the Sky Island."

Nami's eyes widened as she seemed to just realize that herself.

"Don't worry Miss. Navigator," Robin reassured her, "We'll just stay there for a short amount of time so the Log Pose won't have a chance to log the new magnetic field."

**WHUP! **Robin was caught off guard and went stiff as a board when Nami threw herself at her and tightly hugged the older woman. "Oh Big Sis, you're the only one I can really count on!"

At that point, none of the Straw Hats were looking over the side of the ship so none of them saw the enormous dark shape that was floating underneath the Going Merry. And so they were caught completely off guard when the ship started shaking.

**Rumble… rumble… **Then the shaking turned to full on rocking. **Krek… krek…**

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Sanji shouted out in alarm.

"WAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed as he ran around the deck in a panic, "NOT ANOTHER MONSTER! HAVEN'T WE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY?"

"HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!" Zoro warned the others.

"Gah!" Robin gasped as Nami tightened her hold on her to the point that it made it hard to breathe for the older woman. She strained to grow and extra two pairs of arms out of her back so she could anchor herself onto the railing.

**SHOOM! **The rocking ship shot up into the air as an enormous round mountain started coming out of the water right underneath them.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Usopp shrieked as he wrapped both his arms and his legs around the Merry's main mast. "THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

"I don't wanna die today…" Nami whimpered into Robin's chest, "Not today…"

**THOOM! **The ship finally stopped rising and the Straw Hats found their ship hundreds of feet above sea level on the top of a gigantic _island-sized_ mountain.

"First a ship nearly falls on top of us," Zoro muttered, "Now a mountain shoots up from right under us! What next?"

"**HEEEEYYYYY GUUUUUYYYYS!" **a loud, familiar voice called out.

"LUFFY!" Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper chorused as they all turned in the direction of the extremely welcome voice.

"HEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!" Luffy smiled and waved as he and Ricky came racing up the mountain towards the ship. **SKISH! TMP! TMP! **Together they leapt up onto the Going Merry's railing and dropped down onto the deck.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Ricky apologized.

"RIIICKYYYY!" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper shouted. Robin suddenly found herself able to breathe again as Nami raced across the deck, streaked passed Chopper, and threw herself into Ricky's arms. Ricky staggered backwards a couple steps but smiled as he hugged her back.

"DON'T YOU EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN!" Nami shouted at him.

"I think you'll reconsider that when I tell you what we found," Ricky replied.

"That turtle monster loves eating sunken ships!" Luffy blurted out.

"There were seven ships in there," Ricky added, "Two of them had treasure holds that rivaled Arlong's! All together I couldn't even count it all!"

"Couldn't… count… it…" Nami repeated before her eyes rolled back and she fainted, fortunately Ricky was still holding onto her and held her up.

"Anyway," Ricky continued, "There was so much treasure down there that we decided it'd be easier to just tame the monster rather than deal with all the trips it would take to bring it all back. There wouldn't be enough room on our ship for it."

"YOU TAMED THAT HUGE TURTLE?" Usopp exclaimed.

"Yup," Luffy giddily answered, "It wasn't even that hard. When he climbed up into its ear it was just floating there with its mouth opened. It looked scared to death so it went along with what Ricky told it real easy."

"Maybe we should tell you what happened while you guys were in there," Sanji reasoned.

"We're still coming to terms with it ourselves," Zoro admitted.

One explanation later. The Straw Hats were sitting around on the deck. Nami had since woken up but was still glued to Ricky's side.

"WHOOOOAAA!" Luffy exclaimed, "So they were just standing there in the sky?"

"Yeah, they were huge!" Usopp told him, "They made Masters Broggy and Dorry look small! THEY WERE TALLER THAN THE SKY!"

"Didn't you tell me that the reason that the Bonsatsu Island temple was made was so they could be closer to the winged figures they saw in the sky?" Ricky asked Robin.

"That's right," Robin realized, "but it was so surprising actually seeing it. None of the writings in the temple mentioned that they were so big."

"So do you think it could be possible that those figures you saw were people on the Sky Island?" Ricky suggested.

"If they were… I don't think I want to go there anymore," Chopper whimpered. "Not when the people are that huge."

"I'm pretty sure what you guys saw were just shadows," Ricky stated, "and since they're supposedly on an ocean that's running up above us, they'd be closer to the sun which would make their shadows look a lot bigger when we actually manage to see it so far below them."

"So they're _not _monsters?" Chopper questioned.

"Well some of the remains we found on the St. Briss showed signs of an attack," Ricky recalled, "If the ship fell from the Sky Island then it stands to reason that they were attacked by someone up there. Some of the skeletons had spears going through their skulls and those spears were normal-sized. That leads me to believe that the people up there are normal-sized and that they just have still wings coming out of their backs."

Nami took that moment to hug Ricky again, "Oh God I missed you," she gushed, "Not back for five minutes and you've already managed to rationalize a potentially traumatic experience."

Ricky shrugged, "I do what I can," he said. "So where are we heading now? You kicked the monkey off of the boat so I guess we can't make a deal to bring him home and find that mysterious friend of his."

Nami pulled out the Eternal Pose to Jaya and showed it to Ricky, "Robin managed to steal this from their ship," she explained, "I'm guessing Jaya is their home port so the monkey's friend might be there. With both you and Robin on the crew we might actually survive this voyage."

"Hey, do you think he'll be another monkey?" Luffy wondered.

"Who knows," Sanji replied.

"I've actually been to Jaya once before," Ricky admitted. "Back when Ace and I first made it to the Grand Line as the Spade Pirates I found a huge buried treasure somewhere near here. The island I found it on was just one island hop away from Jaya."

"What's Jaya like?" Nami asked, "Did you hear anything about any weird monkeys while you were there?"

"It was unpleasant," Ricky recounted, "the people there are really closed minded. We just quickly bought some supplies and then waited on the ship for the Log Pose to reset, we tried to keep our contact with the people there as minimal as possible."

"Well this time we're actually looking for something there," Luffy stated, "ON TO JAYA! LET'S GO BLASTOISE! TAKE US TO JAYA!"

"What the hell's a 'Blastoise'?" Zoro asked.

"I named the turtle," Luffy answered.

"You don't get to name it!" Ricky complained, "It was my idea to tame it!"

"Yeah, but I helped!" Luffy protested. "BLASTOISE!"

"It's a turtle so we're calling it Turner," Ricky insisted.

"That's stupid!" Luffy complained, "BLASTOISE!"

"That's even worse!" Ricky argued.

"Actually Ricky… it's a sea turtle," Nami pointed out. "Your name doesn't work."

"Fine, then Seymour," Ricky decided.

"NO BLASTOISE!" Luffy insisted.

"That's terrible!" Nami exclaimed. "Call it 'Sheldon'!"

"Oh yeah, it's got a big shell so let's call it 'Sheldon'," Ricky muttered sarcastically. "That's real creative Nami."

"And like your name is?" Nami countered, "Big surprise, a generic guy name that starts with the same letter. You're so predictable."

"BLASTOISE!" Luffy shouted.

"WE'RE NOT NAMING IT BLASTOISE!" Ricky snapped.

"Then Sheldon it is then," Nami resolved.

"FINE!" Ricky said before he realized it, "Wait… hold on…"

"TOO LATE!" Nami interrupted. "YOU AGREED TO IT!"

"NOOO! BLAAASTOOOIIISEEE!" Luffy wailed in defeat.

"What… just happened?" Usopp asked as he and the others stared at the three in shock.

"I believe Ms. Navigator just named Mr. One Eye and Mr. Straw Hat's turtle," Robin stated.

"We're screwed," Zoro muttered, "If she's already naming his weird animals then she'll have him wrapped around her finger in no time."

"I could just… ask the turtle its name…" Chopper offered.

"Don't bother," Sanji instructed. "Let Miss. Nami have her moment Chopper."

So with their ship perched on the shell of 'Sheldon the Sea Turtle' the Straw Hats sailed off for Jaya in search of a way to get to Sky Island.

**-x-**

Across the sea from the Going Merry was the bobbing form of Masira who had landed in the middle of nowhere.

"Who do they think they are leaving me out here?" Masira grumbled. "Like they don't have enough room on their ship or something. Please!"

Going passed Masira and over countless miles of empty was an island. Its main feature was a mountain that was shaped like a skull. Inside the skull, three sets of footsteps were heard as three men made their way deeper inside the skull.

"**Captain! Captain?" **one of the men called out.

"**What?" **a familiar voice responded.

"**Is… is this really the place?" **the first man asked. **"The legendary cave where Captain John hid his treasure? The treasure he killed so many innocents to get?"**

"Yes," replied none other than Buggy the Clown. "That's right." Buggy grinned as he addressed Mohji and Cabaji who had ventured into the cave with him. "Now look alive boys. The treasure is near but so is unspeakable danger. If you let your guard down, even for a second, then death will creep up on you! There's no telling what kind of monsters will appear or what vicious booby-traps await to kill us all!"

Buggy and his men started in surprise when the previously unnoticed lamps that were secured to the cave walls lit up flooding the dark tunnel with light.

Buggy whirled around in time to see a man wearing a hardhat and work boots making his way towards them with a pickaxe thrown over his shoulder. Four other men were following behind him.

"COME ON MEN!" the lead man addressed the others. "Another fine day of carving at tunnels awaits us!"

"RIGHT BOSS!" the others chorused.

The men stopped when they caught sight of Buggy, Mohji and Cabaji.

"Oh, you must be the new guys they sent down," the boss realized.

"Hm?" Buggy questioned.

A moment later Buggy was using a pickaxe of his own to dig through the rock alongside the Boss and his men.

"BWAHAHA!" Buggy laughed. He'd taken off his Captain's coat and was digging in just his red and white striped t-shirt and clown pants. "There's nothing like working up a sweat, right Boss? All a man really needs is a pickaxe in his hand and a tunnel to dig!"

"You can say that again!" the Boss heartily agreed as he dug alongside Buggy. "A hard day's work is a wonderful thing! And because of our good old fashioned elbow grease everyone who comes to this tunnel will smile!"

BWAHAHAHA!" Buggy cackled, "IT'S LIBERATING! You know after all this hard labor we ought to head over to the old bilge barge…" Buggy trailed off when he finally realized what he was doing. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME WORK LIKE ONE OF YOUR LACKIES!"

**KA-BOOOOOM! **

**-x-**

A little big later, Buggy triumphantly returned to his carnival themed pirate ship the Big Top with the treasure chest he'd managed to find buried in the cave.

"HERE IT IS CREW!" Buggy announced as he stood in front of everyone with his foot planted on top of the chest. "Once again your Captain has come through and now we've got Captain John's legendary treasure!"

"YEAH CAPTAIN BUGGY!"

**KLANK! **Buggy used the pickaxe that he was still holding to smash the lock off of the chest then lifted the lid. **KREEEEK! **But upon seeing the contents of the treasure chest Buggy's clown-like grin quickly transformed into a skull.

IT WAS EMPTY!

"Grrr… whose the wise guy who thinks he can steal a treasure from me?" Buggy growled to himself as he fished into the chest and pulled out the scrap of paper that was inside. There was a note on it which he proceeded to read aloud to his crew. "'This treasure has been found… By Ricky Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire…" Buggy stared wide-eyed at the note that Ricky had 'graciously' left behind after finding the treasure before he let out a loud scream that almost reached the Going Merry. "DAAAAAAAAMMNNN YOOOOOOOUUUUUUU OOOOOOOOONNNEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!"

All around him, Buggy's crew started booing at both the fact that their Captain had failed to secure the treasure and that one of their known enemies had gotten to it before them.

"After all that there wasn't a single piece of treasure on that whole rotten island!" Mohji complained as he stood on the deck in between Cabaji and Richie.

"Shhhhh!" Cabaji hissed at him. "You know you should really watch what you say Mohji! If there's one thing that Captain hates its being wrong. Can't you see how red he's gotten from all the embarrassment?"

"WHOSE NOSE IS A BIG RED EMBARRASSMENT?" Buggy hollered having 'overheard' Cabaji's comment. "RAAAAHHH!" **WHOMP! **A hard shot sent his Second Mate crashing to the ground.

"I hate to interrupt," Mohji eventually chimed in after taking a moment to enjoy the irony of Cabaji getting pummeled while _he _had been the one to say the insulting comment. "But we do not have time for this. What are we going to do about those damn Straw Hats? Straw Hat Luffy is already a pain in the ass. And this recent failure proves that One Eye is just as bad. They are quickly becoming the new favorite pirates in the Grand Line."

"I have a plan of course, you moron," Buggy scolded him, "We let 'em go on their merry way."

"WHAT?" Mohji asked incredulously. "WHY?"

"Well you see," Buggy began to explain, "before an evil witch feasts on the flesh of children the first thing she does is make sure to fatten them up. Understand me?" Mohji and Cabaji who was now sporting a large lump on his head looked confused. "Idiots. You see, this is why I'm Captain. The bigger the bounty gets on those Straw Hats…"

"I SEE!" Cabaji shouted as he and Mohji finally caught on.

"YOU'RE A GENIUS CAPTAIN!" Mohji exclaimed. "That way when you take them down the bounty on your head will get even higher!"

"YEEEAAAAHHHHH!" Buggy's crew cheered.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Buggy laughed. "YES EXACTLY!"

"You're amazing Captain!" Moe cheered, "Shall we throw a party in honor of your brilliance?"

"Oh why not," Buggy agreed, "BWAHAHAHAHA!"

And so the Buggy Pirates rolled out the food and booze and started celebrating their Captain's brilliance instead of wallowing in their defeat at being beaten to Captain John's treasure.

The only one who seemed to disapprove of the party was Alvida who was sitting on deck in a fancy arm chair with a large assortment of fruit in front of her.

"Is this really the time to throw a party?" Alvida inquired as Buggy and his circus themed crew practically put on a floor show while they celebrated. "After all, how can you plan on beating Luffy and the Straw Hats when you haven't the faintest idea of where they are?"

"Don't be such a party pooper, Alvida," Buggy chastised her as he enjoyed a large mug of grog. "We'll find Luffy when we find him, okay?"

"**If you're looking for Luffy, I can tell you where he is," **a shirtless man with an orange hat offered as he sat near Buggy enjoying some of the party food.

"HA! You see?" Buggy chortled as he pointed at the shirtless man, "This guy over here's going to tell us where he is, problem solved."

**Snort! **It was then that Buggy realized that he was pointing at a complete stranger. "HEY HOLD ON! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"Sorry to crash your party," Ace apologized as he stood up and turned to face Buggy. "But I simply couldn't resist the delicious aromas of your feast. My name is Portgas D. Ace. But you can call me Ace." Ace took a moment to formally bow to Buggy.

"Oh, no need to be so formal," Buggy reassured him, "Nice to meet you two! Bwahaha!"

**CHOMP! **Ace took a big bite from the leg of meat he had been holding and Buggy's brain finally caught up with his mouth.

"I MEAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU IDIOT!" Buggy screamed. "I COULDN'T CARE LESS WHAT YOUR NAME IS MR. PORTGAS] D. ACE!"

"Uh Captain… Captain…" Cabaji called out as he stared at the large tattoo on Ace's back. "This guy is… he's 'the Fire Fist'! 'Fire Fist' Ace the Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division!"

"THE WHITEBEARD?" Buggy's crew chorused.

"Oh so you know the old man," Ace realized as he went back to eating, "What a nice—ZZZZ…" Ace cut off mid-sentence when his narcolepsy kicked in and he fell asleep.

"HE FELL ASLEEP!" Buggy's crew shouted.

"This man is obviously a fool if he just fell asleep on an enemy ship," Shogi remarked as he stepped forward. "Captain, let's kill him while he's sleeping!"

"DON'T YOU DARE SHOGI!" Buggy commanded, "This is why we keep you guarding the treasure hold."

"Why not?" Shogi persisted, "This could be our only chance! If we take the head of 'Fire Fist' Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates there won't be soul alive that wouldn't know your name!"

"I SAID NO!" Buggy yelled. "Remember this men and remember it good. This is the most important lesson you'll ever learn! DON'T MESS WITH THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES! EVER! Whitebeard is a killer, born and bred! The only man who could go toe-to-toe with Gold Roger the King of the Pirates! He is without a doubt the Strongest Pirate Alive and the person closest to obtaining the greatest treasure of all: the One Piece! In other words: DON'T CROSS HIM! Even if we were able to kill 'Fire Fist' Ace while he sleeps, Whitebeard would avenge the murder of one of his own with the fury of a thunderstorm!"

"How is it that you know so much?" Alvida inquired. "Pray tell?"

"Well if you insist," Buggy replied, "it was on the Grand Line… years ago. I met that man face-to-face and I've never been the same since!"

**Snort! "Oh, sorry about that!"** Ace called out as he woke up, "I must've dozed off…"

"WHAT THE? HE'S AWAKE!" the pirates standing around Ace all yelled.

Ace glanced around at Buggy's crew who for a chance all looked either serious or timid from the previous two conversations, he stood up and did a silly jig. "HEEY! Why the long faces everyone?" Ace asked. "I thought this was a party? Am I right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Buggy agreed, "MEN! COMMENCE HAVING FUN AGAIN!"

"YEEEAAAAHHHH!" Buggy's crew cheered as the party restarted this time with Ace as an active participant.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Buggy laughed, "ACE, YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO HAVE A GOOD TIME!"

"WHOA!" Ace exclaimed. "YOU GUYS HAVE LION! Here kitty, jump through this flaming hoop on two legs!"

"RAWR?" Richie squeaked looking terrified of the flaming hoop coming out of Ace's arm.

"COME ON RICH!" Mohji encouraged his lion. "SHOW HIM YOUR STUFF!"

**-x-**

Back across the ocean, Masira was still floating alone in the middle of nowhere.

The monkey man suddenly perked up when he heard a commotion nearby. He looked over his shoulder and saw his ship… SAILING AWAY FROM HIM!

"I'M OVER HERE!" Masira shouted to his crew. "COME ON! PICK ME UP!"

"**We're never gonna find him!" **one of Masira's men complained into a loud speaker, **"We'd better try looking somewhere else!"**

"OPEN YOUR EYES BOY!" Masira yelled only to gape in shock when his ship took off like a shot and sailed away from him. "GET BACK HERE YOU IDIOTS! DON'T LEAVE!" **SPLOOSH! **And so Masira began frantically swimming after his crew in the hopes of catching up with it.

**-x-**

Back with the Straw Hats, the Going Merry was sailing towards Jaya on top of a giant turtle shell. And while Sheldon wasn't overly fast, his immense size would make the trip to Jaya considerably shorter.

"Ricky said that Jaya was unpleasant and filled with closed-minded people," Chopper recalled as he, Usopp, and Luffy stood on the deck each eating an octopus box lunches. "Do you think it's still like that?"

"I've heard that its called 'the Land of Meat'," Luffy said.

"You don't know that Luffy," Usopp scolded him, "You just wish it were true because we've been eating the same old junk for days!"

**SWIPE! SWIPE! SWIPE! **Sanji swooped in and snatched all three box lunches away from them. "If you don't like it then don't eat it," the cook reprimanded them, "this was for Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin anyway."

"HEEY!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper shouted as they started chasing Sanji in circles around the main mast.

"GIVE THAT BACK I WAS GONNA EAT IT!"

"Nope, don't think so," Sanji taunted.

"JERK! GIMME THAT!" Chopper yelled.

"Uh-uh," Sanji refused.

Zoro half-heartedly watched the chase as he leaned against the railing outside the galley. He shook his head and glanced up at the sky where an entire ocean was rumored to be.

"I can't even imagine it," Zoro said to himself, "Could there really be an island in the sky?"

Robin came down the steps from the rear deck and smiled at him, "We've experienced enough to know the answer by now," she told him, "See, no matter how stranger or illogical something may seem to us… out here the sea's logic can make anything possible."

Ricky and Nami stood on the front deck with the latter checking the Eternal Pose to ensure that Sheldon was swimming in the right direction. "The key to find the Sky Island… is on Jaya."

**-x-**

And there we go. I got the idea for taming the turtle from an anonymous reviewer named 'Gui'. At first I was like 'what the hell am I going to do with a giant island-sized turtle?' But then I had an idea and started rewriting. What you read is the result of that. Ricky's now got a living safe to keep his treasure in.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	8. Mock Town

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**8. Mock Town:**

**-x-**

"Hey, where'd Miss. Nami disappear to?" Sanji asked as the Going Merry sailed closer to Jaya on the back of the Nami-named Sheldon the Sea Turtle.

"Big Brother took him to see the treasure he found in the turtle's belly," Chopper answered.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME?" Sanji demanded. "There's no telling what those two could get up to alone in there with all that money!"

"I'm still calling it Blastoise," Luffy grumbled.

"You might be right Sanji," Usopp remarked, "If I wasn't so set on being objective in my role as pool bookie, I'd put my money on the two of them getting together while they're in there. If not, then when Ricky manages to find that legendary City of Gold once we reach the Sky Island."

"What's this about a pool?" Robin inquired.

"I guess we can tell you since neither of them are here right now," Zoro reasoned, "We've all got money on how those two get together or how they don't. If you wanna join, talk to Usopp."

"I'll need some time to think it over," Robin decided, "you've all known them for a considerably longer amount of time than I have. I don't plan to throw my money away on a whim."

"SANJI!" Luffy exclaimed, "LET'S EAT!"

"You just had that octopus stew," Sanji reminded him.

"You took that away from us!" Usopp snapped.

"Yeah!" Chopper chimed in, "Jerk!"

"Ugghh… fine," Sanji conceded, "I'll see what I can scrounge up. We still don't have working refrigerator. Hopefully we'll make land at this 'Jaya' place soon and Ricky can buy us a new one, preferably one that's Luffy Proof."

"Does something like that actually exist?" Zoro wondered as he cast a wary glance at Luffy.

**-x-**

"Watch your step," Ricky warned Nami as he led her by the hand down Sheldon's throat to the stomach.

"This is totally gross!" Nami complained.

"That's the point," Ricky pointed out, "Not many people would think to look for treasure in the belly of a gigantic turtle. Even fewer would actually go looking for it."

"But you would," Nami reminded him as she gave his hand a fond squeeze.

"Yeah well I—"**AACHOOO! **"…sorry…"

"I've never heard you like this around treasure," Nami noted.

"Yeah, well you should've seen me when I was bringing Crocodile's treasure back to Alubarna," Ricky replied, "I scared the crap out of Mana and Jun. Not to mention the ducks. We were halfway across the Sandora River when my nose started bleeding. I spent so much time with all that treasure behind me on the duck that I guess my body was forced to get used to it. I'm hoping that if I make semi-regular trips down here I'll be able to get used to all this treasure too."

"But what happens when you add more?" Nami asked. "Say we find the City of Gold. You'll have to get used to all that new treasure."

"I guess this Treasure Sense can be a double-edge sword at times," Ricky reasoned.

They reached the end of the throat and found themselves standing at the opening of the stomach. Nami took a moment to stare around them at the wrecked pirate ships before focusing her attention on the marine ship that Ricky had told her about.

"So how do we get over there?" she inquired.

"That's what the rope is for," Ricky informed her as he pointed up to the rope that was embedded in the wall of the stomach above the opening they were standing in and went across the stomach to the marine ship.

"You don't plan on climbing all the way over there do you?" Nami questioned.

"Not on the way _to _the ship," Ricky told her, "I have a quicker way for that. Get on my back and don't let go."

"Believe me," Nami assured him, "if we're climbing of a sea of stomach acid, 'letting go' will be the farthest thing from my mind." Ricky bent down and allowed Nami to hoist herself up onto his back, he pulled his sheathed sword off of his belt and hooked it over the top of the rope.

"Hold on," Ricky instructed as he held both end of his sword then pushed off causing them to zip down the line towards the ship.** ZZZZZZZIIIIIIIP!**

"OOH MYY GOOD!" Nami screamed in terror as they flew over the stomach acid below them, "I DON'T WANNA DIE BEFORE I SEE THE TREASURE!"

"Quit screaming in my ear!" Ricky complained. They reached the ship and he let go his sword causing them to drop down on to the deck of the ship. **TMP! **"See?" **AACHOO!** "No problem."

"Just hurry up and show me the treasure…" Nami weakly requested, "That'll make this whole nightmare of a trip worth it…"

"Alright," Ricky agreed, "this way." The led her to a thick metal door that led inside the ship, he used both hands to spin the wheel on the door and pushed it opened. **KREEEK!** Ricky stepped over the door frame and led Nami into the ship. "I wanted to keep the treasure hidden inside the ship so it'd be safer from both the stomach acid and the turtle's food."

"I thought we agreed, the turtle's name is Sheldon," Nami reminded him… but then he led her to a doorway and Nami stared in wide-eyed shock at a room that was FILLED with gold. Enormous piles of gold coins, gold jewelry and other valuables were piled together and filled almost the entire room. Nami's jaw dropped and she quietly whispered, "You can call the turtle whatever you want… This is… more gold than Arlong ever had… It's amaz… incred… fantas… I can't even think of a word impressive enough to describe it…"

A wide, eager smile spread across Nami face as she suddenly darted into the room. **WHAP! **Ricky caught her by the back of her shirt and held her back.

**AACHOO! **"You were about to dive into it weren't you?" Ricky asked. Nami looked surprised that he'd correctly guessed what she'd been about to do. "I've had similar fantasies of swimming in a pool of gold. Apparently so has Luffy. He tried diving into it earlier. We quickly discovered that a huge pile of metal coins is actually very solid." Ricky stepped passed Nami and patted the gold pile. **Clink! Clink! **"Luffy's skull being made of rubber is the only thing that kept him from cracking his head opened."

Now that they were standing in the room, Nami could appreciate the gold from a different point-of-view. It was all around her and the pile stretched up over her head. No… it wasn't a pile… it was a _mountain_ of gold.

Ricky was sporting his signature sly grin when she finally tore her eyes away from the gold mountain. "I've got piles this size in two more rooms on this ship."

That did it. Nami's brain overloaded and completely shut down. The thought of three rooms filled with enormous gold mountains was too much for her to handle.

"Uuhh… Nami?" Ricky leaned in and looked concerned when he noticed her blank stare. "Hey? Are you still in there? Um… Are you okay?"

**AACHOO! **Nami's brain finally restarted. The first thing she saw was Ricky looking at her with concern. Ricky: the extraordinary treasure hunter that had found all the treasure in this gold-filled room along with two others in the belly of a turtle the size of an island.

**WHUMP! **"Uggh…" Ricky groaned when Nami tackled him into the aforementioned very solid pile of gold coins but any further sounds were cut off when Nami sealed her mouth over his and soundly kissed him. After taking the initial two seconds to get over his surprise and adjust to the uncomfortable feeling of his back pressing into the lumpy golden pile, he kissed her back.

But when Nami's brain finally finished rebooting, she suddenly pulled away. "I can't do this…"

If Ricky had two eyes, he would've blinked in surprise, "_You_ started it," he pointed out.

"I know," Nami admitted, "but I don't want you to think that I only like you because of the treasure you find." Now that she had full access to her brain and memories again she remembered Zoro calling her a 'greedy bitch' earlier. She didn't care what he thought of her but she didn't want Ricky to think of her the same way.

"I don't think that," Ricky assured her.

"Still, as much as I'd like to… this isn't the right place to start something," Nami insisted, "Sorry if I got you worked up over nothing…" She stood up and headed for the door, "I'm gonna go take a peek at the other two rooms."

Ricky idly noted that she didn't know where the other two rooms were but let her leave since she seemed to set on it. "What am I gonna do with her?" he wondered.

**AACHOOO!**

**-x-**

"We should reach Jaya soon," Ricky stated as the Straw Hats' journey to Jaya continued on the back of Sheldon the island-sized sea turtle.

"You see anything Usopp?" Luffy asked.

"Nope," the marksman replied as he sat in the crow's nest and stared through a set of binoculars.

"I thought that this Jaya island wasn't too far from where we were?" Zoro questioned.

"It shouldn't be," Nami told him as she stared at the Eternal Pose that was leading them there. "And with the weather being so clear we should've spotted the coastline over an hour ago." She turned to Ricky, "Wasn't Sheldon supposed to get us there faster than normal?"

"Who?" Ricky questioned. "Oh, you mean the turtle. Well, I thought that since he's so huge that'd make both the travel distance and travel time shorter."

**Whap! **Nami slapped herself on the forehead, "Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" she complained, "Just because the turtle's bigger doesn't mean it's going to move any faster! IT'S A _TURTLE_!"

"A sea-turtle," Ricky corrected.

"IT'S STILL A TURTLE!" Nami snapped, "That means it's still slow! And it's still slower than our ship!"

"If you knew the turtle was so slow then why didn't you say anything?" Ricky countered. "Aren't _you_ the navigator?"

"Well I…" Nami faltered but quickly changed the subject, "I thought we agreed that we were calling it 'Sheldon'!"

"You said I could call it whatever I wanted when we were inside it," Ricky reminded her.

"Yeah, well I say and do a lot of things I don't mean when I'm faced with an obscenely expensive mountain of treasure!" Nami exclaimed.

Ricky's eye widened and then narrowed and Nami instantly realized that she'd said something she shouldn't have. "Oh," he said, "Well okay then." With that, he turned and walked off.

"Wait! Hold on!" Nami called after him. "DAMN IT! DON'T WALK AWAY WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" She clenched her fists and stormed after him.

Zoro, Sanji, and Robin were left staring dumbfounded.

"What the hell happened inside that turtle?" Zoro wondered.

"Perhaps Miss. Nami finally came to her senses," Sanji suggested.

"Then why did she follow him?" Robin inquired.

"Well," Zoro said, "I guess like any vicious monster she probably senses blood so now she's going for the kill."

"WATCH IT BASTARD!" Sanji shouted, "You say one more word against Miss. Nami and I'll kick your teeth down your throat!"

"Boys, stop fighting," Robin scolded them. She may have sounded calm, but at the moment she looked like a strange human butterfly as she had a web of arms sprouting out of both of her sides and was attempting to keep the two separated.

Up on the front deck, Luffy and Chopper were relaxing on the figurehead and the front railing and had managed to ignore the commotion behind them on the main deck.

"Ahh," Luffy sighed, "I can't wait to get to Jaya if it's as warm as it is now."

"I'm finally getting to work on my tan," the thick-furred reindeer commented. "Spring weather's the best." He glanced up at three seagulls that were flying overhead. "It looks like the seagulls are enjoying it too."

**THA-THA-THUD! **Out of nowhere, the three aforementioned happy seagulls dropped to the deck. Two were dead and one was still twitching.

"WAAHAAAHAA!" Chopper shrieked, "THEY'VE BEEN SHOT!"

"Looks like we'll be eating good tonight," Luffy remarked as he watched the ship doctor leap off the railing and dash over to the fallen birds.

"I don't think they could've been shot Chopper," Usopp protested from up in the Crow's nest. "I didn't hear any gunfire."

"I found a bullet!" Chopper exclaimed as he used to pair of tweezers to hold up the bullet he'd pulled out of one of the dead seagulls. "Judging from the trajectory it came from that way!" The clearly spooked reindeer/doctor pointed off in front of the ship.

"Are you saying that the shots came from an island we can't even see yet?" Sanji questioned. "That's impossible."

"But I saw it happen with my own eyes!" Chopper insisted.

"Ahahaha," Usopp chuckled, "A tuna would've had a better chance at killing 'em! No sniper or gun has that kind of range! They probably were shot before and just happened to fall now."

"HEY SANJI!" Luffy cheered as he held up two of the dead birds, "WE'VE GOT DINNER!"

"I'd never serve _dead bird_ as a supper dish," the cook argued, "Unlike you, I've got class."

"Then just serve it to me!" Luffy suggested. "I'll eat it."

"You'll eat anything," Sanji grumbled, "Unbelievable."

"Mmmm…" Chopper whimpered as he stared off the front of the ship.

**-x-**

Unbeknownst to the Straw Hats, Chopper was right. Jaya was just beyond the horizon.

And on the roof of a house that was located a little off the coast of the island sat a strange man with a rifle that's smoking barrel was as long as he was tall.

The man was abnormally tall in his own right, almost twice the height of an average person but was also very thin. He had light brown hair that hung to his shoulders, his eyebrows were furrowed in what appeared to be sadness and he wore a pale blue button down shirt with puffy sleeves, a long black cape that was tied around his neck, and a long black hat with two points that made it looked like an overturned boat. But the strangest thing about him was his glasses, the left lens was a seemingly regular rectangle while the other was larger, round, and held a crosshair.

"Poor creature," the strange sniper calmly remarked to himself, "He must have suffered. I wasn't able to get an instant kill on one of them. But that's what Fate held for him. All the events of his life led him to this outcome so I can't blame myself. Although, I never could have expected that it would land on a tiny ship perched on the back of a turtle that's almost the size of this island. Fate is strange sometimes." Almost as unnerving as the man's sniping skills was his casual dismissal of the monster sea turtle the Straw Hats were riding on.

**-x-**

"Alright listen," Ricky said as he stood in Sheldon's ear, which looked like a long cave. "We've spotted Jaya. And we don't want to attract any unwanted attention so I'm going to have to ask you to sink down into the water so we can sail into the harbor on our own. When we finish our business there we'll sail back out, come back up when you spot our ship. Got that?"

**THOOM!** Ricky's received his answer when the cave-like ear as well as the rest of Sheldon's head shook in an up and down motion before the turtle began a slow dive to the sea floor.

"HEY! HEY!" Ricky exclaimed. "At least wait until I'm out of your ear first!"

**-x-**

Off ahead of them was a harbor town known as Mock Town. The buildings looked fancy and the streets were covered with wooden floorboards to make them look as fancy as the buildings. Off in the harbor were a number of pirate ships.

"HEY JERK!" a large man rudely shouted as he grabbed a smaller man by the shoulder. "D'YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

"NO!" the smaller man snapped as he pulled away. He had long hair and wore a sash around his forehead. The focus of the sash was a red circle with a black figure in the middle that was hanging from a rope around his neck. This insignia was the mark of the Roshio Pirates named after their Captain Roshio the Executioner. "GET LOST!"

"Wiiihahaha!" the large man laughed. He was huge, easily twice as tall as most people but also twice as wide. He had a large muscular chest and big buff arms. His legs looked thin in comparison to his upperbody, making him look a bit like a gorilla. His long curly light violet hair was coming out from the bottom of his luchadore mask which covered the top half of his head and was brown in color with orange designs around the eyes and on the forehead. Around his waist he wore what looked like a wrestling championship belt. "I'M THE GREATEST FIGHTING CHAMPION EVER! And now that Fate's caused us to cross paths… YOU'RE GONNA BE MY NEXT OPPONENT!"

**-x-**

Further in the town, in a noisy bar on the top floor of a building called 'the Wild Cherry'. Two men were sitting at a low table playing cards. One of the men grinned as he laid down his cards and fanned them out to reveal Three Aces.

"Looks like that's the last of your cash," the large man boasted. He had long gray hair that was mostly covered his thick headband with the familiar insignia of the Roshio Pirates. He wore a blue tank top that revealed the extensive tattoo that covered most of his left arm as well as part of the tattoo on his chest. "But if you wanted to, I'd let you play with say… your clothes!" This was Roshio 'the Executioner', Captain of the Roshio Pirates worth forty-two million berries.

"You're lucky and you don't even know it!" a man standing beside the table taunted the loser, "Playing with Roshio… even if you had won the hand, trust me, you would've lost something else! Hahahaha!"

The now named Roshio stood up and grinned as he reached for the pot, "I suppose that about wraps it up." **WHAP! **Roshio's opponent's hand shot out and caught him by the wrist before he could grab the pot. "Let it go, buddy. I won the pot fair and square and you know it."

**Krek… krek… **Roshio's opponent began squeezing Roshio's wrist to the point where it was now causing him pain.

"Don't think so," the other man retorted. "You cheated this entire hand, didn't you?"

"I never cheat…" Roshio growled, "You're a liar."

"YOU LIE!" Roshio's opponent insisted. "I watched every deceitful move you made!"

"You'd better watch your mouth in this place, loser!" Roshio snapped.

"SARQUISS!" the other man called across the bar, "HEY SARQUISS!"

"Hm, what is it?" a man sitting at the bar with his arm around his girlfriend responded to the call. He had long pale blue hair and wore fancy purple visor over his eyes, a fancy pale purple fur coat, red and white vertically striped pants and matching gloves on both hands. The fur coat was held together at the neck by a fancy gold chain but the opened coat exposed the tattoo on his muscular chest: a circular smiley face with a diagonal line going through it to cross it out. A matching symbol was used as a buckle on his gold belt.

"This guy was cheating just now," the first man stated, "You saw the whole thing, didn't you?"

"You bet I did," Sarquiss replied as he spun around on his stool and turned to look at Roshio for what was actually the first time, "every rotten little move. He cheated straight through. I say we do something about this… make an example out of him!

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH!" Roshio the Executioner roared as he wrenched his arm free and drew a gun from his belt. **CLICK!**

**THWAK! **Before Roshio could even get the shot off, his opponent's foot shot out and kicked the gun out of his hand and sent him flying away from the table.

**BANG! BANG! BANG! **Guns shots rang through the bar as Roshio's opponent picked up the gun and used it against its owner.

"Uggghhh…" a bloodied Roshio groaned as his opponent walked over and lashed out his leg.

**KRASH! **Roshio's body went crashing through the window the fifth story window and crashed down into a conveniently placed wooden cart. **WHAM!**

Roshio's vengeful opponent stared down at him through the shattered window. He was tall, standing around eight feet which made him one and a half times the size of most people. He had darkly tanned skin and a short blonde hair. There was a scar above his right eye that went diagonally across his forehead. He had crazy eyes and a wide toothy grin. Currently, he was wearing a pink tank top that exposed the matching red tattoos that went around his upper arms, white pants, and a long green sash that reached his knee. But it was the man's face that was the most disturbing thing about him. He had a scar above his right eye that went diagonally across his forehead, crazy eyes, and a wide creepy grin. This man was known as **Bellamy the Hyena**, Captain of the Bellamy Pirates witha bounty worth fifty five million berries.

Bellamy's wicked tongue stretched up and licked his wicked lips before he lived up to his nickname and laughed at the fallen form of Roshio, "Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!"

**-x-**

Oblivious to the strange people lurking in the town, the Straw Hats sailed on the Going Merry into the Mock Town harbor.

"SHISHISHI! AWESOME!" Luffy cheered as he sat on the figurehead. "CHECK IT OUT! THIS PLACE LOOKS GREAT!"

"IS IT JUST ME? OR DOES THIS PLACE LOOK LIKE A RESORT!" Usopp exclaimed.

"It sure does!" Chopper chirped.

"HURRY UP AND DOCK!" Luffy ordered, eager to explore the new town.

"It does look promising," Nami remarked as she stood behind them with Robin on the front deck. "Maybe we can even stay here a while."

"I wouldn't," Ricky advised.

"WHY NOT?" Luffy demanded, "THIS PLACE LOOKS GREAT! Maybe you got lost and went to a different Jaya last time."

As the Going Merry sailed towards the dock the Straw Hats took in the ships they were passing. They were all considerably larger than their small caravel, they all were sporting big animal figureheads, and they were all flying Jolly Rogers.

"Either I'm starting to hallucinate… or the harbor over there is filled with pirate ships," Usopp noted as he stared at the spooky ships.

"Don't be silly, Usopp," Nami reprimanded him, "Since when can pirates dock their ships in a harbor without being run out of town?"

"Ahaha," Usopp chuckled, "You're right, it must be a joke."

**THUD! **Not far from the dock, a familiar Roshio Pirate was being manhandled. "WAAAAH! SOMEONE HELP! HE'S GONNA KILL ME!"

"WHAT THE HECK'S GOING ON WITH THIS CRAZY TOWN?" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper screamed when the man's pained cries reached their timid ears.

"WIIIHAHAHAHAHA!" the Fighting Champion laughed as he stood over the prone Roshio Pirate, "WHAT A PATHETIC LITTLE WEAKLING! WIIIIHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Whoa!" a passing man gasped as he stared down at the fallen pirate, "You sure picked the wrong guy to beat up. Look at that emblem! He's one of Roshio's Gang! You have heard of Roshio, right? You know, the Pirate Captain whose bounty is forty-two million berries? That man is psychotic! You'd better watch your back!"

"WIIHAHAHAHA!" the masked man laughed, "Then hopefully I'll be fated to fight him next! I didn't even break a sweat fighting him!"

**-x-**

Back at the Wild Cherry, Bellamy was having a drink at the bar with Sarquiss and his girlfriend.

Across the bar, two men sat at their table and eyed Bellamy with distaste.

"That guy is full of it," one man said to the other, "We watched that entire game ourselves. No one cheated."

"I still can't believe he was able to beat up Roshio so easily," the other man remarked.

"Don't you know… what's Bellamy," the first man told his companion.

"What? That's Bellamy?" the other man questioned, "The one with the fifty-five million berri bounty on his head?"

On the street outside the bar, some of Roshio's men ran up to their Captain who had yet to move from the cart he'd been sent crashing through.

"CAPTAIN!" a pirate exclaimed. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! WHO DID THIS TO HIM?"

"WE NEED TO GET HIM TO A DOCTOR!" another pirate shouted, "HURRY!"

"Hang on their Captain!" a third pirate urged Roshio as they helped him off of the cart. "We'll get you fixed up!"

Bellamy heard their shouts from the bar all the way up on the fifth floor and growled to himself as he put his drink down. He stalked to the window and leapt out of it. **KRASH! **Bellamy wasn't about to let the man he'd just savagely beaten get nursed back to health.

**-x-**

"Now this looks like my kind of town," Luffy remarked as he, Zoro, Ricky and Robin stood at the dock in front of the Going Merry. Ricky was wearing his usual 'disguise' of his black cowboy hat and his big sunglasses. Robin still wearing the clothes she'd borrowed from Ricky for what was hopefully the last time.

"Sure it looks nice," Ricky replied, "but once you get passed the initial appearance you'll realize that it's filled with assholes. Listen to me Luffy, if someone here gets in your face and starts making fun of you, I want you to think: What would Shanks do? Okay?"

"Okay," Luffy agreed.

"Right, Robin, let's get you some clothes of your own," Ricky resolved.

"…" On the deck, Nami silently glared at them. She was so caught up in her glaring that she didn't notice Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper coming up behind her.

"Wait, Ricky!" Sanji called out causing Nami to jump. "Maybe I should go shopping with Miss. Robin. I could carry the refrigerator and there might be some food that catches my eye."

"You already gave me your list," Ricky reminded him. "And I've still gotta find information about the monkey's friend so we can get to Sky Island. Besides, someone needs to stay here and guard the ship. With all these other pirate ships around, we can't afford to be too careful."

"Alright," Sanji conceded, "I promise that now harm shall befall upon Miss. Nami and the Going Merry while I'm on board!"

"Hmph," Nami grunted as she pointedly turned around so she was no longer looking at Ricky.

"GUARD US TOO!" Usopp and Chopper shouted.

Ricky cast one last glance at Luffy and Zoro, "Luffy, Zoro, seriously, be careful in this town."

"What're you so worried about?" Luffy asked, "We'll fine!"

"He's right," Zoro agreed, "There's nothing in this town that we can't handle."

And so the four Straw Hats split up and made their way off into the town.

Nami finally peeked over her shoulder, "Do you think those two can last an hour without getting into trouble?" she asked Usopp and Chopper as they watched the others leave.

"Uh… for the record, which two are you talking about?" Usopp inquired.

Nami turned and practically snarled at him causing Usopp and Chopper to flinch in terror. "Obviously I was talking about Luffy and Zoro!" she snapped. "Why would I be worried about the _other two_?"

"Aha…haha…" Usopp laughed nervously. **Gulp!** "Then in that case… I'd say fifteen minutes before they get in a fight … But that's uhh… being generous…"

"Hm, you're probably right," Nami reasoned. "I'd better go and keep an eye on them." **WHUP! **Nami leapt off of the ship and raced off after Luffy and Zoro. "YOU GUYS! WAIT UP!"

"There she goes," Chopper noted.

"Don't worry," Usopp reassured him, "I'm sure she'll be fine with those two protecting her. Plus, they'll be more resilient if she decides to take her recent frustrations out on them."

"MISS. NAMI'S LEAVING!" Sanji exclaimed. "WITH BOTH MISS. NAMI AND MISS. ROBIN GONE I'VE GOT NO ONE LEFT TO PROTECT!"

"THEN PROTECT US!" Usopp yelled as he and Chopper grabbed the cook and dragged him back into the middle of the deck. "Nami will be safe and sound with Luffy and Zoro! And with Ricky and Robin together, I'd be more worried about the _other guy_! BUT IF YOU LEAVE THEN WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO IF THE SHIP GETS ATTACKED?"

"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US!" Chopper pleaded. "WHOSE GONNA PROTECT US?"

"Okay, fine," Sanji conceded, "I'll stay behind."

**-x-**

"I've got my Tough Face on," Luffy boasted as he, Zoro, and Nami made their way through town, "So if anybody messes with—" **SQUISH! **Nami's hand shot out and grabbed his ear.

"No fighting!" she snapped at him, "Promise me!"

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Luffy conceded, "I promise not to fight in this town."

"Good," Nami resolved, "this is serious business you two. If one of you causes trouble here then we'll have to get out of this town. And if that happens then we'll never learn how to get to the Sky Island, right?"

"Yeah," Luffy reluctantly agreed.

**FWUMP! **They were suddenly stopped when an old man fell in their path. He was a large man about twice the size of most people. He had wavy pale blonde hair, a long nose, and two matching purple tattoos that went down from his hairline, passed his eyes, and to his cheeks. He was dressed like a classic undertaker with a black furred coat, a wide-brimmed black hat, large buckled black boots, and a robe. He had a strange length of rope that was tied to look like a hangman's noose around his neck and a strange cylindrical bundle strapped to his back. Despite his size, the man looked out of place in a town filled with pirates as he looked terribly ill.

"Whoa," Nami gasped as she stared down at the sick man. "He's messed up."

"Looks like he fell of his horse," Luffy noted as he glanced at the big gray horse that was standing beside the fallen man. It had long legs that were the size of most people, a large body with a brown leather saddle tied on it, and a long neck that made the horse about three times as high as most people.

"Hey, sorry to bother you…" the man apologized from the ground, "but will you help me up?"

"What're you not in the mood to help yourself?" Zoro questioned. "Ugghh… Luffy gimme a hand." Together, Luffy and Zoro lifted up the old man – the large man was the same size as the two of them put together – and tossed him back up onto his horse's saddle.

"Hey… would you look at that… I'm on my horse again…" the sick old man wheezed. "I was a sickly child growing up and I never got better." The old man addressed his horse, "Now let's get out of here Stronger."

**FWUMP! **The horse turned out to be just as sick as the old man and its front legs collapsed.

"Those horse too?" Luffy and Zoro complained.

"Thanks pal," the old man said once Stronger had gotten back up. "I don't have enough money for a reward these days… but would you care for an apple?" The old man grinned as he held out a basket of red apples and offered them to Luffy and Zoro.

"Do you take us for idiots?" Zoro questioned, "We'd never trust food from someone like you."

"Apples!" Luffy exclaimed, "Sure I'll take one!" **SWIPE! **Despite Zoro's protests, he grabbed an apple and took a bite. **CHOMP!**

**KA-BOOOOM! **Further down the street an explosion blew a hole in the wall of a store.

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

"Some guys took some apples from that weird-o on the horse! And when they bit into them, THEY EXPLODED!"

**GULP! **Luffy swallowed his apple.

"Heehee!" the old man chuckled. Now it looked like the rough pirates in this town were more in danger of the sick old man than the old man was of them.

"OH NO!" Nami yelped before she grabbed Luffy by the throat, "LUFFY SPIT IT OUT! SPIT OUT THAT APPLE!"

"WAH! I ALREADY SWALLOWED IT!" Luffy protested.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Zoro demanded as he whirled around to face the old man and began drawing _Wado Ichimonji_.

"Heeheehee!" the old man laughed with a sick grin. "No worries, the boy isn't hurt." He stared at Luffy with interest. "If you had eaten a bad one… you would've died on the first bite! Heehee! You're lucky!"

Needless to say, Nami quickly put as much distance between the three of them and the weird old man with the exploding apples as possible.

**-x-**

"What happened?" a man asked as a crowd gathered around the Wild Cherry. There were large craters lining the streets and the sides of the building. The area looked like someone had gotten cannon-happy. The surrounding mood was somber.

"That's Roshio's grave now," another man stated. Despite the man being a deadly pirate, the sheer ruthlessness that Bellamy had exhibited in disposing of him was terrifying.

"It looks like a war broke out," someone else remarked.

"Even the people who were there and saw it happen couldn't tell exactly what was going on," the second man explained, "About the only thing that everyone knows for certain is that Bellamy had something to do with this. I think it pretty clear that he's using the power of a Devil Fruit."

Now the only thing that remained of Roshio the Executioner was his bloodstained headband.

**-x-**

**Quit Dreaming:**

**-x-**

"What the heck's the deal with this down?" Nami complained as she, Luffy and Zoro stalked down the street in another part of Mock Town.

"I dunno," Luffy replied as he casually folded his arms behind his head, "Who really cares?"

"You should care…" Nami growled, "see as you were almost killed for no reason!"

"Well that's bound to happen sooner or later," Luffy pointed out.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?" Nami demanded.

"**WIIIIHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" **Laughter rang out and the three Straw Hats looked up and saw the masked fighting champion standing on a nearby roof. "WIIIHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Without a word, Nami turned and started walking off, this town was starting to give her a headache. Luffy and Zoro followed behind her.

"Oh great, look whose back," a civilian grumbled as they went passed.

"How many victims has a racked up now?" another civilian questioned.

"Well, he's a famous fugitive or anything," the first man reasoned, "who do you think he is?"

"I don't care," the other man said dismissively, "And to be honest I don't wanna know. If that meathead wants to be the Fighting Champion then let him."

"Fighting Champion?" Luffy and Zoro repeated as they turned around to face the masked man.

"HEY! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT YOU TWO!" Nami shouted at them. "Damn it, I'm starting to wonder if we'll be able to find any useful information here." She grabbed Luffy and Zoro and dragged them off before they could get in a fight with the crazy man. His loud laughter echoed after them.

"WIIIIHAHAHAHAHA! HEY YOU!" the masked man pointed at a random man that was just walking by the building he was standing on. "YOU'RE MY NEXT OPPONENT!"

**-x-**

Eventually, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami reached another part of the town and walked through an arch labeled 'Tropical Hotel'.

"How 'bout this place?" Zoro asked.

"Seems pretty quiet to me," Luffy noted.

"You can say that again!" Nami exclaimed as she quickly stepped passed them, "This place is gorgeous! To think such an oasis like this exists in the middle of such a disgusting town!"

The hotel looked incredibly fancy with palm trees decorating the area. The buildings were made with high quality white stones and equally high quality red shingles for the rooftops. The entire hotel was on top of a wooden dock and overlooked the harbor.

"It's a built above the water," Zoro observed.

"That's great but there's no one here," Luffy pointed out as he began wandering into the hotel. "Although I can smell that someone's cooking."

Suddenly a funny looking man wearing a turban came running out. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" he called out to the three Straw Hats. "I'm going to have to ask you all to leave please! See, the entire hotel has been rented out by Mr. Bellamy and his guests and he's asked that we tell other guests like yourselves to go somewhere else. So uh… you must understand that I have no say in the matter…"

"So one man rented out this entire place," Zoro remarked as he eyed the fancy hotel.

"Ricky could do it easy," Nami insisted. "But he wouldn't cause he'd probably be worrying about _inconveniencing _everyone else."

"If Mr. Bellamy sees you here, he'll have my head removed from my body," the weird man continued to address the Straw Hats, "So would you please leave for my sake!"

"Come on, I'm sure he won't mind," Luffy pressed the weird man.

"Who is this 'Bellamy' anyway?" Nami inquired.

"**What's going on here?" **The weird man practically wet himself as a new voice called out and they turned to see Sarquiss and his girlfriend walking through the arch into the hotel. The sight of Bellamy the Hyena's First Mate 'Big Knife' Sarquiss a pirate with a bounty worth thirty-two million berries was enough to scare most people in Mock Town. "Who are these scumbags and what're they doing in _our_ hotel?"

"MR. SARQUISS!" the weird man exclaimed. "Welcome back! I told them to leave but they won't listen!"

"I really don't care!" Sarquiss' girlfriend snapped. She had long blonde hair and a full figure. She wore a red bandana. Fancy rectangular sunglasses, and a fancy white blouse with a short white fur coat draped over it. Her blouse was partially unbuttoned to reveal her cleavage. "Get rid of them, we're paying a lot of money to have this place to ourselves!"

Sarquiss and his girlfriend Lily arrogantly strode up to Luffy, Bellamy's first made was easily a full head taller than Luffy.

"She's right," Sarquiss agreed as he eyed the Straw Hats with disgust. "Now get out of here before I throw you out."

Luffy turned to Nami, "Hey, would you mind if I beat him up?" he asked.

"LUFFY!" Nami yelled.

"Pahahahaha!" Sarquiss laughed. "You're going to beat _me _up? Pahahahahaha! Hilarious! Seriously though, those are rags you're wearing." He dug in his pocket and pulled out a hand full of money and tossed at the ground at Luffy's feet. "Here, go buy some new rags so you don't look like an orphan."

"Sarquiss, you're wasting your money by tossing it to this bunch of losers!" Lily remarked while Zoro and Nami glared at them.

"Pahahaha!" Sarquiss chuckled, "No kidding! I should've just flushed it along with my lunch!"

"I'll take free money!" Luffy cheered as he went to grab the dropped bills and coins. **YOINK! **Nami grabbed him by the ear and dragged him passed Sarquiss and Lily and towards the door.

"Let's go," she growled, "these jerks can't help us."

"I can walk on my own, ya know!" Luffy complained while Zoro silently followed after them.

"See ya around," Sarquiss taunted, "Pahahaha!"

"**Sarquiss! Lily!"** someone called out from in the hotel. "Just leave well enough alone."

"Eddy, we've been looking for you," Sarquiss replied as he and Lily walked in to join the other Bellamy Pirates that were relaxing at the hotel. Bellamy wasn't there at the moment, but the rest of the crew was.

First there was Eddy. He had short blond hair but was thinner and a considerably paler than Bellamy. He wore glasses on his pointed nose and a black coat over a white undershirt. He had a Log Pose on his wrist showing that he was the crew's navigator.

Then there was Rivers. He was a tall muscular man that wore a white hat with long earflaps and an opened brown shirt that showed off his muscular chest. He was casually sitting on a couch with his arm around his girlfriend Mani.

Next to them on the couch was Hewitt, Bellamy's cook. He had a stoic looking man with short black hair and the number '21' tattooed above his right eyebrow. Standing behind the couch was Ross. A silent man wearing a long fur coat and a pale blue baseball cap with 'ALLR' written on it that hit the top half of his face.

And finally there was Muret the doctor. Her pink hair was tied back in a bun and she wore a tight-fitting yellow dress with a high collar and the zipper partially undone to reveal her cleavage.

"You know that trash you ran into?" Rivers asked as he held up Luffy's wanted poster. "Seems they've been doing pretty well for themselves. Look…" He casually passed off the old Wanted Poster to Muret.

"Not bad," she remarked. "But nothing compared to you and Bellamy." She passed the Wanted Poster off to Sarquiss.

"But for ordinary scum, they can hold their own," Rivers noted.

"They still don't stand a chance of surviving the transition into the new era," Eddy insisted.

"Wow, his bounty is thirty million," Sarquiss observed, "And for such a little puke. I'm sure Bellamy will want to see this."

**-x-**

"I hope they're okay," Ricky said quietly as he and Robin headed for the market district. They were mostly ignored with the exception of the men who turned to take a second look at the tall woman walking in their midst. "The people here can be very cruel. Hopefully Luffy and Zoro can handle it."

"How about Miss. Navigator?" Robin inquired.

"I _know _she won't be able to handle it," Ricky replied, "I'm fully expecting to have to calm her down when we get back."

"Well, before this little shopping excursion of ours gets underway, there's something I wanted to discuss with you," Robin stated. At Ricky's questioning look she continued, "Privately." With that she grabbed his hand and pulled him down a nearby alley. It was secluded and most people walked right by without even bothering to look down it.

"Okay… what did you want to talk about in such a private setting?" Ricky asked.

Robin reached into the front of her shirt and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Ricky's entire body tensed when she unfolded it to reveal that it was 'the Demon' Red Eye's wanted poster.

"This is you… correct?" It wasn't a question. She knew.

**-x-**

Meanwhile, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami had relocated to a bar. Nami was drinking in an attempt to get over all the freaks and assholes they'd encountered in the town. Zoro was drinking on the stood beside her but didn't really need an excuse.

"Man that really pisses me off," Nami growled as her drink as set down in front of her. "Ricky was right, this town stinks."

"That's a shame," the bar owner replied. He was a fat man with a bushy black mustache and tattoos on his arms. "Because Mock Town's economy depends on pirates throwing money around to show off power they may or may not have."

"What so poor pirates aren't allowed on the island?" Nami asked. Not that she was poor.

"Looks like there's no way of calming you down," the bartender noted. He put another drink down in front of Nami. "Here, this one's on the house." Nami grinned at the free drink. "Tough guys and degenerates are our chief clientele here so trouble isn't hard to find. You aren't gonna make it in this town if ya let it bother ya. You have to play it safe when you can." The bartender walked further down the bar and placed a pie in front of Luffy and the man sitting next to him. "Here you go."

"This whole town's a real dump, ya know," Nami complained.

"Of course," the bartender agreed, "That's how most level-headed people would think of it. But unfortunately for you, level-headed people are rare in these parts. The new Wanted Posters won't be on the walls for a couple of days so you may wanted to skip town sooner rather than later."

"A couple of days…" Nami repeated as she stared at the Log Pose on her wrist. The needle was still pointing up to the sky. "That doesn't give us much time. Now here's a question…"

Nami was cut off when Luffy and the large man sitting beside him both shouted at the bartender at the same time. "HEY FATSO!" Luffy shouted while the man shouted, "HEY BARKEEP!"

"What is it?" the bartender asked.

"THIS CHERRY PIE TASTES FREAKING HORRIBLE/DELICIOUS!" Luffy and the man shouted. They both blinked and glanced at each other seemingly realizing that their comments contradicted each other.

The man next to Luffy was huge. We was eleven feet two inches tall, making him exactly twice Luffy's height. He had long curly black hair that fell to his shoulder and was missing some teeth. A short stubbly beard was growing on his chin and around his mouth. His wore an opened white button down shirt which exposed his hairy chest and fat belly. He wore gray pants and a yellow sash with bottles of rum tucked into it.

"Grrr…" Luffy and the large man growled at each other and took a drink from their mug.

"AAAAHH!" they both sighed at the same time. "THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST/WORST DRINKS I'VE EVER TASTED!" Once again their comments completely contradicted each other.

"I think there might be something wrong with your taste buds kid," the big man growled.

"I think there's something wrong with you big, fat head!" Luffy retorted.

"Well I'm not the cook here so I don't care what you have to say," the bartender stated.

"HEY BARKEEP!" Luffy called out. "I'll take fifty steaks to go!"

"And I'll take fifty-_one_ of those delicious cherry pies to go!" the big man requested.

Not about to be outdone when it came to eating, Luffy quickly changed his mind. "Wait! Make that fifty-two steaks!"

"Better make that fifty-three pies!"

"Fifty-four steaks!"

"Fifty-five pies!"

"SIXTY STEAKS!"

"SEVENTY PIES!"

"EIGHTY!"

"A HUNDRED!"

Luffy stood up on his stood as he and the big man got in each other's faces and drew back their fists, "I'M GONNA BEAT THE LIVING CRAP OUTTA YOU!" the shouted at the same time.

"DO YOU EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA WHAT YOUR'E FIGHTING ABOUT?" Zoro yelled at them from his seat on the other side of Luffy.

"LUFFY!" Nami scolded him, "You promised, remember? Besides, we don't have enough money with us to buy dozens of steaks! Ricky's taking care of the shopping!"

Luffy and the big man glared at each other.

"So then… are you a pirate?" the big man asked.

"Yeah," Luffy replied. "That's right."

"How big's your bounty?" the big man inquired.

"Thirty million," Luffy boasted.

"Uh… actually Luffy," Zoro cut in, "We found out that they—"

"Thirty million?" the big man interrupted. "For you? I wouldn't believe it even if I collected it!"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?" Luffy roared. "YOU FAT HAIRY APE!"

"ENOUGH!" Zoro shouted at them.

**Thunk! **The bartender placed a big wrapped package of pies on the counter. "We've got rules in this place," he stated. "And one of them's no fighting. Here's your fifty cherry pies, now please, just walk away."

The big man and Luffy glared at each other for another couple seconds then the big man took the package of pies and walked away.

But as the big man was walking out of the bar he was passed by the familiar figure of Bellamy Hyena who was now wearing a blue Captain's coat over his shoulders. The big man watched over his shoulder as Bellamy walked into the bar then went to get himself a good seat.

**-x-**

"I'm looking for a pirate that wears a straw hat!" Bellamy called into the bar.

Luffy turned around while the other patrons of the bar stared in shock. "It's Bellamy!"

"Heh heh heh heh heh," Bellamy chuckled, "So you must be 'Straw Hat' Luffy, worth a cool thirty million."

"Who's this guy?" Luffy wondered.

"Looks like he has a bone to pick with you Luffy," Zoro observed.

"I think that's the Bellamy guy that rented out the hotel we were at," Nami realized.

Bellamy walked silently up to the bar and Luffy stared up at him from his stool.

"How come everyone I meet in this town is so tall?" Luffy questioned.

"I'll take a glass from the top shelf," Bellamy instructed the bartender, wanting one of the most expensive drinks in the bar. "And get the kid whatever he wants."

"Right," the bartender agreed while Luffy stared at Bellamy in surprise as he took the now empty seat beside him.

"**Look at this place," **the voice of Sarquiss floated into the bar as Bellamy's First Mate walked in with the rest of the Bellamy Pirates behind him. "This joint is packed solid."

"This place is disgusting," Lily scoffed, "It smells like vomit."

"All you can get here is cheap rum," Rivers taunted.

"Look Zoro," Nami whispered, "Its those guys from earlier."

**FWUMP! **"UGGGHHH!" Two bloody men groaned as they dropped to the floor courtesy of Sarquiss' signature big knife. The big blade was curved like a kukri blade.

"You'd be in a lot less pain if you just offered us your seats," Sarquiss taunted, "Pathetic harbor trash." The other patrons quickly ran out of the bar not wanting to meet the same fate while the Bellamy Pirates took their empty seats.

"What's Bellamy up to?" Muret asked as she sat down beside Sarquiss whole was grinning madly as he licked the blood of the blade of his knife.

"The usual fun," Sarquiss replied.

"Cheers," Bellamy said to Luffy as their drinks were placed in front of them.

"Hey, thanks for the drink, pal!" Luffy replied, "You know what, you're alright!" Luffy raised his glass and took a drink. He never saw Bellamy reaching his arm out behind him. **KRASH! **Bellamy violently smashed Luffy's face down through the counter and down to the floor.

"LUFFY!" Zoro and Nami called out in alarm while the patrons that stayed behind gasped.

"HE DID IT!" Sarquiss exclaimed. "PAHAHAHAHAHA! BRILLIANT MOVE BELLAMY! JUST BRILLIANT! PAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Hmph," Bellamy grunted but then he looked up and found himself with the blade of a sword pointed at his throat. "What's your problem, punk?" he growled at Zoro.

"You're the one with the problem," Zoro retorted.

"Heh heh heh heh!" Bellamy laughed.

"ZORO!" Nami exclaimed. "Don't do it! We still need to get some information first!"

"QUIET!" Zoro snapped at her, "If this guy wants a fight, I'll give it to 'im."

Bellamy backed away from Zoro's sword just as Luffy stood back up.

"So that's all you've got for back up?" Bellamy taunted. "HAHAHAHA!"

"Alright," Luffy resolved, "Are you ready to take me on, or what?"

The Bellamy Pirates actually laughed. "HAHAHAHA!" "The kid just challenged Bellamy!" "HE'LL BE SLAUGHTERED!"

"HAH HA HAHAHAHAHA!" Bellamy the Hyena's laughter was by far the loudest of all. "You've got it all wrong kid! This isn't a fight! It's a test! Now come on, let's see how strong you are!"

"LUFFY HOLD ON!" Nami ordered, wanting to get out of the bar before the situation got worse. She quickly turned to the bartender, "Mister, we're trying to get to the Sky Island! Do you know anything about that?"

"Huh?" Bellamy grunted.

"Did she just say… Sky Island?" Eddy questioned.

"She's crazy," Lily remarked.

Nami shook her head and turned back to the bartender, "Like I was saying, do you know how to get to the Sky Island?"

"BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It then that the entire bar burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHA!"

"YOU CAN LOOK AT THE LOG POSE YOURSELF!" Nami yelled over the laughter. "IT'S POINTING AT THE SKY, PLAIN AS DAY!"

Everyone stared in surprise, then started laughing again. "BWAAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAAA!" "HA! HER LOG POSE IS POINTING AT THE SKY!" "NO ONE TRUSTS THOSE THINGS ANYMORE! THEY BREAK IF YOU BREATHE WRONG!"

Nami face flushed in embarrassment.

"Heh heh heh hahahaha!" Bellamy laughed as he sat back down, "You got me there, kid! I can't believe you guys are putting up with such a ridiculous legend like an island in the sky! Especially considering how little you know! Like of the thousands of the weird currants cutting through the Grand Line, one of the weirdest is called a Knock-Up Stream! Looks to me like this is the first you've ever heard about it. Any ship that gets caught in the Knock-Up Stream is catapulted into the sky and later slams back into the ocean! Years ago, a bunch of ignorant sailors saw ships falling from the sky and _assumed _there must be an island up there! In their minds _how else_ could a ship get up that high? HA! Ridiculous! Anything that seems supernatural always has a rational explanation! Anything a man can dream will eventually be explained and let me tell you, the truth will hurt!"

"…" Luffy stared silently at Bellamy while Ricky's words echoed in his head. _"What would Shanks do?"_

"Look," Bellamy continued, "I was gonna let you join my crew if you'd passed the test of the New Era. But it seems like you're a lost cause. Thing is, the time of pirates' dreams are over! The City of Gold, the Emerald Ruins, and the great One Piece, the fools who dream of these things fictional treasure don't notice the real treasures that surround them! In this age of oceans the very men who are brave enough and are capable of navigating currants end up chasing these ridiculous dreams and die in the process! Whenever people speak of these dead idiots they always say _'he was happy because he died living his dreams' _HA! NO! He died because he was a fool!"

"…" Luffy's clenched fists dropped opened. There was no point.

Bellamy continued his speech, "So when I see people chasing dreams of One Piece… I GET DISGUSTED!" Bellamy surged off of his stood and punched Luffy in the face. **POW! **Luffy did nothing to stop it and dropped to the ground. **THUD!**

"LUFFY!" Nami cried out in alarm.

"You're a weak pirate just like they were!" Bellamy taunted, "And as long as you're hacking around, you'll make _us _the _real pirates_ look like trash!"

**KRESH! **Bellamy threw a glass down at Luffy and it shattered next to his head.

"Get outta here ya scrawny punk," one of the pirates growled, "You're killing our buzz!"

"WAY TO GO BELLAMY!" another Bellamy Pirate cheered.

The other pirates started throwing things and glasses shattered all around Luffy while he laid there on the floor and did nothing to defend himself.

"BELLAMY!" Sarquiss called out. "GIVE THESE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT! TEAR INTO 'IM!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Bellamy laughed, "I'd be more than happy to entertain!"

"Luffy! Zoro!" Nami exclaimed, "Forget about all that pacifist crap I was talking about earlier and take this jerk out!"

"Zoro," Luffy said as he slowly sat up, "Whatever happens, don't fight back."

"…" Zoro stared silently and nodded at his Captain's order.

"HAA HEH HEHEHEHEEE!" Bellamy cackled as he prepared for what was clearly going to be a one-sided fight.

**-x-**

Ricky stared at Robin and clenched his fists. She seemed certain as she held up his poster. There was no denying it now.

"How'd you know?" Ricky asked.

"When we first went to find the Poneglyph you said that you'd travel to the travel to the ends of the Earth to find the One Piece treasure and that you won't give up until you've seen it with your own eyes," Robin recounted, "Eyes, as in two. I would've thought that you had gotten used to losing your right eye by now so I realized that meant that there was some kind of eye under your eye patch. That peaked my curiosity."

"Then after our adventure on Bonsatsu Island you apologized for losing control and giving the others so much trouble up at the temple," Robin continued. "The others couldn't remember what happened when the High Priest used his Devil Fruit Powers on them which led me to believe that something _else_ happened up on the temple. I called you on it and you didn't have an answer."

"Then there's your fear of zombies," Robin stated, "You told Miss. Navigator to imagine that she'd killed a lot of people and that they'd been brought back to life and wanted revenge. It was clear that you were talking from experience."

"Finally there's this," Robin concluded as she held up the Wanted Poster again. "I found it in the pocket of the pants you loaned me. Not one of your smartest moments Mr. One Eye. Interesting that Red Eye's red eye is his right eye and that's the one you always keep covered. Obviously I knew that you wouldn't have kept the Wanted Poster of a supposedly dead pirate unless it held some significance to you. And that's when I realized that this _is _you."

"Naturally I know your history since at the time of your rampage I was living in Alabasta which is an island in the Grand Line where you were wreaking havoc," Robin said, "So my guess is that some pirate cut out your eye when you were younger and you found a new one that gave strange powers. But you don't have control over it which led to your rampage. And you still don't if the incident in the temple where you lost control again is anything to go by. I've gotten to know you a little bit so I know now that you wouldn't kill someone without a very good reason. You feel guilty about all the people you killed, thus your fear of zombies, and also why you're with the Straw Hats trying to redeem yourself by doing good."

**Gulp! **Ricky had gotten significantly pale as Robin's report went on. Now he was as white as a ghost. "So… what are you going to do with this information?" he asked.

"Nothing," Robin answered with a faint smile. Ricky found himself able to breathe again. "I enjoy solving puzzles and you presented me with an interesting one. I suppose this makes us even after everything you found out about me when we were investigating the Poneglyph." Ricky nodded and Robin's expression turned curious. "Can I see it?"

"Let me get this straight," Ricky requested, "you just learned that I've got something in my skull that caused me to go on a blood-crazed rampage and take hundreds of innocent lives. And you want to see it?"

"Yes." Ricky promptly face-faulted.

**-x-**

I wanted to end the chapter on a more humorous note so I put the Ricky/Robin scene at the end instead of doing a cliffhanger. I also decided to go with the edited, less violent Bellamy/Roshio Fight from the anime because I didn't want to make Bellamy look any better than he actually is. And in the end, he's just an ass.

Next chapter Bellamy lays a beat-down and _Nami_ finds herself fighting back, Ricky and Robin continue shopping, and a strange man tells Luffy and Zoro the power of people's dreams.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	9. People's Dreams

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** QPython does not own One Piece or any of the related characters just the original characters that appear in this version of the story.

**9. People's Dream:**

**-x-**

"What do you think?" Robin asked as she stepped out of the fitting room and showed off her new outfit for Ricky. She was now wearing a white blouse underneath a short long-sleeved purple jacket that revealed her midsection and a pair of tight-fitting matching purple pants. On her head she wore a purple cowgirl hat and on her feet were a pair of comfortable black shoes.

"It's fine," Ricky replied, he was currently holding the other outfits that Robin had chosen for herself as well as a pair of other shopping bags from another store. "Are we done now?"

Robin shook her head, "The correct answer is: 'you look gorgeous'," she informed him. "You may be smart but it's clear to me that you don't know very much about women."

"Uh… well…" Ricky said.

**-Spade Pirates Flashback-**

Ace, Ricky, Han, and Ollie were sitting on the deck of their small ship casually eating lunch as they sailed away from Ollie's island.

**BUURP! **Ace let out a loud burp which caused the fifteen year old two-eyed Ricky to flinch.

"Ace," Ricky hissed, "Did you forget all those manners that Aunt Makino drilled into your head? There's a lady present now I don't—"

**Buuuurrrrpp… **Ricky was cut off by another loud burp, this one came from Ollie herself. While it wasn't as loud as Ace's it was certainly longer.

"Don't sweat it kid," she reassured him, "I used to live alone in a forest, a guy burping isn't gonna bother me."

"Great, then I can stop holding mine in," Han realized. **BUUURP!**

"Good effort," Ace told him, "but I can top it." He took a deep breath and then… **FWUUURRP! **A torrent of flames shot out of Ace's mouth adding an extra level of flare to his loud belch.

"Ha ha!" Ollie laughed and applauded, "Good one!"

**-End Flashback-**

"Yeah, not much," Ricky admitted.

"It's simple really," Robin explained, "When you're going shopping with a woman, say… Miss. Navigator for example, your job is to tell her how she looks in the outfits she picks out. If you can't convince her that you think she looks absolutely perfect then she's going to go find a new one and you'll never get to leave."

"Oh, okay," Ricky said, "Is that all we're getting here?"

"I have all the clothes I'll need," Robin answered, "but you still need to get Miss. Navigator an 'I'm Sorry' present."

"Wait… _I _have to get _her_ an 'I'm Sorry' present?" Ricky repeated.

"That's what I said," Robin confirmed.

"But I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed.

"But you're the man in the relationship," Robin pointed out, "That means it's your job to apologize." Ricky opened his mouth to protest but Robin continued before he could say anything. "Even if it isn't your fault, when you make the first effort to apologize it shows her that you care about her and your relationship with her. If all goes well, then she'll apologize too."

"Alright then what am I supposed to get her?" Ricky asked.

Robin smiled and grabbed him by the wrist, "Come with me," she instructed as she pulled him deeper into the store, "Fortunately for you, I learned Miss. Navigator's shoe size while I was sharing a room with her."

**-x-**

This was easily the worst bar trip that Nami had ever been on. And that included the one where she'd almost lost to Ricky in a drinking contest after being drugged by bounty hunters. First she'd been humiliated when the entire bar laughed at her when she asked about the Sky Island, then that Bellamy-jerk started mocking them and their big dreams, and now he was attacking Luffy and Zoro while the two of them refused to fight back.

"HAHAHA!" one of the Bellamy Pirates laughed, "Look at 'em! How are they still standing?"

"YEAH BELLAMY!" another pirate cheered, "Wipe the floor with that green haired freak!"

"This town ain't for no dreamin' cowards!" another pirate added, "Show that pansy the meaning of pain!"

**KRESH! **A liquor bottle was smashed over Zoro's head. **WHOMP! **A wooden chair was broken on Luffy's back.

**-x-**

"What's all the commotion?" a man asked outside the bar.

"I heard the Bellamy Pirates are holding a lynching in there," another man replied.

**-x-**

"LUFFY! ZORO!" Nami shouted. "WHY'RE YOU LETTING HIM BEAT YOU LIKE THAT? GO AHEAD AND FIGHT BACK! YOU GUYS CAN TAKE 'EM NO PROBLEM!"

"…" But Luffy and Zoro both stood there silently with raising a hand or even saying a word in their defense. Blood was dripping out of their mouths and out of gashes around their eyes and on their faces but still they wouldn't fight back.

"PAHAHAHAHA!" Sarquiss laughed, he, Rivers, and Ross had taken over the one-sided beating while Bellamy took a break. "It's no use lady! They're too smart for that! They've obviously come to the realization that they're way out of their league! Refusing to fight a stronger opponent, it's disgraceful, but it _is _smart."

"Heh ha ha!" Rivers chuckled, "Clearly the runt lacks any dignity as a Captain."

"The Marines sure are generous these days," Sarquiss scoffed, "To think they're willing to fork over thirty million for a worthless, smart-mouthed child!"

Nami clutched Luffy's straw hat which she had picked up off of the ground when the beating had started. Luffy's words echoed in her mind. _"Zoro, no matter what happens… don't fight back."_

"Come on…" Nami urged them, "Fight back…"

"Sounds nice, huh?" Bellamy questioned as he sat casually at the bar, taking a break from his assault. "The doctrine of nonresistance…" Bellamy quickly knocked back his drink, "AHH! So, you're weak and you have no pride, you refuse to get into a fight, and your head is swimming with silly daydreams. Heh heh ha! They sound like children!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" the still seated Bellamy Pirates laughed, "MORE LIKE LITTLE GIRLS!"

"My work here is done," Bellamy announced as he grabbed a bottle of rum and got off his barstool and headed to the middle of the bar where Luffy and Zoro were standing. "When I heard a bounty worth thirty million was in town, I wondered what kind of a bad-ass crook came with it. Heh heh heh ha! Needless to say, I'm more than a little let down. I'm bored with these cowards!" Bellamy took a long swig of his drink then spat it out all over Luffy's face. **PTOOOOOSSHH!**

"…" Still Luffy remained silent and refused to fight back. The alcohol had washed some of the blood off of his face but now it was burning in his still opened wounds.

"QUICK! Get them out of my face!" Bellamy commanded his crew. "Hee hee! Bye ladies!"

**THWAK! **Rivers lashed out and kneed Zoro in the face, sending him tumbling across the bar.

**Whup! **Ross grabbed Luffy from behind and dragged him across the bar before smashing him face-first through a window. **KREESSH! **The glass window shattered and Ross dropped Luffy at his feet. **THUD! **Luffy's blood was left dripping off of the broken glass that still remained in the frame.

"Luffy! Zoro!" Nami cried as she rushed to their side.

"Hey! Sweet thing!" Sarquiss called across the bar to her, "If you keep hanging out with these losers, you're gonna get left behind, especially when the New Era rolls around. What if I bought you?" Nami's eyes went wide in shock. "You seem like a simple girl. You can't fetch too high of a price."

"Excuse me?" Nami hissed. "Did you say you want to… _buy me_?"

"That's right," Sarquiss answered with a cocky grin, "C'mon girl, join us."

There was only so much Nami was willing to take. And this was the final straw. Nami stood up and glared at him. "I'm not for sale," she stated, "And you're lucky my boyfriend isn't here. He wouldn't like hearing you talk to me like I'm some kind of whore."

"Boyfriend?" Sarquiss repeated. "Don't tell me he's like those two weaklings."

"He's nothing like them!" Nami retorted, "But if he were here, he'd kick that smug grin off of your stupid face!"

Lily shot to her feet and glared across the bar at Nami, "How dare you talk to Sarquiss like that!" she exclaimed. "He's twice the man you're pathetic boyfriend could ever be!"

"Oh please!" Nami scoffed, "My guy could buy a skank like you with his pocket change. Too bad you're so far beneath him."

"WHY YOU LITTLE—" Lily yelled only for Nami to cut her off.

"Careful," Nami warned her, "Unlike those two, I'll fight back if you attack me."

"Nami…" Luffy called out to her from the ground.

"You shut up!" Nami snapped at him. Her pride was hurt from seeing her crew's two top fighters take a savage beating without even raising a hand in defense. She wasn't going to stand for that, so she was picking a fight of her own.

"Get her Lily!" Sarquiss encouraged his girlfriend, "That bitch needs to be put back in her place! Go take her down a couple of pegs!"

The other Bellamy Pirates chimed in and encouraged Lily who looked very reluctant to actually have to fight Nami. "Get her Lily!" "Take out that trash!" "Teach her a lesson!"

"Lily, do it!" Bellamy ordered, "She's one of those fools that believe in the Sky Island! It's our duty as the _real _pirates to set an example! Make her rethink the company she keeps!"

Lily visibly paled, with the Captain ordering her to fight she had nowhere to run and she slowly approached Nami.

Nami took the time to eye her 'opponent'. Her long blonde hair was brushed so not a single strange was out of place. Her nails were perfectly manicured and her fancy clothes didn't have a speck of dirt on them. It was blatantly clear that this girl wasn't a fighter, only arm candy. And while Nami was easily the weakest of the Straw Hats, her rough upbringing as a pirate thief made her positive that she could take this chick.

Lily reached Nami and clenched her right hand then lashed out at Nami for a hard slap. **SWIP! **Nami saw it coming a mile away and ducked under it then slipped around behind Lily while she was off balance from her missed 'attack'.

**Thwak! **Nami lashed out and kicked Lily's leg from behind causing her to stumble forward then followed up with a hard shot. **WHUMP! KRE-RASH! **Lily crashed into a table and knocked it over, and while the drinks that were on it had been thrown at Luffy and Zoro, the food that was leftover spilled all over her.

"Now who looks like trash," Nami taunted. Luffy and Zoro had let themselves get bloodied and beaten without even defending themselves, but Nami had suffered as much humiliation as she was going to allow in that bar and showed that at least _she _knew how to fight back.

Instead of looking upset at Lily's loss, Bellamy burst out laughing, "HAAAA HAHAAHAAA!" The other Bellamy Pirates uneasily joined in to avoid facing the Captain's wrath and soon the entire crew was laughing at Lily's failure. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"HAAAAAHAHAHAHA!" Bellamy laughed, "You've got guts girl, I'll give you that. Listen, this is a genuine offer, ditch that trash and join a real pirate crew, _my _pirate crew."

Nami held back her immediate response of 'NEVER!' and her following response of 'Not if it was the last crew on Earth!' and even, her favorite, 'I'm too good to join a pirate like you. You're nothing but a small-time thug.'

Instead she simply folded her arms across her chest and said, "I'm spoken for."

"Fine, then get out of here while I'm still in a good mood," Bellamy ordered, "And take that trash with you."

Nami sent one last glare to the Bellamy Pirates then grabbed Luffy and Zoro and dragged them out of the bar.

"Sarquiss… help me…" Lily pleaded as she reached out to her boyfriend looking for him to help her up off of the toppled table.

"Not a chance," Sarquiss refused. He looked down at her with disdain even though he'd been the first to goad her into what should have been an obvious losing battle, "You embarrassed our crew by losing to that trash. We're over."

**-x-**

Nami scowled as she stalked away from the bar while dragging Luffy and Zoro behind her.

"**The Sky Island does exist!" **a voice called out. Nami turned to see the large man from before sitting in the middle of the road eating one of his fifty cherry pies. "Zehahahaha! That place really does make a killer cherry pie!"

"You got something you wanna say?" Nami challenged him as she dropped Luffy and Zoro on the ground. At this point, she wasn't going to take any more crap from anybody.

"Now what could you possibly be angry about?" the big man asked. "Your two friends won that fight without even throwing a punch."

At Nami's feet Luffy was starting to stir.

"_Ha, you think you'll be better than me?" Shanks taunted him back when he was younger before he'd entrusted Luffy with his straw hat._

"_When next we meet, we'll both be top pirates," Ace told him before they'd parted ways back in Alabasta._

"_Listen to me Luffy," Ricky advised him back at the Going Merry, "If someone here gets in your face and starts making fun of you, I want you to think: What would Shanks do? Okay?"_

Luffy had big dreams and had made big promises to be a great pirate. He didn't bother fighting Bellamy because it wasn't worth it. Just like Shanks hadn't bothered fighting Higuma in Makino's tavern ten years ago.

"And then you went and won a fight of your own," the big man continued, "You've got nerves of steel lady. Zehahahahaha!"

"Aah!" Nami gasped in surprise as Luffy and Zoro got back up to their feet. "Luffy…"

Luffy didn't respond and simply adjusted his straw hat as he turned to face the big man while Zoro simply began dusting himself off.

"Zehahaha!" the big man laughed. "This new era they keep rambling on and on about is a load of crap. THE ERA WHERE PIRATES DREAM OF TREASURE WILL COME TO AN END? YEAH RIGHT! ZEHAHAHA!"

"What's he talking about?" a passing civilian wondered, the big man was sitting in the middle of the street talking and laughing like a lunatic.

**Thunk! **The big man slammed his rum bottle down, "THE DREAMS OF PIRATES… WIILL NEEVEER EEND!"

"…" Luffy stared silently.

The big man grinned exposing the holes in his smile due to his missing teeth, "Am I, right?"

They finally registered the laughing crowd of civilians that had been drawn by the big man's loud shouts. "For someone shouting as loud as you are, you're certainly talking nonsense!" a passing man taunted.

"What're you talking about dreaming for?" another man questioned. But none of them paid the civilians any mind.

"ONE UPPING YOUR PEERS ISN'T EASY!" the big man exclaimed. "ZEHAHAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHA!" the civilians laughed at the man like he was crazy. "What's with you, did you melt your brain?"

**-x-**

Back in the bar, Bellamy's crew heard the big man's laughter from outside.

"**ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA!" **

"I wonder what all the commotion is about?" Sarquiss asked out loud as he sat as his table having a drink.

"Forget it," Bellamy told him from where he was sitting at the bar with Muret, "Those losers are probably taking out their frustrations. I guess the girl beating Lily wasn't enough for them."

Lily blushed in the corner where she was sitting alone struggling to get the bits of food out of her hair and off of her clothes.

**-x-**

"…" Luffy was still silent as the big man continued his speech.

"They can laugh at us all they want, cuz when you aim high you often come across fights that just aren't worth fighting, right? Zehahahahahahaha!"

"Let's go," Zoro prompted as he turned and walked off without another word.

"Yeah," Nami agreed as she turned to follow after him but found Luffy rooted in place. "Luffy?"

"…" Luffy and the big man were silently staring at each other, both uncaring of the looks they garnered from the passing people.

"Luffy!" Nami called out again.

"Oh, it looks like I interrupted you," the big man noted as he got back up to his feet and once again towered above Luffy. "Are you in a hurry, kid?" The man turned to leave, "One more thing! I hope you find your way to Sky Island." The man took a swig of rum and walked off. "ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Again, without saying anything, Luffy turned and followed after Zoro.

Nami quickly followed after him, "Maybe we should keep talking to him," she suggested, "He may know something about Sky Island. Who was he?"

"I don't know," Luffy admitted, finally breaking his silence. "But it's not _he_."

"Huh?" Nami questioned, "If it's not _he _then… what is it?"

"Probably _they_," Zoro answered. "Come on, let's go."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN _THEY_?" Nami demanded. "Are you saying there were others with him? Where? I didn't see anyone! HEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"

"I did hear one thing," Zoro replied, "Or maybe it was just the blood in my ears, but did you refer to Ricky as your boyfriend back there?"

"Yeah, I did," Nami admitted, "I needed _someone _to threaten them with! You two idiots wouldn't do anything! What kind of man just standing there when someone's attacking him!" The big man's speech about not fighting battles that weren't worth fighting was forgotten as Nami started raging about the two of them not fighting back in the bar.

**-x-**

"Hmmm…" the big man said to himself as he walked away. Suddenly something the girl said in the bar came back to him.

"_LUFFY! You promised, remember? Besides, we don't have enough money with us to buy dozens of steaks! Ricky's taking care of the shopping!"_

"Why do those names sound familiar?" he wondered.

"_The new generation of pirates… will be led by the next King of the Pirates… MONKEY D. LUFFY!"_

"Could that have been…" the man questioned. "Naaah! It's probably just a coincidence. Zehahahahahaha!"

**-x-**

**Bite the Bullet:**

**-x-**

"Okay," Ricky said as he and Robin left the market stall that they'd stopped at to fill the refrigerator that was inside the large box that was strapped to Ricky's back. He also had a hole-covered box with a snail drawn on the side tucked under his right arm while a lone shopping bag dangled from his left hand. "Then since you're the expert on women maybe you can tell me something."

"I'm not an expert on women," Robin corrected him as she walked beside him carrying her collection of clothing bags, "I just am one."

"Then maybe you can make sense out of what's going on with Nami," Ricky reasoned.

"We were all wondering what happened inside that turtle," Robin admitted.

"I took Nami across the zip-line to the ship I stashed all the treasure on…" Ricky recounted as he began telling Robin what happened inside Sheldon's stomach.

**-x-**

On a rooftop at the other end of the street sat the strange sharpshooter as he finished cleaning out the barrel of his rifle. He calmly glanced down at the clock that was on a small tower in the middle of the street.

"Thirty seconds left," the sniper noted as he pointed his rifle out into the street, "Let's see who's fated to cross the path of my bullet today…"

**-x-**

"It sounds to me like she's scared," Robin commented when Ricky finished his story.

"But this is Nami," Ricky pointed out, "And it's not like she's dealing with a monster or a savage crew of pirates or even a crazy storm. It's just me."

"And that's what she's scared of," Robin explained, "She cares about you but before she takes the next step in your relationship together she wants to know that you care about her too. She's worried about how you see her and doesn't want to ruin your relationship by pushing it to the next level before its ready. So now she's picking fights with you to drive you away long enough for her to figure things out."

"So you think I should—" **THUNK! **Ricky was cut off by a bullet tore through the back of the refrigerator box and embedded in the door of the metal refrigerator. "What the hell? Someone just tried to shoot me!" He stared down the busy street but couldn't see anyone with a smoking gun barrel, "You see anything? I can't."

"Ojo Fleur!" Robin closed her eyes and crossed her arms as she sprouted hands with eyes on the palm on a series of rooftops. "There's a strange man sitting on a rooftop at the end of the street. He has a smoking rifle with him, a gun like that definitely has the range to hit you from there."

"I think I wanna have a word with this joker," Ricky growled as he started towards the house.

**-x-**

"Hm, that's odd," the sharpshooter observed still completely calm as he watched Ricky and Robin approach him. "Fate brought the boy into my bullet's path but it also protected him."

"**What's your problem?"** Ricky called up to the man from down in front of the house. "Why'd you just try to shoot me?"

"No problem," the sniper stated, "I just fired my gun and Fate just happened to bring you into the bullet's path."

"_That's_ your excuse for trying to kill me?" Ricky demanded.

"But I didn't," the sniper pointed out, "Fate also protected you."

"I can't stand people like you!" Ricky growled while Robin and the sniper stared calmly. It was odd seeing Ricky as the most emotional person in a group. "You use 'Fate' as an excuse for not owning up to your own actions! 'Fate' didn't fire that gun of yours, _you did_. Take some responsibility! You could've killed someone!"

"But I didn't," the sniper countered, "I only hit you."

"Let's get out of here Robin," Ricky instructed, "I don't wanna risk this lunatic firing his gun at me again." Robin nodded and they walked off. The sniper simply watched them go.

"You seem upset," Robin noted, "Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

"Not now Robin," Ricky answered, "Let's get some information and get out of this damn town."

"I think we passed a promising bar before," Robin recalled, "Perhaps we could try there."

**-x-**

**TONK! TONK! TONK! TONK! **

Back at the Going Merry, Usopp and Chopper were down on the dock repairing some of the holes that had been made in the side of their beloved ship during the escape from Alabasta.

"Board!" Usopp requested.

"Board!" Chopper exclaimed as he handed one over.

**TONK! TONK! TONK! TONK!**

"Board!" Usopp called out again.

"Board!" Chopper chirped as he handed over another one.

**TONK! TONK! TONK! TONK!**

"Board!" Usopp said again.

"Board!" Chopper replied as he handed over another board.

Despite all the repetition they didn't lose enthusiasm and kept working. The sound of Usopp's hammer was the only noise to be heard in the mostly quiet harbor.

**TUNK! **Usopp missed the nail and brought the hammer down on his finger. "GAAAAAHHH!"

"Boarrr…" Chopper trailed off in handing over another board when he saw Usopp staring watery-eyed at his bright red finger. "Oh."

"Seriously, I know I say this all the time," Usopp admitted, "but one thing I am not, is a ship repairman."

"But you're really good at doing this sort of thing, Usopp," Chopper reassured him.

"I know!" Usopp boasted. "It's quite amazing! I'm incredibly versatile!"

"I say we trash this and buy a new ship instead," Sanji suggested from up on the deck where he'd been watching them.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Usopp screamed at him. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WE GOT OUR HANDS _ON _THIS SHIP?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it a thousand times," Sanji replied, "It was given to you by the most gorgeous girl in your village, right? WHO CARES! It's just plain dangerous to keep relying on a ship in this condition!"

"THAT'S WHY I'M REPAIRING IT, IDIOT!" Usopp snapped. "NOW GET DOWN HERE AND GIVE US A HAND!"

"Repairs, huh?" Sanji questioned as he eyed the boards that covered the majority of the ship's side and a lot of the interior railings as well. There was also the metal plates wrapped around the main mast keeping it on and the figure head and the whipstaff had both been broken off and repaired at one point. It was true, the Going Merry had seen better days. "It won't hold."

"SHUT UP!" Usopp shrieked, his eyes bugged out, his lips puckered, and his body arched like a spastic dolphin standing on its tail.

"That face is hilarious Usopp!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Oh, you mean this one?" Usopp asked, slipping back into his usual silly demeanor as he spun around and struck the same pose, "SHUT UP!"

"TEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" Chopper laughed hysterically.

"What a couple of idiots," Sanji grumbled, "Hey, do you guys have any ideas about dinner?"

"SHUUT UUP!" Usopp and Chopper cried as they both struck Usopp's silly pose.

"Fine, no food for you," Sanji decided.

"NOOO!" Usopp wailed, "WE STILL WANNA EAT!"

"I'm gonna check how that seagull soup is doing," Sanji stated as he headed back for the galley, "I wonder if I could use the feathers as a garnish… that could be interesting. I just hope Ricky and Miss. Robin come back with the food I requeste—" Sanji trailed off when he spotted a ship sailing passed off the side of the ship.

**TWEEE! "SALVAGE!" KRASH! "SALVAGE THE SEA!" TWEEE! "SALVAGE!" KRASH! "SALVAGE THE SEA!"**

It appeared that the Masira Pirates had managed to both find their lost Captain and make it back to Jaya without the use of the Eternal Pose that Robin had stolen.

**TWEEE! "SALVAGE!" KRASH! "SALVAGE THE SEA!" TWEEE! "SALVAGE!" KRASH! "SALVAGE THE SEA!"**

"Huh, there's something strange about that ship," Sanji remarked, having never actually taken Masira's salvage ship into consideration when he and Zoro had escaped from the turtle's mouth.

Usopp and Chopper on the other hand, paled and gaped in shock, "WE KNOW THAT SONG!"

**-x-**

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami slowly approached the Going Merry. Nami was inwardly seething about what happened at the bar and let out a low growl as she glared at her blood-covered companions.

"GAAAH!" Usopp shrieked in surprise when he saw them approaching, "LUFFY! ZORO! WHAT HAPPENED? WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING?"

"MISS. NAMI!" Sanji greeted her, quickly dismissing the bloody captain and swordsman. "Oh no! Are you alright?"

"DOOCTOOR!" Chopper wailed.

"_YOU'RE_ THE DOCTOR!" Usopp reminded him. "GO CHECK THEM OUT ALREADY!"

"Right," Chopper agreed. The other three boarded the ship and Chopper began checking Luffy and Zoro's injuries.

"So… what happened to you guys?" Usopp inquired. "It looks like you were mauled by a pack of rapid wolves!"

"It was pirates," Luffy answered, Chopper had put a bandage over the still-bleeding gash on his face and was wrapped another one around his wrist. "But we're okay. Just some scratches."

"Yup," Zoro said, as he leaned casually back against the railing. Most of his injuries had healed.

"You guys seem to be okay with everything… but I'm not…" Nami growled from where she was sitting on the deck facing away from them. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU TWO? YOU ARE MEN, RIGHT? WHEN SOMEONE PROVOKES YOU THE ONLY LOGICAL RESPONSE WOULD BE TO PUMMEL THEIR FACES AND WIPE UP THE BLOOD WITH THEIR FRAG SPACES! OR BETTER YET, YOU SHOULD'VE JUST BLOWN UP THE ENTIRE ANNOYING TOWN!"

Zoro sweat-dropped at Nami's anger, "What happened to all that pacifist talk?" he wondered.

"GRAH!" Nami snarled as she turned to face him so she could take her frustrations out on him. "SHUT UP ZORO! PAST IS PAST! WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT ANCIENT HISTORY HERE!"

"Why is she in such a bad mood?" Usopp questioned, "She didn't get a single scratch on her."

"Beats me," Luffy answered, "maybe it's because she got in that bar fight."

"Oh yeah!" Chopper chirped, "Did you get any information on Sky Island?"

Everything suddenly got dark as Nami suddenly turned her attention on him.

"Sky… Island…" Nami growled.

"AAAAHHH!" Chopper shrieked in terror.

"DOES IT EVEN MATTER ANYMORE?" Nami snapped. "All I did was say the words 'Sky Island' and they all laughed at me! WHAT THE HECK WAS SO FUNNY ABOUT ME SAYING THAT?" She turned back around and grumbled to herself, BUNCHA JERKS!"

Behind her, Usopp was playing dead in a puddle of ketchup blood and Chopper had eaten a Rumble Ball so he could go into Guard Point and protect himself from Nami's rage.

"Ketchup Star…" Usopp gasped.

"Guard Point…" Chopper cried.

"**Oh, it looks like we missed some excitement here," **Robin noted as she boarded the ship with Ricky walking up the ramp behind her. They were both were weighed down by their numerous purchases in town. "How's everyone doing?"

"Looks like Nami's freaking out," Ricky noted, "Told you."

"MISS. ROBIN!" Sanji cried out in greeting from the front deck with Luffy, "WELCOME BACK MY LOVE!"

Ricky and Robin boarded the ship and eyed the still fuming Nami with concern.

"Has she been like that long?" Ricky inquired.

"Ever since she got back," Sanji reported.

"I don't wanna go near her when she's in that state," Usopp confessed as he scrambled up onto the front deck and hid behind Luffy and Sanji. Meanwhile, Chopper was hiding behind Zoro on the main deck where Nami was still raging.

"You did say that you'd probably have to calm her down when you got back, Mr. One Eye," Robin reminded Ricky.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Ricky realized. He climbed up the stairs and slipped the refrigerator box off of his back and set it down outside the galley for Sanji. "There's a keypad combination lock on the door and all the food is stashed inside. It's made of hard steel and we also discovered that it's bulletproof."

"How'd you manage that?" Sanji inquired.

"Some freak shot me but hit the fridge instead," Ricky explained, "He claimed he just 'fired his gun' but whatever. I'm over it."

"We're still not sure if it will withstand the Captain though." Robin admitted.

"I'll try smashing it!" Luffy offered.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sanji scolded him.

"Right, I guess I'll bite the bullet on this one and deal with Nami," Ricky resolved. He handed his snail box off to Robin and armed with just a lone shopping back he bravely strode across the deck towards Nami.

"I'll always remember you Ricky!" Usopp practically cried as he wiped a tear from his eyes, "whenever I tell people about this, I'll say you died with honor."

"He's heading right into a storm," Zoro noted while Chopper 'peeked' out behind him.

"Big Brother's so brave!" Chopper gushed, "He's facing off against her all alone… Maybe we should give him back up?"

"I'm not going in there," Zoro refused.

"Hey Nami…" Ricky greeted the fuming navigator.

Nami whirled around in search of someone else to vent her frustrations on. **Beep-beep-beep! **Target acquired! "YOOUU!" Nami snarled. He probably just imagined the aura of flames that flared up behind her. "THIS IS ALL _YOUR _FAULT! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT GOT US STARTED ON THIS STUPID SKY ISLAND THING! AS IF THIS FREAK-FILLED TOWN ISN'T ENOUGH! I TRIED ASKING FOR SOME INFORMATION AND THE WHOLE BAR LAUGHED AT ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HUMILIATING THAT WAS?"

"Now you know why I hate this town," Ricky stated as he calmly cleaned out his ear with his finger.

"THEN YOU SHOULD'VE SAID SOMETHING!" Nami yelled. "THOSE JERKS TREATED US LIKE WE WERE TRASH AND LAUGHED AT ME LIKE I WAS AN IDIOT!"

"I did say something," Ricky replied, "I warned Luffy and Zoro that the town was filled with assholes and told Luffy not to bother fighting anyone."

"THEN _THAT'S _YOUR FAULT _TOO_!" Nami shouted. "THOSE TWO IDIOTS JUST STOOD THERE AND LET THEMSELVES GET BEATEN UP! IT WAS PATHETIC! WHAT KIND OF MAN DOESN'T FIGHT BACK WHEN SOMEONE ATTACKS HIM? WHAT KIND OF MAN _ENCOURAGES _ANOTHER MAN TO DO THAT? _I _GOT IN A BAR FIGHT WITH SOME SKANK BECAUSE _I _WAS THE ONLY ONE WITH THE BALLS TO FIGHT BACK! AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY! I'M JUST A GIRL!"

"I'm still waiting for conformation on that," Zoro muttered.

"She's a real female," Chopper confirmed, "I gave her a physical while Doctorine was looking after her back at Drum Kingdom."

"I was leaning more towards some kind of demon," Zoro admitted, "Or maybe the poor thing's trapped inside her."

With the way Nami was raging right now, she looked ready to spit fire. So Chopper could understand the demon comparison. "But then why does Big Brother like her?" he asked.

"Maybe he enjoys the abuse," Zoro suggested.

"YOU TWO SHUT UP!" Nami snapped.

"Nami," Ricky called out, bravely drawing her attention back to him. "There's no point in fighting people like them. They're dead-set in their beliefs and have forgotten how to dream. They look down on people like us for daring to believe that there's something more to life that what we're given. Really we should be looking down on them, or at least feel sorry for them."

"YEAH, THIS COMING FROM THE _ATHIEST_!" Nami retorted.

"That's not the point," Ricky told her, "Of course they laughed at you when you mentioned the Sky Island. They're so closed-minded that they could never believe in something so incredible. To them, people would have to be crazy to think that something like that could possibly exist. They're all cowards that don't dare to dream anymore so they focus on making themselves look impressive on this tiny island in the Grand Line. _They're_ the losers, so why would you care what they think of you? You didn't care when you thought your whole village saw you as a treacherous witch. And you grew up with those people. Now you're suddenly concerned about what some cowards in a bar think of you? Come on Nami, you're better than that."

Nami glared at him and folded her arms across her chest. "I can handle being a witch. I don't like looking foolish. That Bellamy jerk said it was just a Knock-Up Stream that sent the ships flying up into the air. He thinks we're idiots for thinking it actually fell from an ocean in the sky. He said that people like us make the _real _pirates like him look like fools."

"I think its working!" Usopp whispered to Luffy, Sanji, and Robin.

"He wasn't there when the ship almost fell on us," Ricky reminded her, "Robin, when was the St. Briss launched?"

"Two hundred and eight years ago," the archeologist answered. "It was said to disappear only a few years later."

"There's your proof," Ricky said, "How could a stream of water blast a ship that size up into the air and keep it there for two centuries? The real pirates are the ones like Gold Roger that sail the seas in search of incredible adventure and treasures that no one had ever heard of before. That Bellamy guy isn't a real pirate, and he's not even all that strong. Chopper could beat him easy."

"Really?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"Of course," Ricky told him, "You're ten times the pirate Bellamy is and you only became one a couple weeks ago." Ricky turned back to Nami who had been progressively calmed down by Ricky's rationality. Now she was mostly back to normal. "Besides, the only reason no one's set Bellamy straight yet is because he works for one of the Seven Warlords."

"OOH! ANOTHER WARLORD!" Luffy cheered, "As long as he's better than that Bellamy guy I'll kick his ass like Crocodile."

"Hey, between Crocodile and Mihawk you, Ricky and Moss Ball all got to fight a Warlord already," Sanji protested, "I wanna chance to fight one."

"Well this one's a real nasty guy named Donquixote Doflamingo," Ricky explained, "He sponsors the Bellamy Pirates as well as a Slave Auction House. And back when he was a pirate with an active bounty it was an incredible three hundred forty million berries."

"THREE HUNDRED FORTY MILLION!" Usopp and Chopper exclaimed.

"THAT'S FOUR TIMES CROCODILE'S!" Nami shrieked. She was back to screaming again but now it was for a different reason.

"Isn't that was you said about Crocodile in comparison to Arlong?" Ricky inquired. "I've never met the guy though so I have no idea what he looks like."

"Crocodile has," Robin recounted thinking back to her time as the former warlord's partner, "he has some kind of grudge against him. I remember him once saying that Doflamingo was a 'flamboyant bastard that never took anything seriously'."

"Then let's just get out of this stupid place," Nami decided, "We can't get any information here and I don't wanna mess with another warlord."

"But Robin and I _did _get some information," Ricky informed her.

Nami blinked owlishly. "You did?"

"Yeah," Ricky confirmed, "That was the plan all along. Robin and I were going to get supplies and information while Luffy and Zoro went out to explore. We didn't get any actual information on the Sky Island but we _did_ learn about a man who might know something about it." Ricky reached down into his bottom right pocket and pulled out a map. He unrolled it and showed it to Nami. "This is a map of Jaya, we're here on the west coast in Mock Town, we need to travel along the island to the northern shore and find a man named Montblanc Cricket. Apparently, he was exiled from Mock Town because he couldn't fit in. Everyone on the island thinks he's crazy because he talked about dreams."

"Crazy?" Nami repeated uncertainly.

"Usopp, what's my 'Ask the Creepy Outcast' Policy?" Ricky questioned.

Usopp thought back to when he went shopping with Ricky in Loguetown. "Normal people don't know about legendary treasures and call the people looking for them crazy. To get information about something legendary you have to ask a fellow crazy person."

"Basically, if I wanted to find information on a legendary treasure on or near Commi Island I'd use my Ask the Creepy Outcast Policy and ask you," Ricky explained.

"Did you just call me creepy?" Nami challenged him.

"No, I called you an outcast," Ricky corrected her, "Although, maybe your sister would be a better person to ask for information. You'd probably lie to me."

"Now you're calling _my sister_ creepy?" Nami persisted.

"Can we get off the 'creepy' please?" Ricky requested, "The point is, we need to go and see this Montblanc Cricket guy. I'm also guessing he's the friend that the monkey mentioned."

"RIGHT!" Luffy cheered. "LET'S FIND THE CREEPY GUY!"

"Hold on," Robin advised, "The show's not over yet."

"Oh right," Ricky realized as he held up the shopping bag, "I got you a present."

Nami blinked, "You got me…"

"An 'I'm Sorry' Present," Ricky finished for her.

"But… you didn't do anything…" Nami reminded him, "I was the one who…"

"I know," Ricky admitted, "But I was told that making the first effort shows I care."

Nami blinked again. Then stared passed Ricky at Robin who winked at the other girl causing her to break out into a smile.

"So, what did you get me?" Nami inquired.

Ricky pulled a box out of the shopping bag and flipped it opened to reveal the black high heeled boots that were packed inside. They were both sleek and sturdy and were made so you could go for a hike and still look good doing it.

"I know you usually wear sandals and have your own signature style," Ricky stated, "But you've been in the Grand Line long enough now to know there are all kinds of crazy environments. I thought these would be useful to have for some of the tougher environments. Robin assures me they're both fashionable and functional."

"Oh Ricky," she sighed as pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry, I know I've been acting crazy lately. Thanks for sticking with me through it all." Nami turned her head and quickly pecked Ricky on the corner of his mouth resulting in kiss that was half on the lips and half on the cheek. Then she turned her head back and said in a stage whisper, "I would've done more but our audience is staring so intently it's starting to make me uncomfortable."

Ricky looked away from Nami and glanced around the deck at the other watching them.

"Uh, I was just getting ready to set up this new fridge," Sanji announced as he grabbed the large box and carried it towards the galley.

"And I was going to put my new clothes away," Robin quickly added as she headed for the storage room.

"If we're gonna find that Cricket Creep we'll have to get the ship ready to cast off," Zoro realized as he headed for the anchor room.

"Let us help too!" Usopp and Chopper quickly volunteered as they dashed after him.

"Where're all you guys going?" Luffy wondered, "Weren't we all watching Ricky and Nami?"

"Uggh, just go with them," Ricky groaned. Luffy shrugged and followed the others into the anchor room.

"Well they sure cleared out fast," Nami observed.

"Nah, they're just listening at the doors," Ricky informed her. **Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! **The galley, storage room, and anchor room doors all promptly closed. "Okay, now they're gone."

Nami grinned and quickly leaned in and planted a brief kiss on his lips then pulled back. "Thanks for cooling me down. Today was… a really bad day. You let me vent, then you used your usual calm rationality to make me realize that I was being silly. That's why I like you. You're always there for me and you're always doing whatever you need to do to make me feel better. And that's why I want this to work out. So let's just take things slow and not get too carried away. If we screw up we're still stuck on the same crew and it'll no doubt be really awkward."

"Alright," Ricky agreed.

"And would it kill you to show some initiative?" Nami asked. "What kind of pirate are you?"

"I wanted you to feel comfortable," Ricky told her. "After all you've been through, I don't want to force you into anything."

"Ricky, it'd be near impossible for you to find something you'd need to force me into," Nami informed him, "And if you did, I think we both know that I wouldn't hesitate to stop you."

"Fine then," Ricky resolved, "How's this?" He quickly pulled her to him and soundly kissed her, she eagerly kissed back but then he pulled away before it got too heated.

"That's better," Nami commented, slightly red-faced. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got the feeling that I have a few things to thank Robin for."

"And I should probably help Sanji with the lock," Ricky reasoned.

Nami smiled as she took the shopping bag with her new shoes from him but paused briefly to squeeze his hand. "Thanks again."

And as they parted ways, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper finally pulled their ears off of the anchor room door.

"Who gets someone _shoes_ as a present?" Luffy complained, "He should've gotten her meat."

"He _did _get meat," Zoro reminded him, "It's stashed in the fridge."

"OOOH!" Luffy cheered. **WHUP! **Zoro yanked him back by the scruff of his neck.

"Don't even think about it!" Zoro scolded him, "You're the reason we had to get a new one."

"So are they together _now_?" Chopper questioned.

"They never actually said it," Usopp admitted, "And no one has 'Thwarted Tantrum followed by Ricky giving her an 'I'm Sorry Present' in the pool. Let's wait until there's more proof."

"Something tells me they're about to get even more unbearable," Zoro grumbled. "Now are you three gonna help me with the anchor or not?"

**-x-**

But as the Going Merry cast off and the Straw Hats prepared for their journey along Jaya's coast, none of them realized that there was a pirate ship outside the harbor blocking their path.

**-x-**

Next Chapter, the Straw Hats look to continue their search for Montblanc Cricket but first they have a run in with Shoujou the King of Undersea Search.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	10. Shoujou the King of Undersea Search

**Another Nakama III**

"Why're we here again?" Luffy asked as he and Ricky made their way into a temple.

"Because this is where the map led us," Ricky answered, "Now be careful. Last time I did this, there were booby-traps all over the place."

**Click!** As if on cue, the stone tile Luffy had just stepped on sank down. **CHOOOM! **The floor gave way and Luffy and Ricky found themselves standing on thin air as the stone tiled floor that ran the length of the entire hallway dropped down into a seemingly bottomless pit below them.

"Damn," Ricky cursed.

"Oops, my bad," Luffy apologized. **SHOOO! **Both Luffy and Ricky dropped downward, following after the booby-trapped stone floor. Luffy acted quickly, with one arm he grabbed Ricky while he stretched out the other and grabbed onto the frame of the doorway at the end of the now floor-less hall. "GUUUM… GUUUM… ROOCKEEET!" **SHOOOOM! **Luffy's arm retracted and they went flying out of the pit and down the hallway.

"Nice catch," Ricky remarked.

"Thanks," Luffy replied.

"Hey, is it just me… or is the hallway getting smaller?" Ricky asked as he eyed the hallway they were flying towards.

Luffy took a look himself and his eyes bugged out in shock, "GAAH! THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN!" he exclaimed.

They reached the opening of the next hallway, Luffy released his hold on the door frame and let their momentum carry them down the hall. But as they flew down it they suddenly realized that it was a lot longer than it first appeared.

"At the rate we're going we won't make it through before the walls close," Ricky realized. "We've gotta go faster."

"If I grab onto something to give us more speed I'll just end up slowing us down," Luffy stated, "this is as fast as I can go right now."

"Fine then, hold onto me," Ricky instructed. Luffy's arms hooked around Ricky's stomach from up above him while Ricky pulled up his eye patch and exposed the Eye of the Devil. He stretched his arms out towards the walls – which had narrowed to being twice as wide as they were – and shot his arms backwards. **SHOOM! **With an added burst of speed they were launched down the hallway.

"I see a light at the end of the tunnel!" Luffy observed.

"Normally, I'd say to stay away from it," Ricky told him, "but in this case, that's _very _good." **SHOOM! **Ricky snapped his arms back again and gave them another boost of speed as they reached the end of the hallway. The walls had closed to the point where Ricky's arms brushed against them as they sped past.

They were baring down on the opening. It would be a tight squeeze. **WHUP! **Luffy gave Ricky a hard shove and threw him the rest of the way out of the hallway. Ricky went flying out and tumbled along a stone floor as the walls slammed closed. **THOOOOM!**

"Phew," Ricky sighed in relief as he pulled down his eye patch. "That was a close one."

"Uh… Ricky…" Luffy called out from behind him. "We've gotta problem."

Ricky turned around and his eye widened in surprise when he spotted Luffy's top half hanging out of the closed hallway with his legs squished in between the walls behind him.

Ricky shook his head as he made his way over to Luffy, "I've lost count of how many times your rubber body has saved your life," he commented as he grabbed one of Luffy's arms and started pulling. Luffy's body stretched but his legs stayed put.

"I don't think this is working," Luffy said as Ricky kept walking backwards and stretching his body away from the walls the rest of him was squished between. **Whap! **Ricky let go of Luffy and he went flying back to the wall and slammed into it, **WHAM!** **Krek-krek-krek… **The walls cracked slightly but remained closed around Luffy's lower half.

A sly grin appeared on Ricky's face, "Don't worry, I've got an idea," he assured Luffy. He took a couple steps back then launched himself feet- first at the wall. "Flying… ARROW KICK!" **KRESH! **The steel bottoms of Ricky's boots slammed into the walls and smashed through them. **TMP! TMP!** Ricky dropped to the ground and Luffy landed next to him.

They got back up and took a moment to dust themselves off before taking a good look at the room they were now in. In the middle of it was a short pedestal with a treasure chest on top of it.

"Is that it?" Luffy asked.

"Looks like it," Ricky said. They made their way into the room. **Click! **"Oh no."

**CHOOOM! **Luffy and Ricky watched as the circle of stone floor that the chest's pedestal was on top of rose up into the air until it towered overhead at a twenty-foot tall five-foot wide column. Facing them on the front of the column was a ten foot tall statue. It looked like an armored man with a warrior-like build with the exception of its pointed beak and glowing white eyes. It was wielding a battle hammer and looked positively vicious.

"Well that wasn't so bad," Luffy commented.

**TMP! TMP! **The statue took two heavy steps towards them and raised his battle hammer high overhead in a threatening manner.

"It just got worse," Ricky pointed out. Without even looking at each other, he and Luffy held one hand out to their side and shook them. Ricky's paper covered Luffy's rock. "It's all yours."

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he charged forward to meet the statue, "I guess I _did _win!"

**THOOOOM!** Luffy leapt out of the way as the statue brought its hammer down and smashed the floor then lashed out and punched it in the face. "GUM… GUM… PISTOL!" **KA-POW!** The statue flew across the room and smashed into a wall. **KRASH! **

"That was easy," Luffy remarked.

**TMP! TMP! **The statue pushed off of the wall and stomped towards Luffy showing no ill-effects of Luffy's punch or smashing into the wall.

"And now it just got harder," Ricky corrected him. "Have fun. I'm gonna get the chest."

Luffy charged off to face the statue while Ricky ran over to the column and started climbing it.

**Whup-whup-whup-whup! **Luffy twisted his arms together while the statue reared back and lashed out again with its battle hammer. **THOOOM! **Luffy jumped out of the way and the statue's hammer slammed into the empty floor. **WHAP! **Luffy grabbed onto the front of the statue before it could react and spun around, "GUUUM… GUUUM… HAAMMEEER!" Luffy's arms unwound as he yanked the spinning statue off of the ground and pulled it over his shoulder before slamming it down into the floor. **KA-ROOOOSSHHH! **The hard impact with the floor caused the statue to crumble and break into large chunks of unmoving stone.

Meanwhile, on top of the column, Ricky had just finished picking the lock on the treasure chest. He lifted the lid and pulled out the golden tablet that was inside. He turned it around and it read:

'This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.'

**SHOO-TMP! **Luffy landed on the column behind him, "I smashed the statue," he announced, "What's that?"

"A disclaimer," Ricky answered.

"What's it do?" Luffy inquired.

"It keeps us from getting sued."

"Huh?"

**-x-**

**Shoujou the King of Undersea Search:**

**-x-**

"Hey, why's this map look like a mouth?" Luffy asked. The Straw Hats had set off and were starting their journey around Jaya to find Montblanc Cricket. Luffy was currently studying the map that Ricky and Robin had brought back from their trip in Mock Town.

"That's because you're holding it wrong," Ricky corrected him. He took the map and turned it the right way so the island of Jaya looked like a very rough and jagged 'U'. "See, we just came from Mock Town on the west side which is here on the left. We have to go around the side to the north, go passed the opening to Mouth Bay, and then down the other side to the corner here. The 'x' marks Cricket's house."

"Wait, didn't you say that the place we were going was on the north side of the island?" Nami asked from nearby.

"North, north-east corner, close enough," Ricky replied.

"There's a HUGE difference!" Nami insisted as she stomped over and yanked the map away from them. "If we were going to someplace on the northern shore we'd be going to one of these two towns that are situated on opposite sides of the entrance to Mouth Bay. The 'X' is clearly on the east side of the island."

"And that's why I'm not the navigator," Ricky stated. Nami gave him an annoyed glare. "What? I'm not perfect. Sometimes I make mistakes. Just be thankful that I don't make them in life-or-death situations where it really counts."

"**Oi Ricky!" **Sanji stuck his head out of the galley door and called out. "I've got the fridge hooked up. Since you paid for all the food, I thought you'd like to be present when I decided on the combination."

"Alright," Ricky agreed he grabbed Nami's hand and let her toward the galley before going in he called out to the others that were on deck. "If you guys want to keep a steady supply of food, I'd suggest keeping Luffy away from the galley for the next few minutes."

Ricky and Nami disappeared into the galley and Luffy glanced after them upon hearing the word 'food'. But he suddenly found three obstacles in his path in the form of Zoro with all three swords drawn, Chopper in Weight Point, and Usopp with the dreaded Rubber Band of Doom.

"Most Captains would consider this mutiny," Luffy complained.

"Most Captains wouldn't eat all the food and make their crew risk starving," Zoro retorted.

**-x-**

Off the shore of Jaya, a pirate ship was floating in the middle of the open water.

"Captain, all undersea operations are operational!" a man reported, "Microphone ready!"

"Excellent!" the Captain replied, "Initiate the Search Sonar!" The Captain raised a microphone and proceeded to yell into it. "WOOOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Under the surface, the Captain's yell flowed out of a super-sized microphone and spread a series of sound waves through the water around him. **"WOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**

A bunch of the Captain's men were outfitted in wetsuits and had long lines leading to them from the ship as they held their hands to their ears.

**WOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAA!**

The sound waves from the Captain's voice bounced off of rocks and a passing by school of fish then returned to the Captain's men and told them exactly what was in the water around them.

**SPLOOSH!** One of the men shot up out of the water and called out their findings to the crew up on the ship. "This is Depth Com Diver Number Twenty Seven!" he called out, "Sonar response confirmed! We've got a school of fish at nine o' clock! Judging from their speed, we're looking at swordfish!

"Yeah! Time for a fish fry!" the Captain cheered.

**SPLOOSH! **Another diver shot up out of the water and raised his hand up. "Diver Number Four Here!" he announced. "We have a sonar response confirmed! A small sailing vessel has been detected on the surface!"

"Excuse me? A vessel?" the Captain questioned. "Determine the exact direction its traveling!"

"It's dead ahead sir!" Diver Four responded as he stared off in a distance at the Going Merry. "Twelve o' clock!"

"IT'S ALREADY CLOSE ENOUGH FOR VISUAL CONTACT?" the Captain shrieked.** THONK! **He threw a barrel which hit Diver Four on the head. "Cancel the search and return to the ship at once!"

"Oooo-oooo-oooo…" the divers made monkey noises as the came out of the water and climbed up rope ladders to hatches in the ship's hull. They quickly slipped inside and shut the doors behind them. **THUD! THUD! THUD!**

**-x-**

The Going Merry got closer and the Straw Hats spotted the pirate ship bobbing in their path.

"It didn't take us long to run into something weird," Luffy remarked as he, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper stood on the front deck. The latter two were hiding behind the swordsman. "Do you think it's the same salvage boat from before?"

"Nah," Zoro replied, "It might look like a similar ship but it's not Masira's group."

"Yeah cause Chopper and I saw those guys," Usopp informed them, "Right?"

"Right," Chopper agreed, "We saw them docking. Turns out they dock at Mock Town. The same as most ship in these waters. They're greedy slime just like all the others."

"Those guys had better hope we don't run into them again," Luffy growled, while Zoro and Sanji had been the ones to send Masira packing, he was perfectly willing to if they ran into him again.

The new salvage ship was certainly similar to Masira's as it had a monkey theme. The figurehead on the sternpost was a monkey head and there were multiple big leafy trees planted on the deck. There were doors carved into high points of the hull and a the railing was designed to look like rope. The ship sported three large sails to on opposite sides of the rear of the boat and the main one in the front. A Jolly Roger was painted on the front sail and had a monkey's face for the skull with normal crossbones. The word 'MORINOHITO' was painted on the sail.

"HEY! HEY!" the Captain shouted. "SHUT YOUR TRAPS AND PAY ATTENTION!" The Captain was a large man with a round monkey-like face. Although he looked more like an orangutan than a monkey. He had extremely long green hair and a short green beard on his round chin. His arms were extra-long and almost touched the ground, he had a large round belly, and relatively short legs. His chest and arms were covered in body hair which was plainly visible through the gaping holes in his black button up shirt which was obviously too small. He wore a fancy green Captain's coat and actually had his arms in the sleeves, burgundy pants and a gold belt with the kanji for 'Forest' on it.

His name was 'Sonar King' Shoujou . He was the self-proclaimed King of Undersea Search and had an active bounty of 36,000,000 berries.

"Hmph," Shoujou grunted. "Could you believe I actually got all worked up wondering who you people were?"

"…" the Straw Hats stared blankly.

"Your face looks weird!" Luffy blurted out. "What species are you?"

"I'M HUMAN MORON!" Shoujou yelled.

"Are you telling us you don't know who Shoujou is?" one of Shoujou's divers snapped. "He's only the Captain of the Shoujou Pirates and the world's leader in undersea search!"

"I wouldn't make our boss angry if I were you!" another diver warned them.

"Now, now, hold on," Shoujou scolded his men before he turned to the Straw Hats. "It looks like we're in the same profession. Are you aware that Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was defeated recently? When you consider my dominating abilities that open spot is as good as mine! I've been doing my best to stay patient but the anticipation has gotten the best of me."

"So your goal is to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?" Luffy asked. "Are you really that strong?"

"I doubt it," Zoro dead-panned.

"You guys are obviously not a threat to me," Shoujou stated, "So let's get to know each other personally. Did you know I haven't had my hair cut in my entire life? That's over twenty-five years!" Shoujou's long green hair fell to the deck of his ship and trailed a little bit behind him. "You're impressed, and jealous, admit it!"

"That's lame!" Luffy replied.

"GAH!" Shoujou gasped. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"Watch your mouth kid!" one of the divers growled.

"Settle down my faithful divers," Shoujou instructed. "I'm not gonna let these foul mouthed little punks get away with insulting me. Take this to heart! Sail through the tunnel that is my rage and you'll be met by a sea of blood from which you'll never escape!"

"Yeah, whatever," Luffy said, "Move aside. We have places to go and people to meet."

"YOU JUST DON'T GET IT, DO YOU?" Shoujou shouted. "THIS IS MY TURF! AND IF YOU WANNA PASS YOU EITHER PAY TO TOLL OR GET SUNK! GOT IT?"

"What's this guy mean by his turf?" Usopp wondered as he hid behind Chopper. "He's starting to sound like our old friend Masira."

"Huh? Masira said stuff like that?" Luffy asked not bothering to keep his voice down.

"Masira?" Shoujou repeated. "What about Masira?"

"If you must know, my crew kicked his butt off of our boat," Luffy answered. "You didn't think that…"

"YOU WHAAAT?" Shoujou roared. "KICKED HIM? NOOOOO!"

"Easy boss!" Shoujou's men attempted to calm him down.

"HOW DARE YOU LAY A HAND ON MY BROTHER!" Shoujou screamed. "MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD!"

"Hey, we kicked him off our boat but I bet he's alive," Luffy reassured him.

"WAAAH!" Shoujou shrieked as he raised his microphone. "HAVOC SONAR!" He took a deep breath then yelled into it, "WOOOOOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A sound wave spread out from Shoujou's microphone and slowly spread out until it enveloped his entire **ship**. **Krek… krek… KRESH! KRESH! **The sound wave caused some of the wooden boards in the floor of the Shoujou's ship to shatter and break. One unfortunate man was sent flying when the floor he'd been standing on exploded upward.

**"WOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**

"THE SHIP!" Luffy exclaimed.

"What are they doing?" Zoro wondered as he stood next to Luffy on the front deck. He took his hands off of his swords and watched in surprise as Shoujou's attack destroyed his own ship.

"Who knows," Luffy replied, "But it's amazing! He's destroying his own ship with his voice!"

Ricky, Nami and Sanji heard Shoujou's wails and came rushing out of the galley and stared at the 'attacking' ship.

"Are we under attack?" Ricky questioned.

"I'LL PROTECT YOU MISS. NAMI!" Sanji vowed.

"Then get back to work!" Nami instructed. "Let's use whatever they're doing to our advantage and put some distance between us and them!"

"GREAT IDEA MISS. NAMI!" Sanji sang as he pranced off.

"And she's back to barking out orders," Zoro complained.

"At least she's not a demon anymore," Chopper supplied.

"Good thing we have Ricky around for her to scream at," Usopp commented. "With all she yelled at him, I'd hope that she'd be at least a little calmer."

None-the-less Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper turned around on the front deck and made to get to work but that was when the sound waves from Shoujou's voice reached the Going Merry.

**WOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! **The waves of sound washed over the Going Merry and it started breaking apart like Shoujou's ship. **KREK! KRESH! KRESH! KRESH! **But unlike Shoujou's ship which had started off in good condition, the Going Merry was barreling holding together with Usopp's sloppy repairs.

"LUFFY! WE'VE GOT TROUBLE!" Usopp shouted as he stopped down on a board in the deck as it came loose. **WHOMP! **"This isn't good! The waves are moving faster than I thought! THE SHIP'S STARTING TO BREAK APART RIGHT WHERE I MADE ALL THOSE REPAIRS! SHE'S BEAT UP ENOUGH ALREADY! IF WE STAY HERE ANY LONGER WE'LL START TAKING ON WATER!"

**WOOOOOOOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**

"FULL SPEED AHEAD!" Nami frantically ordered. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HIS VOICE'S RANGE!"

"Don't bother," Ricky replied as he looked over the railing at the dark shape that was forming underneath the Going Merry and was steadily getting bigger.

**THOOM! **The Going Merry started shaking and then it suddenly shot up into the air. **SHOOM!**

Shoujou and his crew stared in surprise. In fact he stopped yelling and just gaped in shock as the Going Merry rose hundreds of feet up into the air. The water stopped falling and eventually the Going Merry was left perched on top of Sheldon the Island-sized Sea Turtle's head.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Shoujou and his men screamed in terror. They forgot all about attacking at the sight of the impossibly huge sea turtle. "MOOOOONSTEEEEEEERR!"

"MEEEEEEN! RETREEEEAAAAAAT!" Shoujou bellowed. And in a flash, Shoujou's search ship turned in reverse and sped away from the Going Merry – and the giant turtle – as fast as his crew could make it travel.

"Yay Blastoise!" Luffy cheered.

"Luffy, he's Sheldon!" Ricky and Nami scolded him at the same time. They stopped and stared at each other and Nami broke out into a big smile.

Ricky shook his head and jumped over the railing onto the turtle's head. "Alright Sheldon, take us further along the coast," he instructed before turning back to the ship. "Everyone, hang onto something!" The Straw Hats hung onto the railings and widened their stances as Sheldon started swimming northward.

"Wow, having a giant island-sized turtle lying around is sure convenient," Zoro remarked.

**-x-**

Back in a bar in Mock Town two men were drinking at a table and having an interesting discussion about something that had happened earlier.

"I'm telling you it was the strangest thing," the first man insisted, "This couple walks in, one of them was a gorgeous woman, and I mean she was a knock-out. The other was a man who was walking around carrying a refrigerator on his back. They were travelers of some kind. And they had the attention of everyone from the second they walked in to the second they left…"

**-Ricky and Robin in the Bar Flashback-**

Ricky and Robin walked through the swinging doors of the bar with Ricky a half a step behind Robin. They crossed the room and without a word walked up to the bar. They put down the bags they were carrying and Ricky took off the refrigerator box and dropped it on the ground. **THUD! **The loud noise from the heavy refrigerator hitting the floor not only ensured that they had the attention of the entire bar but also warned the other patrons off by giving an intimidating hint towards Ricky's strength.

The two sat down on stool at the bar and Ricky turned to Robin, "You know, earlier I heard this lunatic talking about the Sky Island," he commented. "Can you believe the things some people can come up with?"

"Fufufu," Robin laughed lightly… as planned. "It sounds like a fairy tale."

"That just shows you how many strange people there are in this world," Ricky replied, "You know, back on my home island there were these three boys who claimed they were going to be pirates and find the One Piece. For years they ran around the island causing trouble as they did their 'pirate training'."

"Well, every island seems to have its own colorful characters," Robin remarked.

"The strangest characters we've got around here are Montblanc Cricket and those monkey brothers," a random man chimed in since Ricky and Robin's conversation had the attention of the entire room.

Ricky and Robin traded a silent glance before Ricky turned to the man, "Who?"

"Montblanc Cricket," the man repeated, "He used to live in this town. He and those two monkey brothers patrol the waters around the island searching for treasure."

"Treasure huh?" Ricky questioned, "That sounds interesting. Where would I find this 'Cricket' character?"

"He lives on the house on the north-eastern shore of the island," another man answered, "he keeps to himself and is pretty much isolated from the rest of the island."

"Now, pretend I had never been to this island before," Ricky instructed, "How would I go about finding this 'Cricket's' house?"

"Perhaps someone has a map of the island we could use?" Robin suggested.

"I have one," an older man supplied as he pulled out a map.

"Let's see it then," Robin instructed. The man came over and showed Ricky and Robin the map he had of Jaya and then made an 'X' on the north eastern shore.

"Cricket's house is right here," the man explained. "It's right on the shore. You can't miss it."

"Here, for your troubles," Ricky said as he pulled out a handful of coins and gave them to the man then took the map and slipped it in his pocket. He glanced at Robin and nodded and without a word the two of them got off their stools. Ricky put the refrigerator back on his back and they picked up their respective shopping bags. The two of them then headed for the door.

"Wait, didn't you want something to drink?" the bartender asked.

"No," Ricky answered as he and Robin continued to the door, "You've already given us everything we need." And with that they walked out.

"Who were they?" someone wondered.

**-End Flashback-**

"They sound like a pair of characters themselves," the other man commented to the storyteller. "So what did they want with Old Man Cricket?"

"Well the sea around here is the turf of those monkey brothers," the storyteller explained. "I bet you what they're after is Cricket's gold. They seemed to perk up at the mention of it."

"His gold?" the other man questioned.

"I heard they found some recently," the first man replied.

"Oh yeah?" the other man asked. "Where at?"

"**Hey! Guys!" **a loud voice called over from the bar. The two men turned and saw Bellamy drinking at the bar. Sarquiss and a few other members of the Bellamy Pirates were there as well. They'd been there the whole time. One had to wonder if they did anything but cause trouble at different bars all day.

"Bellamy?" one of the men gasped.

"What did you just say about 'gold'?" Bellamy inquired. "This old man that goes by Cricket… I'd like to set up a meeting with him. What do you know of him? Hahaha haaahaahaaa!"

**-x-**

**Noland the Liar:**

**-x-**

"I can't…" **TONK! **"…believe…" **TONK! **"…our luck…" Usopp grumbled as he hammered in some nails in an attempt to repair the damage Shoujou's attack had done to the Going Merry. "Seriously…" **TONK! **"…that orangutan almost sunk us…" **TONK! **"And now it's up to me to fix it all…" **TONK! **"…and keep this thing afloat…" **TONK!**

Chopper stood dutifully nearby holding a pile of boards for Usopp when he needed them.

"Seems to me that this busted old ship is on her last legs," Zoro stated as he casually hammered in the steel plates that were keeping the main mast attached. "We need a new one."

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN CONSIDER REPLACING THIS BOAT!" Usopp shrieked.

"YEAH!" Chopper shrieked too in an attempt to copy Usopp. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"You are aware of the origins of this ship, aren't you?" Usopp growled. "You do know what she's capable of, don't you?"

"YEAH!" Chopper chimed in, "DON'T YOU?"

"We all know the story Usopp," Luffy said from across the deck where he was doing some repairs of his own. "And try not to be so defensive. The Going Merry is an important member of our crew. And we all know we have to take care of her. You shouldn't take everything so personally."

"You're right," Usopp agreed as he fought to hold back tears, it was still true that he had the closest bond with the Going Merry since they'd gotten it from Kaya back at his home island, "I'm sorry!"

**KRASH! **Luffy pounded his hammer and the entire section of boards that'd been 'repairing' broke off and dropped down onto Sheldon's head. "Oops."

"GAAAAAAAHHHH!" Usopp wailed in horror, taking it personally. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING? WE'RE TRYING TO SAVE THE SHIP, NOT SINK IT!"

"Sure thing, I'll fix it," Luffy replied. **KRASH! **"Oops… that didn't work…"

"LUUUFFYYY!" Usopp and Chopper shouted in annoyance. As usual, he was doing more damage than actual repairs.

Highly annoyed, and looking to continue berating somebody, Usopp spotted Ricky and turned to yell at him. "HEY! Why don't you do something useful and control your brother!" he snapped.

Ricky stopped and looked over at Usopp, "You talkin' to me?" he asked.

"Yeah I am!" Usopp insisted, "He's your brother isn't he! CONTROL HIM!"

Ricky looked over at Chopper, "It looks like he's helping you to me," he pointed out.

"YOUR _OTHER_ BROTHER!" Usopp shouted as he pointed at Luffy.

"Oh, him," Ricky realized. "That seems like a hopeless cause."

"Why is it that you're never around when we're trying to fix the ship?" Usopp demanded as he glared at the First Mate. "Even _Zoro's _helping with the repairs!"

"I got us a giant, island-sized turtle for our ship to sail on, didn't I?" Ricky questioned, "And it was that giant turtle that scared off that screaming guy, wasn't it?" Ricky held up the snail box that he was carrying with him. "Now I've come up with a way to keep in contact with Sheldon in case we lose him."

"What's that going to do then?" Usopp asked.

Ricky opened the box and pulled out the spotted yellow transponder snail that he had inside. "This is a special transponder snail," he explained. "The only way to contact it is with this receiver…" Ricky reached into his top left pocket and pulled out a matching yellow receiver. "I'm going to put it in Sheldon's ear and it will give me a direct way of communicating with him no matter where either of us is. What use is having a giant, island-sized moving safe if we lose it the second we get separated? Now I have a way to call Sheldon to us wherever we are. With all the money in Sheldon's stomach we could easily pay a competent shipwright to repair the Going Merry when we reach an island that has one, heck, with all that money we could pay a shipwright to build another ship _around_ this ship. "

Usopp whimpered and wiped tears out of his eyes, "I'm so glad you're our First Mate…"

"I do what I can," Ricky replied, "Do I have your permission to continue, _Captain Usopp_?"

"Yes, of course," Usopp agreed, "Carry on. Keep up the good work."

"HEY, I'M CAPTAIN!" Luffy protested.

"Ricky, don't encourage him," Zoro grumbled.

"YOU TWO GET BACK TO WORK!" Usopp ordered.

"Look what you did!" Zoro grumbled, "Now he's going to act like he actually has authority…"

**-x-**

"We left Mock Town and headed east by circling around the northern shore of the island," Nami recounted as she and Robin looked over the map and checked their progress. "We're supposed to meet that man there… Cricket, right?"

"Yes," Robin confirmed, "Montblanc Cricket."

"And you're sure that he'll be able to help us out, right?" Nami asked.

"Mr. One Eye seems to think so," Robin replied.

Ricky sat on the steps nearby talking into the receiver of his transponder snail, "Okay Sheldon, you're free to do whatever you want now. Go get something to eat, or whatever. Just stay in this general area. I'll call you if we need you."

The Straw Hats had left Sheldon behind further out to sea and now they were sailing towards the shore on the Going Merry.

"WHOOAA!" Luffy and Usopp exclaimed as they stared off the side of the ship. "AMAZING!"

On the shore in front of them was a castle. It was a large white structure that was easily six stories tall. It had three round pink diagonally striped turrets and two that were pointed with yellow and black stripes. There were fancy designs all over it and cannons perched on top of the walls of the top two stories.

"That's where he lives?" Luffy questioned. "It's a freakin' palace!"

"I've never seen a house that big before," Usopp admitted, "This Cricket must be really loaded!"

"Kaya's house seemed bigger," Ricky reminded him. "And the Royal Palace in Alabasta seemed a lot more impressive than that."

"Uggh… look closer," Zoro groaned.

"It's really unattractive," Sanji commented. "The guy's gotta have some serious guts to build a house that ugly."

Chopper stared at the castle and stretched his eyes wider with his hooves, "Hmm? What's that?"

**SKISH! **Luffy leapt off of the Merry and onto the shore then ran around the side of the palace. "WAAAAAAAHHH!" he howled. The palace turned out to only be a wooden cutout. The actual house was very small only two stories tall with only two visible rooms. The house was half as tall as the cutout and a third as wide. "ITS NOT A PALACE AT ALL!"

"WHAAAAAT?" Usopp and Chopper shrieked.

"The actual house is only half that size," Zoro explained, "what you see is a façade… a fake."

**Whap! **Ricky slapped himself on the side of the face, "Stupid lack of depth perception."

"This guy's even more vain than I thought," Sanji remarked.

"Why exactly did Cricket decide to leave his home and come live here?" Nami wondered.

"I don't know all the details," Robin admitted, "but I believe it has something to do with his belief that a large sum of gold lies somewhere in the hills of Jaya."

"Gold?" Usopp repeated.

"Do you think he's here searching for some sort of buried treasure?" Nami questioned.

"Well, I just don't know," Robin confessed.

"GOOOOLD!" Nami squealed. She grabbed Ricky and yanked him out of his seat and practically threw him off the ship and onto the shore. "RICKY! FIND IT! FIND IT!"

Ricky sat up on the grassy shore where he'd landed, "But if he left his home in Mock Town so he could search for treasure out here, shouldn't we leave it for him to find?"

"Don't get noble on me now!" Nami snapped. "You're the Treasure Hunter! Find the treasure!"

"But it's not our treasure to find," Ricky protested. "We're here to get information from this Montblanc Cricket character. I don't think finding and stealing the treasure he's exiled himself in an attempt to find will be a good first impression. Besides, yesterday I found a turtle filled with _billions _of berries worth of treasure. Isn't that enough for now? We're not desperate for money anymore, in fact, with me here we never will be. Can't we just leave this guy's treasure alone?"

"Okay, fine," Nami conceded, "Way to make me out to be the bad guy… Can't we at least find the treasure for him?"

"This treasure obviously means a lot to this Cricket guy if he's cut himself off from the rest of the island to find it," Ricky replied, "Besides, people don't like having their dreams destroyed. Zoro, what would you do if I out-dueled Hawk Eye Mihawk?"

"Anyone who gets in the way of my dream, gets cut down," Zoro answered promptly. "And if you went as far as ruining my dream by beating him, I'd kill you out of principle and send you to personally apologize to Kuina."

"See?" Ricky asked. "People don't like it when you interfere with their dreams. Now let's do what we actually came here do to and get some information."

Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper joined Luffy and Ricky on the shore while Zoro and Robin stayed behind on the ship.

"It must be hard to live alone in such a remote area," Sanji commented as he walked around the side of the house. The area was wide opened with the exception on a lone stump.

"Heeellooooo!" Luffy called out as he opened the door to the house and walked right in.

"DON'T JUST BARGE IN THERE!" Usopp scolded him.

"And to think, my aunt actually tried to teach him manners," Ricky remarked, "Now that was an awful waste of time."

"Huh, looks like nobody's home," Luffy noted as he stepped inside the house and glanced around him. "ANYBODY HERE?" The lower floor of Cricket's house was a large single room. But there was no one inside. "I guess he's gone."

"Get out of there you idiot!" Usopp advised as he peaked his head in the door. "This guy could be dangerous!"

"Hey you guys!" Luffy announced, "Nobody's home!"

"Hmm… what's this?" Nami wondered when she spotted an old book outside on the stump. "A book? And it looks pretty old. It's called 'Noland the Liar'. Hehe!"

"Ahaha! Sounds like it could be good!" the resident liar remarked. "I sure like the title."

"Noland the Liar?" Sanji repeated.

"Yeah, have you heard of it?" Nami asked him. "It says here it was originally published in the North Blue territory."

"It was," Sanji told her, "I was born in the North Blue territory. I'm certain I must have told you guys that."

"No, that's news to me," Usopp replied, "I always thought you were born in the East Blue."

"I grew up there," Sanji explained.

"I've heard of the story but never actually read it," Ricky admitted. "It was referenced in the treasure book as one of the first stories to talk about the Legendary City of Gold. But it doesn't mention the Sky Island at all."

"Read it!" Chopper urged them.

Ricky casually sat down on the grass and Chopper jumped up and perched on his shoulders.

"Where I come from this is a famous story," Sanji informed them, "It's a fairy tale supposedly based on the life of Noland who lived in the North Blue a long time ago."

Nami opened the book and started reading, **"This is a story of ancient origins. The events here-in transpired more than four hundred years ago."** The first page depicted Noland, a round headed man with an chestnut on his head standing on a small ship. She turned to the next page which depicted Noland standing on a pile of logs telling a story to a small group of people. **"There once was a man by the name of Montblanc Noland who lived in the North Blue country-side. Noland, who was an explorer, always regaled the crowds with stories of his incredible exploits but nobody knew whether or not to take Noland's tall tales seriously."**

"Sounds like you Usopp," Ricky said to the sniper who was sitting on the ground next to him.

"Ssshhh!" Usopp hissed at him, "I'm starting to like this story!"

Nami turned to the next page which depicted Noland landing on his cartoonish ship. In front of him was a large castle that looked exactly like the one drawn on the cutout. **"One day, upon returning from yet another adventure he reported to his King all that he had seen." **The next page showed an enthusiastic Noland standing in front of a golden city.** 'I saw a city of gold on an island in the sea' declared the Great Noland'. And the courageous King decided that he must have this treasure for his Kingdom."**

"**The King set out with Noland and two thousand of his finest soldiers. Along the way they endured treacherous storms and battled many ferocious sea creatures." **The next page showed a cartoon King standing on the front of a fancy exploring ship that was twice the size of Nolands and had a grand total of five sails. The brave King was brandishing a sword at the mouth a large green sea monster. **"At the end of their journey, only the King, Noland and one hundred soldiers survived to set foot on the island that housed the City of Gold. And all they found was an ordinary island covered in an ordinary jungle." **This page showed Noland, the King, and a handful of soldiers standing on the sandy shore of a tree-covered island.

"**And so, upon their return Noland was sentenced to death for the crime of lying to his King. His last words were as follows: 'I can only assume that the City of Gold sunk into the sea'." **The picture showed Noland standing alone in a cage, he had a big dumb grin on his face. **"The King and his court were dumbfounded. Nobody believed Noland anymore. And the last of his days were spent in shame and ridicule before his sentence of death was carried out before a cheering crowd."**

"And it says here that the story is based on the true story of Noland the Liar," Nami concluded as she closed the book. "Alas the liar died before he could prove himself to the people. All he ever really wanted to do is live the life of an adventurer." Nami sighed and glanced at Usopp.

"THAT LAST PART'S NOT IN THE BOOK!" Usopp snapped. "Don't try to tack on your own sentimental nonsense!"

"Fairy tale or not, we can take two things from this story," Ricky resolved, "First, if it's based on a true story then that means that Noland actually did set sail and believed with all certainty that he found a City of Gold. Second, his name was Montblanc Noland. The guy we're here to see is Montblanc Cricket. He must be his descendant or something."

**-x-**

Back at the bar in Mock Town, Bellamy was laughing after being told a similar story to Noland the Liar. "Haaahaaa haaaahaaa haaaahaaahaaaa! Montblanc Cricket is a descendant of the infamous Montblanc Noland! I heard that fairy tale all the time as a kid. But I never knew that Jaya was the island where he thought he saw the City of Gold."

"When we were growing up in the North Blue we were always warned that if we lied we'd suffer the same fate as Noland," Sarquiss commented, "And be ridiculed until we were eventually put to death."

"Aaah haaahaaahaahaaaahaaa!" Bellamy laughed, "It makes perfect sense that Cricket's related to that fool! But I can't believe that Jaya is the island from the fairy tale."

"So you're saying a descendant of Noland is here four hundred years later looking for that gold?" Rivers asked from the table he was sitting at with Ross and some of the other Bellamy Pirates. "He's gotta be doing this to clear his name and regain some small amount of respect."

"Pshaaaa haaahaaahaahaaa!" Bellamy laughed again. "This story keeps getting better and better! Huuhaahaahaahaa! Can he seriously hope to wipe away for four hundred years of embarrassment by bringing back a few pieces of gold? WHAT A JOKE! AAAHAAAHAAHAAAHAA! Sounds like he's a few bricks short of a wall! Haaahaaahaaahaaahaaaa!"

**-x-**

"Huh?" Luffy said. He'd left the house and was staring off the store at an odd patch of bubbles. **Sploosh! **A hand suddenly shot out and grabbed him. "GAAAAAH!" **SPLOOSH! **Before he could do anything Luffy was pulled under.

"DID HE JUST FALL IN THE WATER?" Nami exclaimed having heard Luffy's cry from the other side of the house.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!" Usopp shouted as he and Ricky ran over in time to see and man climb out of the water and onto the shore.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" the man demanded. He was a middle aged man with a muscular frame. He had a pair of blond side burns that didn't quite reach the small patch of blond hair on the top of his head where there was a chestnut. He was shirtless and shoeless and only wore a pair of maroon track pants with white stripes going down the side and a rope around his waist as a belt. On his left bicep was a tattoo that showed a chestnut with the word 'maroon' on top of it. "You've got nerve relaxing at someone's house without permission! This is my land and I suggest you leave!"

"Usopp, go fish Luffy out of the water," Ricky instructed.

"Got it," Usopp agreed as he darted passed and dove into the water after Luffy. **SPLOOSH!**

"Ricky! I can take this guy!" Sanji offered as he ran over.

"No, hold on," Ricky instructed, he held his arm in Sanji's path then turned back to the man. "We're not here to fight."

"I know why you're here," the man growled, "You're after my gold!"

"No we're not," Ricky told him, "We only came here to talk. We've been waiting outside your house for you to come back. You're Montblanc Cricket, aren't you?"

"So you know who I am," Montblanc Cricket noted, "Then you must be here to mock me!" In an instant there was a gun in his hand and he opened fire. **BANG!**

"LOOK OUT!" Sanji shouted as he shoved Ricky out of the way. A cloud of smoke from the old gun hid them from view.

"RICKY!" Nami shrieked.

"SANJI!" Chopper cried out.

"We're fine, this guy's a lousy shot," Sanji said as he got back up, "But if he wants a fight so badly, then I'll give him one."

**BANG! BANG! BANG! **Cricket shot off a series of bullet as Sanji who danced around and flipped onto his hands to avoid being shot.

"Whoa! Hey! Cut it out!" Sanji complained as he continued dodging gunfire. **BANG! BANG!**

"Idiot," Zoro muttered from where he was lurking beside the house. "Never under estimate your foe." He grabbed hold of _Wado Ichimonji _and ran over to where Sanji was still dodging gunfire. **BANG! BANG! BANG! **"Outta the way! I'll handle this!"

"Ugghhhh…" Cricket suddenly stopped shooting and let out a groan of pain. **Tunk! **He dropped his gun and collapsed to the ground. **FWUMP! **"Ohhhhh…" He man clutched his stomach and continued to groan while Ricky, Zoro, and Sanji stood around him and stared down in surprise.

**SPLOOSH! **Usopp broke the surface with Luffy's arm slung over his shoulders. "You really need to learn to be more careful," Usopp scolded the panting Luffy.

"I thought I saw…" **KOFF! **"…bubbles in the water…" Luffy wheezed. "So I looked closer and then a chestnut appeared…" **HUFF! **"…but it wasn't a chestnut! I was a guy and he pulled me in!" **HUFF! HUFF! KOFF! **

It was then that they noticed Cricket who had lost consciousness and was twitching on the ground.

"Huh? What's with him?" Luffy wondered.

"Chopper, get over here quick!" Ricky instructed, "This guy needs help."

**-x-**

"I need more cold towels!" Chopper instructed. "And open up those windows!"

The Straw Hats had moved inside Cricket's house and had the man laid on his bed so Chopper could treat him.

"What's Caisson Disease?" Zoro inquired.

"So this guy is really sick, huh?" Luffy questioned as he stood in an opened window.

"Yeah," Chopper confirmed. "Caisson Disease is an illness that sometimes effects divers. Though it's called a disease it isn't actually a chronic condition… it's caused by a lack of decompression when resurfacing from the sea bed. The nitrogen in the blood releases too quickly and causes gas bubbles to appear in the circulatory system. And when those gas bubbles expand they can cause considerable damage to muscles and joints and seriously decrease blood flow."

"So it's a mystery disease," Luffy commented, even though Chopper had just done a perfect job of explaining it. "Think you can help him?"

"I'm not sure," Chopper admitted. "My guess is that he kept diving every day without allowing time for his body to recover and now it finally caught up with him. That's why he passed out during the fight."

"But why in the world did he do that?" Nami asked.

"I don't know," Chopper replied, "but he was taking a big risk. In some cases Caisson Disease can cause death. So he's lucky to be alive."

"He's searching for the gold that Noland claimed sank into the sea," Ricky said as he stared at picture of the wall that depicted Montblanc Cricket standing in front of two familiar but much younger monkey-men. "He knows those two monkeys that we ran into. And the two of them have a common theme of undersea search. It only makes sense that he's doing the same. I guess he's trying to find the gold that Noland claimed he found so he can reclaim some family honor. Maybe Jaya's the island from the fairy tale."

"You got all that just from one picture?" Nami asked as she looked over Ricky's shoulder.

"And the story, and running into the two of them," Ricky added. "But I'm just guessing here."

**-x-**

At that moment, two familiar monkeys were running through the forest towards Cricket's house.

"Hey Masira, I guess you're alive after all!" Shoujou remarked.

"Why would you say that?" Masira asked.

"Forget about it," Shoujou replied, "Do you know what all that gunfire was about earlier?"

"I'm not sure," Masira admitted, "but that's where I'm headed now… to find out."

"Well come on then," Shoujou encouraged him, "I'm worried about the old timer."

They reached the house but ran into trouble when they both attempted to squeeze their large frames through the door at once. "HEY OLD TIMER! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!"

The Straw Hats whirled around to face the two monkeys while Masira and Shoujou gaped at them in surprise.

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!" Usopp and Chopper screamed as they ran frantically around the room.

"THEY'VE COME TO KILL US!" Usopp shrieked.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING HERE?" Shoujou demanded.

"AND JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO OUR FRIEND?" Masira bellowed.

"The old man's sick," Ricky stated, "Our doctor was taking care of him before you came in."

"We're trying to help," Luffy answered. "So I suggest you either lend us a hand or find someone else to bother."

"DON'T ANTAGONIZE THEM LUFFY!" Usopp wailed. "YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE CAPABLE OF! AND NOW THERE'S TWO OF THOSE SAVAGES TO DEAL WITH!"

"THEY'RE SAVAGES!" Chopper yelled.

"EVERYONE JUMP OUT THE WINDOWS AND RUN AWAY!" Usopp instructed.

"USOPP!" Ricky shouted.

"WHAAAAAT?" Usopp whimpered.

"They're crying," Ricky stated.

"Huh?" Usopp questioned as he turned to look. Shoujou and Masira were indeed both crying.

"Bwaaa haaa…" they sobbed, "Thank you guys!"

**-x-**

**Legendary Family:**

**-x-**

"So you guys live on this island too?" Luffy asked a little bit later as he sat outside with Masira and Shoujou.

"Yup," Masira answered. "This old timer's house is the official headquarters of the Saruyama Alliance of Jaya."

"We call this home," Shoujou chimed in. "But we spend most of your time on our ships. We're more comfortable at sea 'cause this place is too small for us."

"Shishi," Luffy chuckled, "You guys are too big for your own good. But it's all in how you look at it I guess. To a giant you'd look like nothing more than a ball of earwax."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the three monkeys laughed.

"Well those three sure are getting along well now aren't they," Usopp remarked as he and Zoro sat against the side of the house.

"Yeah, seems like they have a lot in common," Zoro agreed.

"I'm pretty impressed you managed to get Masira here off of your ship," Shoujou commented, "It's quite a feat for someone as small as you to overpower him."

"Ah, I didn't do it," Luffy admitted, "but for my crew it probably wasn't all that hard."

"Huh? What's that?" Shoujou questioned.

"I'm sure you could kick his ass," Luffy said.

**KREEK! **The door to the house opened and Chopper dashed out. "Luffy! He's waking up!"

"He's awake!" Luffy exclaimed.

**THWAK! **"WAAAAAAAHAHHHH!" Masira screamed as he was sent flying off into the air by a kick from Shoujou.

"He's right!" Shoujou realized as he stared after his brother. "I can kick Masira's ass!"

Luffy ignored the fight he'd created and went inside. "Hey chestnut head!" Luffy called out to Cricket who was now sitting up in his bed. "I've gotta question for you."

"Ahhhh…" Cricket sighed as he smoked a cigarette. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I thought you were nothing more than a group of bandits that had come to steal my gold."

"GOOLD?" Nami repeated.

"We already went over this," Ricky scolded her, "We're not doing anything with it. We came for information, remember?"

Cricket glanced at Ricky, then at Luffy. "What exactly was it you wanted to ask me?"

"We're searching for Sky Island and we were told that you might be able to tell us how to get there," Luffy told him.

"Are you serious?" Cricket asked. "Hmhmhm HAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't tell me you really believe that place exists! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"WHY YOU!" Nami snarled, now wanting to deal with someone else laughing at her.

"Hold on," Ricky said as he grabbed her and held her back.

"You mean there's no Sky Island?" Luffy questioned. "Are you sure?"

"Hmmm… hahahaha… "Cricket chuckled, "Well I don't know. You see… nobody actually knows if the Sky Island really exists or not. I know of only one man who claims to have seen the island for himself. But he's considered a liar of epic proportions."

Luffy turned to Usopp. "WHAT'RE YOU LOOKING AT?" Usopp snapped.

"There's an old fairy tale that the people of the North Blue know very well," Cricket explained. "It's called _'Noland the Liar'_."

Luffy turned to Usopp. "STOP LOOKING AT ME LUFFY! I'M NOT NOLAND!"

"Montblanc…" Ricky stated, "Are you really his descendant?"

"Is he right?" Nami asked. "And is this island really the one from the Fairy Tale?"

"Yeah, Noland's my grandfather's, grandfather's, grandfather," Cricket admitted. "He's a distant ancestor of mine. I am his descendant. But we're so far removed that I doubt there's even a single drop of his blood in my veins. The Montblanc Family was driven out of the North Blue territory a long time ago and we've managed to keep a very low profile ever since. People still denounce the family name. But we've never despised him for this."

"But why?" Chopper inquired.

"Because Noland, contrary to popular belief, was a very honest person," Cricket answered.

"That's… not what the fairy tale said," Nami replied.

"As the story goes," Cricket said, "Noland's last words were as follows _'I can only assume that the City of Gold sunk into the sea'_. This line is accompanied by an idiotic face in the illustration. But Noland was no idiot. He knew what he saw. And I believe he wasn't lying about it. Noland was sure the island he stumbled upon where he found the ruins of the city of gold was the island of Jaya but when he returned with the King there was no gold. Unsuccessful, he insisted that the city had submerged due to shifts in the Earth's crust. But everyone dismissed this as the last ditch excuse of a doomed man. Noland was given a public execution and when he died, so did his discoveries. Only the legend of the liar remains."

"I get it!" Usopp exclaimed, "You're trying to find the ancient City of Gold at the bottom of the sea in order to finally clear the Montblanc family name and prove Noland right!"

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!" Cricket roared he pulled out a gun and fired at Usopp. **BANG! **

"USOPP!" Chopper shrieked. It turned out that Cricket was actually a very good shot. A bullet hole was in the wall right above the terrified sniper's head.

"I don't really care if the ancient City of Gold exists or not!" Cricket growled. "The actions of my ancestor have nothing to do with me and my life! You can't possibly begin to imagine what its like… as a kid for everyone to laugh at you and ridicule you because you're a descendant of that idiot Noland! That's what I've dealt with my whole life!"

"…" The Straw Hats stared silently and Cricket eventually calmed down.

"Anyway," he continued, "Over the past four hundred years a great many of my family have set sail to find the City of Gold, prove Noland right, and restore the Montblanc name. But each and every one of them went missing. I was ashamed to be a member of such a pathetic family so I decided to leave home and become a pirate."

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed. "So you're a pirate just like us?"

"I didn't even really want to become a pirate," Cricket confessed, "I just wanted out of Noland's shadow, to be my own man. But over time I came to assemble my own pirate crew. Finally I was seen as a leader, not a laughing stock. And I spanned the world looking for adventures. Then then years ago as my crew and I sailed a calm sea we discovered this island purely by chance. And ironically, of all my family members how sought out this place, who lost their lives doing so, it was I who found it. I who despised the Montblanc name! We came ashore but found no trace of the City of Gold. I stood on a cape of the island and felt I was destined to be there."

"_Let's settle this Noland!" Cricket had said those ten years ago as he stood on the cape. He still looked exactly the same as he did now. "Once and for all!"_

"_You're on your own," one of Cricket's crew said, "We don't want anything to do with this! We're setting sail and leaving. If you want to stay here and search for gold that doesn't exist you're doing it alone. So long Captain."_

_Noland spent the next ten years diving into the sea east of Jaya in search of sunken gold._

"I don't care if I find the City of Gold or not," Cricket resolved, "I'm not here to prove Noland right or wrong. I have no interest in rewriting history. All I'm doing is following what I believe is my destiny. This is between me and Noland. I'm facing what I fear. And whatever the outcome, the act is all that matters."

The Straw Hats were silent except for Usopp who was crying. "UUB! UUB! Wow… what a sad story…"

"But what about the monkeys?" Luffy asked, "How did they come to be on this island with you anyway?"

"I'm sure that's another story of bravery in the face of incredible odds," Usopp whimpered. "Your life reads like a great book, you know Cricket?"

"They were just fans of the fairy tale," Cricket dead-panned.

"THEY'RE FANS?" Usopp snapped.

"How did they find you?" Nami questioned.

"I think it was five or six years ago," Cricket said. "They heard a rumor and set out to find me. Those two truly believe that the City of Gold exists somewhere and they're helping me find it."

**-x-**

**SPLOOSH! **"RAAAAAAHHH!" Masira roared as he burst back out of the water. "Shoujou you have no idea what you just got yourself into!"

"Bring it on you big ape!" Shoujou retorted, "I'm ready when you are! Just step up and you'll get knocked down!" The two charged at each other and started fighting again.

**-x-**

"The sea surrounding this island is very deep," Cricket continued, "and in those dark cold depths your surrounded by a profound sense of solitude. When I first arrived here I spent my time searching the seabed alone. They entered my life without permission and assigned themselves as my crew without asking. And they do nothing but fight all the time. But having these idiots around puts me at ease. And truthfully, I enjoy their company. You understand?"

"I understand completely…" Usopp said as he sobbed into his arm. "True friends lift each other up and give each other strength in times of need."

"Are you just about finished telling us your life story?" Luffy bluntly asked.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!" Usopp yelled at him. **BONK! **Usopp hit Luffy on the head but Luffy no-sold it and grabbed him and threw him away. **WHING!**

"Look, all I really wanna know about is Sky Island!" Luffy insisted.

"Haheha," Cricket chuckled, "You're a pushy guy aren't ya? But like I told you earlier… the only person who's ever seen the Sky Island is Noland. And nobody knows if he was telling the truth or if it was just another tall tale." Cricket reached out to a bookshelf that was situated next to his bed and pulled out a book and started paging through it.

"Is there any record of his trip to the island?" Luffy questioned.

"Officially no," Cricket admitted, "but he does mention it in here."

"What do you have there?" Nami inquired as she eyed the book Cricket was paging through. "That isn't Noland's log book is it?"

"Yeah it is," Cricket confirmed before he tossed it to her. "Read from the bottom of that page."

"Amazing," Nami commented while Ricky stepped forward and read over her shoulder. "This log book is over four hundred years old."

"Are you listening to this?" Ricky asked out loud as he prodded the ear growing out of his shoulder. A familiar blue eye appeared on his eye patch and stared over Nami's shoulder at he log book along with him.

"'_June 21__st__ year 1120'_," Nami recited, "'_Clear skies. Sailed from the lively town of Vira. Followed the Log Pose and sail into the rising sun at a heading of east-by-northeast with the wind at our back. At mid-day we happened upon a merchant ship an unusual item. A single person boat called a Waver._'"

"Whooooaaaa…" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were grinning widely as the approached Nami so they could read alone in Usopp's case, or just listen better in Luffy's face. Chopper jumped but had trouble seeing the book so Ricky scooped him up and placed him on top of his cowboy hat.

"'_This small mysterious vessel can generate its own wind and sail at great speeds even on a still day'_," Nami continued reading. "_'But the ski-like ship is not easily maneuvered. I couldn't control it although my crew is taking quite a liking to it.' _I've gotta get one of those things!"

"KEEP GOING!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper urged her. "DON'T STOP READING!"

"Umm…" Nami scanned the page and found her place again, "'_We were told that the vessel had been manufactured on the SKY ISLAND and that many more interesting devices could be found there! It brought to mind an explorer friend of mine who once showed me the most unusual specimen, a living sky fish."_

"Huh, sky fish?" Sanji repeated. The cook perked up at the mention of an exotic food.

"'_I have never seen a fish with such a bizarre appearance in all my years'_," Nami read, "_'This island remains the only unexplored domain and as an sailor and an adventurer I feel it is my destiny to somehow reach the sea in the sky. –Montblanc Noland'_"

"Do you know what this means!" Nami gushed to the others.

"SKY ISLAND MUST REALLY EXIST!" Luffy exclaimed.

"JUST LIKE ROBIN SAID IT DID!" Usopp cheered. "NOW WE'VE JUST GOTTA FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THERE!"

"THE SKY ISLAND DOES EXIST!" Chopper squealed.

The sound of laughter filled Cricket's small house. Cricket smiled to himself as he walked outside while the Straw Hats were preoccupied with the logbook.

"YOU'RE UP!" Shoujou realized when he and Masira spotted Cricket.

"You feelin' alright?" Masira inquired.

"Better than ever," Cricket answered.

"Glad… to hear it…" Shoujou groaned as he shoved Masira. The two had been fighting the whole time.

"This jerk snuck up on me and attacked me…" Masira started to complain.

"Shut up," Cricket interrupted. "I need to ask you something. What do you think of those guys?

"Why're you asking old timer?" Shoujou asked.

"It seems that they're determined to get to Sky Island no matter what," Cricket explained.

"Sky Island?" Shoujou repeated. "You know there's only one way for them to get there!"

"And if they try to get there on their own…" Masira said, "They'll die."

"Exactly," Cricket said. "I think we should help them along. So what do you guys think?"

Shoujou and Masira grinned. It looked like the Straw Hats had just gained the help of the Saruyama Alliance in finally reaching the Sky Island.

**-x-**

Far from Jaya, in the middle of a cold opened sea, a black coffin-shaped boat with a single raised black sail floating alone. A green candle lit up the face of 'Hawk Eye' Mihawk.

The World's Greatest Swordsman stared down at three familiar Wanted Posters.

'**Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy – β100,000,000**

'**One Eye' Ricky – β 80,000,000**

'**Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro – β 60,000,000**

The new wanted posters were finally circulating and the Warlord's face quirked into a grin as he glanced down at the three pirates that had captured his interest.

**-x-**

Phew, that was a long one. Twenty-eight pages according to my word processor. Next chapter, the Saruyama Alliance begins helping the Straw Hats begin their race to the sky and the Straw Hats set out to catch the South Bird.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	11. Race to the Sky

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:**This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**Race to the Sky:**

**-x-**

Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were sitting around the stump out behind Cricket's house while the descendant of the infamous Noland the Liar addressed them following his decision to use the Saruyama Alliance's resources to help get them to the Sky Island.

"What did you wanna tell us, Old Timer?" Usopp asked. He, Luffy, and Nami were all sitting on log-stools around the stump while Ricky and Chopper sitting on the ground and leaning against it and Zoro was sitting off behind them. There was an ear growing out of Ricky's shoulder which told them that Robin was listening from the ship.

"Listen up, and listen good," Cricket instructed as he took a short drag from the cigarette he was smoking. "I've decided to tell you guys everything I know about the Sky Island. Most of this is rumor and here-say so you'll have to make up your own minds whether you believe it or not."

"Mmm, I believe it," Luffy replied even though Cricket hadn't said anything yet.

"Quiet!" Usopp scolded him.

"There's something very strange that happens in this part of the ocean," Cricket explained as he turned and pointed at the ocean on the east side of the island. "Everything will suddenly turn black as night, right in the middle of the brightest day."

"The same thing happened to us," Chopper recalled, remembering their encounter with Masira and Sheldon and how the sky turned black and the winged monsters that had come along with it.

"Yeah," Usopp agreed as he thought back to yesterday's incredible events, "It was like the sun vanished! And then these enormous monsters showed up!"

"You saw the giants," Cricket realized. "There's a tale about where they come from but forget about 'em for now. We can go into it later. Now about this strange nightfall… its caused by the shadow of an extremely dense cloud."

"Cumulonimbus clouds?" Nami, the weather expert, questioned. "But it was too dark for clouds. It was like the sun went out."

"It was more of an eclipse," Usopp insisted, "clouds on a cloudy day are just sort of… cloudy."

"Yeah, cloudy!" Chopper chimed in.

"SHUT YOUR GOBS AND LISTEN!" Cricket snapped, "This cloud is called a cumuloregalus, it forms high in the sky, it has no internal air-currants, and never turns to rain, no light can reach the ground and a sunny afternoon turns black as pitch. It's like some giant hand reached up and snuffed out the sun like it was a candle. Some say cumuloregalus clouds are floating fossils, petrified clouds that hand in the sky unchanged for thousands of years."

"You've gotta be kidding us!" Nami said, "A petrified cloud that drifts around for centuries?"

"Hey, I'm just telling you what people have told me," Cricket defended himself. "Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you."

"Nami remember, this is the Grand Line," Ricky reminded her. "Strangeness in the weather is what you should've come to expect on this ocean."

"So… it's a Mystery Cloud," Luffy decided.

"Yeah, I guess that sums it up about as well as anything else," Cricket reasoned.

"This is so awesome!" Chopper exclaimed as he jumped up onto the stump.

"You see, there's only one place the Sky Island can be if its real," Cricket concluded, "And that's on top of one of those clouds."

"Okay, let's go!" Luffy decided. "WE'RE ON OUR WAY UP TO THE CLOUDS!"

"WOO-HOO!" Usopp cheered as he and Luffy jumped up and started dancing around.

"Come on Zoro, wake up!" Luffy called out to the swordsman who had dozed off at some point during Cricket's explanation.

"Hm, is it morning already?" Zoro grunted as he woke up and stood up.

Ricky sweat-dropped while Nami fumed at their foolishness. Ricky took it upon himself to cut Luffy and Usopp's premature celebration short before Nami became violent.

"Hasn't it occurred to you yet that we still don't know how to get up there?" he questioned.

"Awwww…" Luffy and Usopp whined as their faces grew long and they got depressed.

"Yeah, that's gonna be the hard part," Cricket admitted, "because you'll be risking your lives every minute. There's only one way to get there: the Knock-Up Stream. It shoots straight up in the air so it could theoretically take you into the sky if you're lucky."

"Wait a minute, are you saying that this currant can actually send ships flying?" Nami inquired. The others had reclaimed their stump-stools while Zoro stood off behind them.

"Great!" Luffy exclaimed, "Then it'll be a snap! All we have to do is hitch a ride up!"

Chopper grinned as he pictured the Going Merry being gently pushed up into the air as it floated on top of a friendly geyser-like stream.

"But on an ocean currant?" Usopp questioned.

"Except wouldn't we end up falling back into the ocean and get smashed into pieces?" Nami asked with a small whimper at the end.

"Usually that's true," Cricket admitted, "Unless you can get the timing just right. It's one thing to sit here all comfy and talk about riding the Knock-Up Stream but if you think this trip is going to be some kind of pleasure cruise, you're in for a very rude awakening."

"Oh?" Chopper gasped as he leaned in closer to Ricky. The image of the gentle stream pushing their ship up into the air shattered.

"The Knock-Up Stream is as dangerous as any hurricane," Cricket continued, "it should be avoided at all costs."

"But how exactly can a currant of water rise up in the air in the first place?" Nami questioned, still trying to wrap her mind around the concept of a Knock-Up Stream. "Come on, we've never heard about anything like that before, right guys?"

"Uh-huh," Luffy and Usopp answered with a nod.

"The water from Reverse Mountain flows upward, doesn't it?" Ricky reminded her. "After seeing that, you can't honestly believe that riding the Knock-Up Stream is impossible. I'm more concerned with how we're supposed to do it, not how it happens."

"I've heard a lot of different explanations about the Knock-Up Stream," Cricket recalled, "but there's only been one that's made any sense to me, though so far no one has been stupid enough to try and confirm it. It's like this: deep below the ocean floor there are large cavities filled with air, cool sea water seeps into these air pockets and geothermal energy heats it until it becomes steam. Over time, the pressure builds and when it finally becomes too great there a tremendous explosion. This explosion hurls the water into the air and creates a currant to the sky."

"I don't get it," Luffy confessed.

"It's a Mystery Steam," Ricky dead-panned.

"OOOOH!" Luffy gasped in understanding.

"Anyway, the effect lasts for about a minute," Cricket stated, "and connects the sky to the ocean like a bridge."

"ONE MINUTE!" Nami exclaimed. "Do you realize how enormous an explosion like that would have to be?"

"The explosions occur in widely different locations about five times a month," Cricket told them.

"We'd be blown into fish food if we tried that old man!" Usopp growled.

"Anyway, you can't really explain something like this with words and theories," Cricket admitted. "It's one of the great many mysteries of creation."

"Nah, I got it," Ricky replied as he pushed himself up so he was sitting on the stump, "We have to time our ship's trajectory perfectly so we can reach the site of the undersea explosion that happens five times a month and ride the upward currant up to one of those cumuloregalus clouds and hope the Sky Island is on top of it."

"I'd say that sums it up pretty well," Cricket answered. "And if you miss, you fall back down, slam into the ocean, and get blown into fish food."

Usopp was shaking in abject terror, "Okay, so we're gonna forget all about Sky Island, right?" he asked and added a nervous laugh, "Ahaha-hahaha-hahaha…"

"Shishishishishi!" Luffy started laughing too which made Usopp's laughter even more nervous.

"Ahahaha…hahaha…" the terrified sniper glared at Luffy, "Because its nuts Luffy! Completely insane! You'd have to be luckier than Mr. Lucky McLuckLuck of Luckyland on his lucky day to pull off a stunt like this one! Aha… haha… ha…"

"So when's the next Knock-Up Stream scheduled?" Ricky inquired.

"GAAAH!" Usopp squealed in terror. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE RATIONAL ONE!"

"Shishi!" Luffy chuckled, "It'll be okay, let's go!"

Usopp started crying. "How can you say it'll be okay?" he whimpered, "Think about it for a second! And what about the poor Going Merry? Did you even stop to consider the shape she's in? The way she's suffering?" Usopp voice's went hard at the thought of protecting his precious ship, "There's no way you can expect her to stand up to a disaster like this in her condition!"

"He's absolutely right," Cricket agreed. "She's worthless. Even brand new that wreck wouldn't stand a chance."

"SAY WHAT?" Usopp demanded, taking it as a personal insult.

"Speed, weight, strength," Cricket stated, "the explosion would blow that ship to pieces before it even had a chance to get airborne."

"Yeah, see, it's hopeless," Usopp sighed.

"But don't worry," Cricket reassured them, "I think I can help you out there. I'll have Masira and Shoujou do a complete refit of your ship. I'll also have them reinforce the super-structure to withstand the strain."

"YOU BET!" Masira and Shoujou shouted as they stuck their heads out of windows in Cricket's house, "Don't worry guys, we're all over it!"

"Thanks fellas!" Luffy said with a big smile and a two-handed wave to the monkey brothers.

"Yeah… thanks a lot…" Usopp and Nami grumbled.

"Have you really thought about this?" Nami asked.

"Huh?" Luffy questioned. "What?"

"Well, I know _you _haven't," Nami admitted, she turned away from Luffy and faced Ricky, "At most we can only stay one more day on this island. Or did that slip your mind. After that, the Log Pose will lock onto the next island's location and we'll have to move on."

"What makes you say that?" Ricky countered. "We're not looking for an island, we're looking for the closest Knock-Up Stream. We don't need a Log Pose for that. To find it we just need to know a set time, a location and straight-forward directions on how to get there from this island." Ricky turned to Cricket, "So when's the next Knock-Up Stream scheduled?"

"It'll be at around noon tomorrow," Cricket answered.

"NOOOON?" Usopp screamed. "YOU MEAN WE CAN ACTUALLY MAKE IT?"

"That doesn't leave us much time," Ricky realized.

"No it doesn't," Cricket agreed, "So you'd better get ready."

"Hold on! This whole thing sounds fishy!" Usopp protested. He pointed accusingly at Cricket. "You're lying! We've known you less than twenty-four hours, why're you being so helpful? And what's more…"

"Now hold on Usopp!" Luffy scolded him.

"_YOU _hold on 'til I'm finished!" Usopp snapped. "This 'Sky Island', this legendary place we don't even know the location of is just going to show up out of the blue… at noon tomorrow? And to help us get there you're gonna rebuild and reinforce our ship… for nothing? When something looks too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS! The infamous liar Noland is your great, great, grandwhatever, right?" By now he was growling. "So how do we know we can trust you?"

"Uhhh…" Cricket sighed as he blew out some smoke after taking a drag from his cigarette. He'd just stood there and smoked through Usopp entire accusing tirade.

**THUD! **The door slammed opened and Masira and Shoujou attempted to force themselves through the small doorway of Cricket's house. "HEY OLD MAN!" they called out. "SOUP'S ON! COME AND GET IT WHILE ITS HOT!"

"Move it," Sanji growled as he squeezed out passed the two monkey brothers and then with hearts in his eyes called out to Nami, "Miss. Nami! Di…" Sanji trailed off when he noted the tense one-sided stare down Usopp was having with Cricket.

"Hmm…" Cricket grunted to himself.

"What… what is it?" Usopp asked, he quickly raised his arms, "You wanna fight me?"

"Masira said whenever the mid-day night occurs in this area a cumuloregalus cloud appears in the southern sky the next day," Cricket stated as he slowly advanced on Usopp. "Based on its usual cycle of five appearances a month I'm guessing the Knock-Up Stream will along arrive tomorrow at mid-day. That will probably also be to the south. I can't exactly be one-hundred percent certain but there's a chance that the two events will coincide." Usopp broke into a sweat as Cricket got closer but just walked right passed him and stood behind him with his back to him.

"Uhhh…" Usopp let out a gasp of surprise.

"Shishi…" Luffy chuckled while the other looked on silently.

"I'm proud to have met a bunch of brave fools like you," Cricket confessed, "You're true pirates. Now then, let's go inside and eat. Tonight, I want you to call my home, your home, my friends."

Usopp started at the fact that Cricket considered them his friends. Cricket began walking back towards his house while Luffy chuckled and waved at Usopp, "Come on Usopp, its chow time!"

"YEAH! COME ON YOU GUYS!" Masira cheered.

"YAHOO! YAHOO!" Luffy exclaimed as he began dancing around at the notion of food.

"Chopper, go get Miss. Robin," Sanji instructed.

"No need," Ricky told them, he prodded the ear that had been growing out of his shoulder the whole time. "It's dinner time, Robin. Come and eat with us."

Usopp sighed and dropped down to his knees. Most of his accusation towards Cricket had been out of fear of facing the terrifying Knock-Up Stream. But the man hadn't taken them personally and revealed that he was being honest and that he considered the Straw Hats his friends.

Nami walked up next to him. "Looks like we're going to the Sky Island whether we're ready or not," she commented, "Well, let's just hope our luck continues to hold."

"Nami…" Usopp spoke up. "Do you think I'm a spineless little coward?"

"You forgot to mention idiot," she fondly teased him. "And I know how you feel. Now why not go apologize?"

Usopp nodded and pushed himself back up and raced after Cricket, "I'm sorry old timer!" Usopp cried as he grabbed the much-taller Cricket in waist-height embrace.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?" Cricket demanded as he pushed Usopp off of him, "Don't wipe that nose on me! It's disgusting! Idiot!" **BONK!**

**-x-**

As the sun set and the evening began, all eight Straw Hats gathered in Cricket's house with Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou. The sound of laughter echoed in the air and all around the house as the Straw Hats and the Saruyama Alliance had dinner together.

"C'mere buddy, dance with me!" Luffy exclaimed as he grabbed Shoujou and started dancing with him.

"Oh yeah, keep it coming!" Cricket called out as he happily drank a bottle of grog.

"Eat up everyone!" Sanji addressed the others as he carried over two more large plates of food, "I'm just getting started. There's plenty more on the way!"

"Here…" Usopp said as he gave Masira some food.

**FWOOOSH! **Flames shot out of the monkey man's mouth as he let out a scream of alarm, "YAAAHH!"

"Ahahahaha! Gotcha, ape face!" Usopp taunted and laughed at his prank, "It was hot sauce!"

"WHY YOU!" Masira growled as he shot up and started chasing Usopp around the house. "C'MERE YOU SQUIRRELY GOGGLE-HEADED LITTLE FREAK!"

"Hey good looking," the now very drunk Cricket leered at Nami, "You wanna sit next to me?"

Nami smiled but slid closer to Ricky who sitting next to her drinking from a mug of grog. She pressed up against his side and rearranged his free arm so it was draped around her shoulders.

"Watch it old timer!" Sanji scolded Cricket, "I might not be able to do anything about him, but you're about a hundred years too old to be hitting on Nami!"

"Oh, I see…" Cricket realized, "So they're…"

Ricky lowered his drink and glanced down at the girl under his arm, "When did you get there?" he inquired.

"Just now," Nami replied as she looked up and met his gaze, "You've got something on your face." Nami grabbed hold of Ricky's free arm when he attempted to move it and kept it in place around her shoulders then picked up a napkin from in front of her. She slowly turned and softly dabbed at the corner of Ricky's mouth to rid it of the crumb that was there. "Got it." She dropped the napkin and picked up her own grog mug and let out a content sigh as she started drinking.

"CHOMP!" Chopper called out as he bit down on Zoro's shoulder. He had the two halves of a broken chopstick in his mouth and was pretending to be a vampire. "So are they together _now_?"

"I don't even know anymore," Zoro confessed, he ignored the mouth of the reindeer-vampire that was latched onto his shoulder and as he eyed Ricky and Nami from across the room.

Robin took a sip of her glass of iced tea as she sat silently in the corner eating her own dinner while reading Noland's logbook. She turned the page but looked up in surprise when she realized that Cricket was standing right in front of her.

"The skull's right eye…" Cricket said cryptically. "That's where I saw the gold."

"Gold?" Ricky and Nami immediately perked up while the others all quieted and froze at hearing Cricket's cryptic comment.

"Those words, smeared with tears, are the last ones Noland wrote in his logbook," Cricket explained, "_'The skull's right eye… that where I saw the gold'_. That very same day, Noland was executed. I still don't know what he meant by that, does it refer to the name of a city? Or some landmark that used to exist on the island? Or is it just a poetic allusion towards his own impending death? The blank pages that follow give us no clue. And that's the reason we continue to dive to the bottom of the sea. We dream." Cricket raised his bottle and took a long drink.

"HOORAY FOR US!" Masira cheered from where he was sitting with Usopp on his shoulders.

"Heh heh heh…" Shoujou and Zoro chuckled as the knocked their mugs together.

"We're gonna go flying!" Luffy cheered as he stuffed a whole fish in his mouth.

"Not if you keep eating like that you won't!" Usopp joked causing everyone to laugh.

**-x-**

Off the north-eastern shore, Bellamy's crew sailed towards Cricket's house on their pirate ship. The main mast had two large sails. The top one had the Bellamy Pirate's Jolly Roger: a mouth with its tongue sticking out in front of a pair of crossbones. The bottom one had the same crossed-out smiley face that was tattooed on Sarquiss' chest and was matched by the figurehead.

"It's getting pretty dark but I can still make out the shoreline," Eddy the Navigator of the Bellamy Pirates reported as he stared through a pair of binoculars. "It's clear."

"Drop anchor and prepare to land!" Bellamy ordered from where he was standing next to Eddy. "Golden treasure shouldn't be wasted on starry-eyed dreamers."

**-x-**

**Catch the South Bird:**

**-x-**

"'_Log Entry from May 21__st__ Year 1122'_," Cricket recited a passage from Noland's logbook. Dinner was over and Cricket, Shoujou, Masira and the Straw Hats were sitting around a large circular rug in the middle of the room. Even Robin had been drawn out of the corner and was sitting with Ricky and Nami. "_'Today I arrived on Jaya. Shortly after making landfall we were startled by the peculiar cries of some strange bird deep in the forest… as well as the tolling of what seemed to be an enormous bell. The ringing of that golden bell resounded far and wide, as if announcing the presence of some great and prosperous city of the past. Its fleeting echoes the only reminder that this land was once home to a mighty civilization.'"_

"NOOLAAND! NOOLAAND!" Shoujou and Masira sang as they swayed together with their arms thrown over each other's shoulder. They really were fans of the story if they were still getting worked up after hearing it who knows how many times before.

"'_In our pride and arrogance we thought we had seen and heard everything in our short lives," _Cricket stood up as he continued to recite the passage he had long since memorized. "_'But the sound of that bell tolling left us all speechless. It was as if the clang of that bell had struck us all dumb with wonder.' _YAAAH!"

"YAAAAHH!" Luffy cheered along with him.

"YEAH NOLAND!" Shoujou exclaimed before falling flat on his back. He drank too much.

"I just love stories with bells in them," Nami gushed, "Especially gold ones!"

"I wonder how much something that impressive would actually be worth," Ricky remarked.

"Hey old timer!" Usopp called out with a wide grin, "Sounds like you might be just a little fond of Noland after all!" The others laughed, Cricket who had seemingly claimed to hate his family legacy was still as worked up about his ancestor's log entries as the others were.

"Look at this," Cricket instructed as he pulled out a large bulky sack and unveiled a thick golden bell that was about the size of a bucket and had rectangular engravings etched in the sides. He reached into the sack again and produced two more identical gold bells.

"WOW!" Nami gasped. "A GOLDEN BELL!" She practically sprang across the rug and an instant later was hugging one of the bells to her and fondly rubbing her face against it and cooed softly to herself.

"I wondered what was in that sack," Ricky admitted, he walked over a lot calmer than Nami had and picked up one of the bells so he could examine it.

"Huh, doesn't seem too enormous to me," Usopp stated as he looked up at the golden bell that Ricky was holding.

"None of these is the one Noland was writing about in his log book," Cricket explained, "These are bell-shaped golden ingots we found on the ocean floor during a dive."

"Golden ingots?" Chopper repeated. He jumped up onto Ricky's shoulders and peered over his shoulder at the bell he was holding.

"It feels like each of these is worth an even ten million berries," Ricky noted as he lightly prodded the side of the bell, "you can only get that kind of value out of something this size if it's pure gold. I'm guessing there's more where these three came from so the people who made them had to have had an enormous supply of gold to manage it."

"THE CITY OF GOLD!" Luffy cheered, "HAH! IT IS REAL!"

"It's still not proof though…" Shoujou protested as he slowly sat back up. "You could find golden relics like that lying around in any old ruins in this part of the world."

"Maybe so," Robin replied, "but it does suggest that there was a civilization here sometime in the past. Ingots are made to divide gold into standardized units of weight and that wound indicate and advanced trading society."

"Right," Cricket agreed, "And you remember that peculiar bird call he said they heard when they landed?" He motioned to Masira who was holding the still-bulky sack Cricket had taken the three ingots out of. "Show it to them."

Masira pushed down the sack and revealed a golden statue of a strange-looking bird.

"THERE'S MORE GOLD!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Just look at the size of it!" Zoro remarked.

"That's the last of it," Cricket told them.

The large solid gold statue was big enough to come up to a normal-sized man's knee and the strange bird it depicted had a long beak like a toucan and had two feather- covered growths on the top of its head and a third one coming out of the back that was shaped like a fish's tail making its entire head look like an arrow. The bird had a large round body that was about four times the size of its head and was perched on a solid gold log.

"OH! IT'S GORGEOUS!" Nami gushed.

"Unlike these empty ingots, that thing's solid gold," Ricky stated, "The whole thing is worth more than all three ingots combined: forty-five million berries."

"Golden bells and birds huh," Sanji commented, "Do you think they might be symbols of some ancient giant civilization?"

"I really couldn't say for certain," Cricket confessed, "but I'm pretty sure all of these pieces are a part of the same casting." Cricket grabbed the statue and slid it over to him. "This creature is called a South Bird, you can still find them on this island today."

"Wow, and they have a peculiar call?" Luffy questioned as he leaned in closer to see the statue.

"Uh-huh," Cricket confirmed, "Just like in the logbook."

"Sailors have used South Birds on ships since ancient times to help them nav…" Masira trailed off and his and Shoujou's eyes went wide in alarm.

"AAH!" the two monkeys gasped.

The feeling of dread was confirmed when Cricket's eyes went wide and he let out a gasp of his own, "GUUH!"

"OOOOH NOOOOO!" Cricket, Shoujou and Masira all shouted at once.

"What's wrong?" the Straw Hats chorused.

"This is really bad!" Cricket realized, "You guys have to get to the forest on the south side of the island right away!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Luffy asked. "Are you crazy?"

"Don't waste a minute!" Cricket urged them, "You've gotta capture one of these birds quickly!"

"How come?" Usopp questioned, he wasn't all that eager to go wandering around a forest in the middle of the night. "Why?"

"What do we need the bird for?" Sanji inquired.

"Now listen carefully," Cricket instructed, "tomorrow you're gonna sail for the Knock-Up Stream. It lies directly south of here. How are you gonna get there?"

"We just sail the ship due-south of course," Luffy replied.

"Did you forget that we're in the Grand Line?" Ricky reminded him. "Typical equipment like compasses get messed up by the magnetic fields of the islands. If we sail out into the opened sea we'll get lost."

"That's why you said we wouldn't need a Log Pose to find the Knock-Up Stream," Nami realized as she recalled what Ricky had said earlier about finding the Knock-Up Stream.

"If old sailors used South Birds to help with navigation then I'm guessing we'll need to get one too," Ricky reasoned. "Since they're called South Birds I guess they have a way of telling which way is south and will help us keep going in that direction."

"That's right," Cricket answered. "Certain animals are known to have a very accurate internal sense of direction as if they're born with a natural compass."

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "That makes Zoro dumber than an animal!"

"Oh, yeah right!" the often lost swordsman retorted, "Like you have any room to talk!"

"The South Bird is a perfect example of this kind of creature," Cricket continued, "In the middle of a vast barren plain or a trackless ocean its head will always point in the same direction. You see? If you don't get going into the forest and catch one of those birds right now you're gonna have to kiss your only chance to get to Sky Island goodbye!"

"GAAAAHH!" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper shouted in alarm. "AND YOU'RE JUST TELLING US THIS _NOW_?"

"QUIT YOUR WHINING!" Cricket scolded them. The Straw Hats were practically thrown out of his house. "There's no time for that now! GO! MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!"

"You expect us to go stumbling around in the forest in the middle of the night?" Usopp shrieked.

"Don't forget these," Cricket advised as he tossed three nets out of the house after the Straw Hats. Luffy and Ricky caught them. Cricket stood in the doorway with Shoujou and Masira, "The three of us are going to get started on the repairs to your ship. You know, now that I think about it, we probably shouldn't have had that party."

"OH SURE! NOW YA TELL US!" Usopp complained as he was dragged towards the forest by Zoro and Sanji.

"Listen, the clock's ticking," Cricket warned them, "You have until morning to catch a South Bird or you can forget about the whole thing."

**-x-**

And so, a little bit later, the Straw Hats found themselves in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night.

"Whoa, its pitch black!" Luffy noted.

"Will you let go of me, you idiot?" Sanji scolded Usopp who was clinging to him out of sheer terror.

"I c-can't…" Usopp whimpered, "Ricky's taken." They both glanced back and spotted Nami clinging to Ricky's arm.

"Just great," Sanji complained, "He's got Nami and I'm stuck with you."

"My stomach's still so stuffed from that dinner," Chopper groaned as he rubbed his belly. "I couldn't catch a bird if I saw one."

"So where are they?" Luffy wondered as he glanced around at the trees around him.

"Let's just catch one of 'em," Zoro resolved, "Then get back to drinking."

"Will someone remind me why we ended up in this mess?" Nami asked.

"You wanted to find the City of Gold on the Sky Island," Ricky answered.

"Man, he couldn't tell us in the daylight," Usopp cried as tears of terror ran down his face, "It had to be in the middle of the night."

"Where are the birds?" Luffy asked.

"If I had any idea where the birds were do you think we'd be out here looking for them?" Zoro retorted.

"All we know is that this thing's got a peculiar call," Luffy recalled as he, Ricky, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji huddled together.

"Yeah, and it looks just like that gold statue he showed us," Sanji added.

"Its kind of hard for me to believe that any bird can look that screwy-looking in real life," Zoro admitted.

"I bet a real one looks even stranger," Ricky told him, "The one we saw was solid gold. I'd bet it has colorful feathers too."

"Anyway, saying it has a peculiar call is too vague," Usopp pointed out, "We can't identify it just from that."

"Well, the old coot didn't seem to think we'd have any trouble finding one," Sanji stated.

**JOOOOHHH! **Everyone tensed as a strange call sounded through the forest.

"HEY! THAT SOUNDED PECULIAR!" Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper all said at the same time.

"Oh, ya think?" Nami snapped.

"Yeah," Luffy answered the rhetorical question.

"Well, we're here, let's get it over with," Zoro resolved.

"We'll probably have better luck is we split up into groups," Ricky decided.

"Three nets, three teams," Sanji reasoned. "Let's bag that bird."

Luffy took one net, Zoro another, and Sanji the third. **Clack! **They knocked their nets together.

"WE'RE GONNA BEAT UP A BIRD!" Luffy cheered as he and Chopper ran off into the forest.

"WE'RE TRYING TO _CATCH IT_!" Usopp called after them.

"I'll go after those two and keep them out of trouble," Ricky offered.

"But…" Nami started to protest.

"Go with Sanji," Ricky instructed, "He can look after you and Usopp, and then Robin can look after Zoro."

"HEY!" Zoro objected, "WHY AM _I _THE ONE BEING LOOKED AFTER?"

"Because Robin as a sense of direction," Ricky answered then grinned, "And her bounty's higher than yours."

"Cheeky bastard…" Zoro grumbled as he stomped off in the other direction.

"Mr. One Eye, hold out your hand," Robin instructed. Ricky did as he was told. "Oreja Fleur!" An ear grew out of the back of Ricky's hand.

"Now our groups can communicate," she explained.

Ricky eyed the ear growing out the back of his hand, "In that case, give me an eye too," he requested. "This way if I spot the bird I can point it out to you and you can get the drop on it with your powers without actually being there."

"Very clever, Mr. One Eye," Robin remarked. "As long as I see it, I can grab it. Ojo Fleur!" An eye appeared on Ricky's palm.

Ricky nodded and ran off after his younger brothers while Robin turned and followed after Zoro who was using his swords to hack his way through a bush when he could've just as easily gone around it.

"Don't worry Nami-baby," Sanji reassured Nami with a suave grin, "I'll protect you!"

"Me too Sanji-love!" Usopp gushed.

"WILL YOU SUCK IT UP AND STOP BEING SUCH A WUSS?" Sanji snapped.

"Come on guys," Nami resolved, "Let's catch that bird and get out of here."

"Okay, let's all just settle down and see if we can hear that bird's call again," Sanji decided. Sanji and Nami paused and cupped their hands to their ears.

"**Jeeeyaahh…"**

"Hey! There it is!" Nami exclaimed. But then she turned around.

"Jeeyaahh..." Usopp crowed in a poor imitation of the call they'd heard before. "Coomee oon oouut! Jeeeyaaah!"

**WHUP! **Sanji's net came down over Usopp's head. "Knock it off!" Sanji complained.

"Hey! Why're you catching me?" Usopp protested as he turned to face the cook, "Oh hey, nice accessorizing there Nami. Where'd you get that thing?"

"What thing?" Nami questioned. The she looked down AND SAW THE GIANT SPIDER THAT WAS CRAWLING UP HER SIDE! "SPIIIIIIDEEEEEEEERR! WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The spider dropped off of the terrified girl as she ran away screaming.

"What? It's just a spider," Usopp pointed out, for once he wasn't afraid and casually squatted down and picked up the big spider that had come off of Nami. It was easily the size of one of his hands. "Come here, ya poor thing…"

"I HATE SPIDERS YOU IDIOT!" Nami shrieked from the bush she was hiding behind. "THROW THAT THING AWAY!"

"GET RID OF IT USOPP!" Sanji shouted as he hid alongside Nami, "IT'S GOTTA BE POISONOUS!" Another hand-sized spider dropped out of a tree overhead and fell to the ground in front of the bush they were behind. "WAAAAHH-HAAAAA-HAAAA! THEY'RE FALLING FROM THE TREES!"

"THIS IS JUST TOO NASTY!" Nami screamed.

"I bet you're a species of tarantula," Usopp cooed to the spider as he let it crawl on his arm. He grinned at Nami and Sanji, "Don't worry you guys! They don't bite unless you make them angry or frighten them! I used to wrestle with spiders like this all the time."

"Are you out of your tiny little mind?" Sanji demanded while he and Nami hid behind the bush, "Bugs like that completely freak me out! Ewwwww!"

"Yeah me too!" Nami agreed looking just as freaked out, "They make my flesh crawl! THROW IT AWAY! I CAN'T STAND IT!"

"Ahahahaha! Suddenly Ricky being scared of zombies doesn't seem that bad!" Usopp taunted. "At least that's a reasonable fear, you're scared of tiny little bugs."

"BUGS ARE WAY WORSE THAN ZOMBIES!" Nami argued.

"DON'T YOU DARE MENTIONED THIS TO HIM!" Sanji roared.

"But you don't seem to have any problem with the centipedes and moths on the tree behind you," Usopp pointed out.

Slowly… slowly… slowly… Nami and Sanji directed their gaze behind them… THERE WERE OVER A HUNDRED MOTHS PERCHED ON THE TREE BEHIND THEM!

"YAAAAAHHH!" Sanji screamed.

"I HATE THOSE THINGS TOO!" Nami yelled, they bolted out of the bush and ran off screaming. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"WAIT!" Usopp called after them. "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!"

**-x-**

"Wait… that sounded like someone screaming," Robin noted. "And since I didn't hear it through the ear I gave Mr. One Eye, it must have been the other group."

"Really?" Zoro asked. **SLISH! **With a quick slash of his sword a huge centipede the size of his leg dropped down onto the ground in front of him. Zoro reached down and pulled the bug up by one of its feelers, "A centipede. And a big one."

"You don't have to kill every living thing we meet," Robin scolded him, "It's kind of rude."

"Don't lecture me," Zoro retorted. "It's his own fault for challenging me. Anyway, I still don't trust you. Don't forget that." He turned and started walking off.

"Hey wait!" Robin called after him.

"Now what?" Zoro groaned.

"You're going back the way we came," Robin stated causing Zoro start twitching in annoyance.

**JOOOOOOOHHHHH!**

"There it is again," Robin realized as she turned in the direction she'd just heard the bird call. "Come on. And be careful not to step in the quicksand."

"Hey, wait for—ugghhh…" Zoro started after her only to immediately sink knee-deep into the patch of quicksand she'd just warned him about.

**-x-**

"SHISHISHI! I GOTCHA!" Luffy laughed. He wasn't having any trouble at all. But he seemed to have forgotten what he was looking for because he pulled a large bug out from a tree's roots. "It's an Atlas!"

"An Atlas?" Chopper repeated.

"That's right," Luffy replied, "This one and the Hercules Beetle are some of the most prized insects in the world for collectors."

"You mean there are people who collect insects?" Chopper asked.

"Oh sure," Luffy confirmed, "and these guys are some of the hardest to catch."

"Hey! Which one is cooler? That bug or the One Piece?" Chopper questioned.

"Ugghhh…" Luffy groaned as he struggled with the difficult choice. "That's a tough one."

"Please," Ricky scoffed from where he was scanning the tree tops nearby. "That's no contest. Now in case you forgot, we're here to find a _bird_ not a bug."

"Ricky's just upset cause I always caught more bugs then him when we were kids," Luffy whispered to Chopper.

"That's cause I was busy looking for more important things, like treasure," Ricky protested.

"Rare bugs are way cooler than crummy treasure!" Luffy argued.

"You can't buy anything with bugs!" Ricky insisted.

"Oh yeah, then why'd that one guy give me his lunch when I showed him the spider I caught?" Luffy retorted.

"Because he ran away _screaming_!" Ricky answered, "He was arachnophobic!"

"Here's another one!" Chopper called out as he pointed to a beetle on a tree.

"WHOA!" Luffy gasped. "A STAG BEETLE!"

"We're here… to find… A _BIRD_!" Ricky reminded them.

"I'LL CATCH IT!" **SHOOM! **Luffy stretched his arms out and tried to catch the beetle on the tree but the bug launched off of the tree and flew away from Luffy's arms.

"It flew away…" Chopper noted as he watched the Stag Beetle fly away.

"RAAAH!" **WHUP! WHUP! **Luffy started swinging his net at the beetle but it always managed to avoid him and started flying away even faster. "DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!" Luffy and Chopper ran off after the beetle while Ricky hung his head.

"I miss Ollie," Ricky sighed, "She could find a stupid bird in a forest in no time."

**JOOOOHHH!**

Ricky looked up and despite his limited depth perception and the fact that it was in the middle of the night, spotted the source of the call. Perched on a branch further down the path Luffy and Chopper were chasing the beetle down was a South Bird. It had a toucan-size bill, the two growths on the top of its head, the fishtail like growth coming out of the back of its head that made its whole head look like a big arrow, and a round body that was roughly four times the size as its head. The feathers on the South Bird's head were a pale pink and purple while the feathers on the bird's body were purple and green. The greens ones were on its chest and the middle of its wings while the purple feathers made up its lower body and the tops and bottoms of its wings.

On the tree branch next to the South Bird was a bee hive.

"Joh!" the bird crowed as it nudged the hive. **THUD! **The bee hive fell from the branch and landed in Luffy and Chopper's patch.

"A BEE HIVE!" Luffy hollered. "RUUUUN!" **BZZZZZZZZ! **A swarm of angry bees came surged out of the hive and flew at Luffy and Chopper who turned and started running back towards Ricky.

**SWIP! **Ricky snatched the net from Luffy as he and Chopper ran by then lunged out of the way of the swarm of bees who were more intent on chasing their initial targets.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THIS FOREST!" Luffy yelled.

"Luffy, look up there!" Chopper called out. The two looked back over their shoulders and spotted the South Bird perched on the tree branch behind them.

"A BIRD!" Luffy exclaimed.

"HE'S THE ONE THAT DROPPED THE BEE HIVE!" Chopper realized.

"JOOOOOHH! JOOOOOHHH!" the bird cried.

"WHAT DID HE SAY?" Luffy asked. "DID YOU UNDERSTAND HIM?"

"Uh…" Chopper answered, "he said: _'I'LL KILL ANYONE WHO DISTURBS THIS FOREST'_!"

"Robin! Now!" Ricky called into the ear on the back of his hand while he pointed the eye on his palm at the South Bird up on the tree branch. He'd capitalized on the distraction caused by Luffy and Chopper running away from the bees to position himself below the tree branch.

Four arms grew out of the tree branch and grabbed the started South Bird before it had a chance to do anything. **WHAP! **"JOOOOHHH!"

**SKISH!" **Ricky leapt up to the branch the struggling bird was rooted on. **SHU-WHUP! **Ricky swung the net down and caught half the large bird inside it. "Gotcha!"

"JOOOOHHH! JOOOOOHHHH!" the bird cried.

Ricky looked up in time to see dozens of hand-sized spiders dropping out of the tree branches above him.

"Shit!" Ricky cursed. He lunged at the netted bird and tackled it, knocking the bird and himself off of the branch and down to the ground. **WHUMP!**

"JOOOH! JOOOOOHHH!" the frantic South Bird shot out of the next and started taking off.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Ricky growled. **WHAP! **Ricky launched himself at the bird and grabbed onto its feet. But despite the bird being only a quarter his size, the bird managed to lift both itself and Ricky up into the air. **FWAP!FWAP!FWAP!FWAP!**

"No, no, stay on the ground, stupid!" Ricky ordered. "Someone stop this crazy thing!"

"JOOOHH! JOOOOHHH!" the South Bird crowed as they flew through the trees with Ricky clutching its feet for all he was worth.

**-x-**

Back at Cricket's house, Cricket, Shoujou, and Masira were standing outside staring down their second group of visitors.

Bellamy the Hyena stood across from them with Sarquiss and the rest of his crew behind him.

"Now, now little boy," Shoujou taunted Bellamy, "You don't really wanna go and make us angry, do you?"

"It's not nice to show up in the middle of the night uninvited and demand gold from somebody," Masira commented. "Now get lost. We've got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it."

"HAAAA HAHAHAAAHAAAHAAA!" Bellamy laughed. "You must be the bodyguards, and the old man must be the ex-pirate Cricket. I heard the sad story of the Montblanc Family back at the bar. It moved me to tears. But stealing another man's treasure moves me even more. I'm a pirate." **SHWIF! **Bellamy threw off his blue Captain's coat and stood there in his sleeveless pink shirt, "CRICKET! Maybe you'd like to know what people call me before I take your whole life's work?" A cruel grin crossed the scavenger's face as he stuck his tongue out at his latest victims. "THE HYENA! AAAHAAAHAHAA! HAAAAHAAAHAAAHAA!"

**-x-**

The Straw Hats are having trouble in the forest while Cricket, Shoujou and Masira are having some trouble of their own. Next chapter its Bellamy versus the Saruyama Alliance.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	12. Bellamy versus the Saruyama Alliance

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:**This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**Bellamy vs. the Saruyama Alliance:**

**-x-**

"WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Luffy and Chopper screamed as they ran from a trio of flying Praying Mantises that were each about the same size as Chopper who was in his four-legged Walk Point form. They'd come into the forest to find a South Bird but the South Birds had taken offense and now the Straw Hats were all having trouble with the local wild life.

"CHOPPER WATCH OUT!" Luffy shouted.

**SLISH! **One of the Praying Mantises lashed out at them with the blade on its arm and they only just managed to avoid it causing the Praying Mantis to slash its blade through the trunk of a tree instead. **KRASH! **Tree toppled over from the clean cut and hit the ground behind them.

"JOOOHH!" a nearby South Bird crowed. It was different from the first one they'd encountered. It had slightly paler purple feathers while the pink feathers on its head were brighter.

**Chip-chip-chip! **A Praying Mantis landed on the log left behind by the fallen tree and brandished its blades at Luffy and Chopper.

"SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THESE THINGS!" Luffy exclaimed as he and Chopper ran away with the huge Mantis. "THEY AREN'T NORMAL!"

**SLISH-SLISH-SLISH! **The Mantis lashed out again with its arm blade and Luffy had to duck to keep his head attached to his body.

"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper screamed.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS FOREST?" Luffyhollered.

"JOOOOOOHHH!" the South Bird crowed with an evil grin.

"ITS HER FAULT!" Chopper realized.

"WHOSE?" Luffy questioned.

"HERS! THE SOUTH BIRD!" Chopper shouted. "SHE'S CONTROLLING THE BUGS!"

"THEY CAN CONTROL BUGS _AND_ GUIDE SHIPS?" Luffy asked.

**-x-**

**JOOOOHHH! **Two South Birds were perched on a branch looking in the same direction while a third South Bird that was perched on a perpendicular branch and had its head turned to the side so it was looking in the same direction as the other two.

"Shhhh…" Usopp hissed to Nami and Sanji. They were standing at the bottom of a hill while the trio of South Birds were perched on trees at the top. "You guys hear anything?"

"JOOOOOHH!" the three South Birds cried.

**Whup-whup-whup-whup-whup! **A group of large round 'rocks' rolled through the trees the South Birds were perched in and starting rolling down the hill towards the three Straw Hats.

"Something…" Sanji admitted. "But it sure doesn't sound like any bird to me." **Whup-whup-whup-whup-whup!** Then they saw the round 'rocks' coming their way.

"UP THERE!" Usopp exclaimed.

"What are they?" Sanji wondered. "Boulders?"

"Yeah, it looks like an avalanche!" Usopp replied as he adjusted his goggles. The 'rocks' were cloaked in the shadow from the trees so it was hard to see what they actually were.

"No you're wrong…" Nami realized as they came closer, "THEY'RE BUUUGS!"

"LADY BUGS!" Sanji gasped. They could now see the round purple shells that were marked with orange spots of a group of lady bugs that were each three times the size of a human head.

"Big ones!" Usopp added. **BONK! **One of the lady bugs slammed into him and knocked him over. Nami quickly used Sanji as a meat shield while the cook lashed out his leg and kicked one of the lady bugs back up the hill. **THWAK!**

"Joh-joh-joohh!" the South Birds crowed in what sounded like mocking laughter.

**-x-**

"Uggghhh…" Zoro groaned as he found himself facing off an army of crickets that were each half as tall as he was. **THONK! **He hit another one over the head and knocked it to the ground, only for another one to pop up and take its place. "There's no end to them! They just keep popping up!" **BONK! BONK! **Zoro smacked the new cricket over the head. "STUPID CRICKETS! YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?"

"Whatever you do, hold onto that bird, Mr. One Eye," Robin said to herself as she stood nearby with her back to Zoro. All around her were various piles of crickets that Zoro had bested in combat. She was currently looking through the eye she'd planted on Ricky's hand.

**JOOOOHH!**

"If those birds were as easy to see as they were to hear, we'd be done already," Robin stated.

**-x-**

"Stop flying stupid!" Ricky snapped as he held onto the feet of a South Bird as it flew them through the forest. "You're gonna get us _both_ killed! WHOA! Look at the size of that spider!"

Ahead of them was a huge spider web stretch across two trees. And in it was a spider that was the size of both Ricky and the South Bird put together.

**FWAP-FWAP! **The South Bird flapped its wings and flew upward so he'd be able to fly over the web while Ricky would hit it and get stuck in it.

"Oh no you don't!" Ricky growled. He held onto the South Bird's feet with one hand and drew _Akakyuuketsuki _with the other. **SLISH! **Ricky slashed the web and he flew right through it. Ricky glared up at the South Bird, "Don't get any other bright ideas, stupid! If you try to leave me high and dry, I'm bringing you down with me!"

**Skit-skit-skit! **Ricky looked behind him and his eye went wide when he saw a very angry spider leaping from tree-to-tree as it leapt after them looking to avenge its slashed web. **Skit-skit-skit!** The huge spider clacked its pincers menacingly.

"Oh crap! It's coming after us!" Ricky warned the South Bird. "Fly! Fly faster, stupid!"

"JOOOOHHH! JOOOOOHHH!" the South Bird crowed back at the spider.

"SKIT-SKIT-SKIT!" the spider clacked back in response causing the South Bird's eyes to widen in alarm. It looked like this spider was too angry to be controlled. **FWAPFWAPFWAP!** The South Bird quickly heeded Ricky's orders and started flying faster.

**-x-**

"GAAAAAHHH!" Nami and Usopp shrieked when they found themselves faced with a big purple slug that was the size of all three of them combined.

"A slug that size needs a lot of salt," Sanji decided as he pulled out a bag of salt he conveniently carried on him and threw it on the slug.

"How can you think about cooking at a time like this?" Usopp demanded.

**EEEEEEK! **The slug squealed and shriveled up from Sanji's salt.

"See, salt dissolves slugs, idiot!" Sanji snapped at him.

"Joooohhhh…" a nearby South Bird crowed in a low growl.

**-x-**

"I'M SICK OF ALL THIS RUNNING!" Luffy yelled as Chopper ran away from a swarm of killer bees while pulling an extremely annoyed Luffy along with him. "COME ON YOU BUGS! BRING IT ON!"

"No Luffy!" Chopper mumbled around his mouth-hold on Luffy's vest.. "Just one sting and you're history!"

**-x-**

"FIRE FLIES!" Usopp exclaimed as a group of a glowing bugs flew passed them.

"Pretty!" Nami remarked, she'd finally found a bug she liked. "GAAAAAHH! ROACHES!"

An army of cockroaches surged out from a bush towards them.

"PIIIIIGS!" Usopp hollered as he herd of wild pigs charged them.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Nami and Usopp screamed in terror as they were subjected to one terror after another.

**JOOOOOHH! JOOOOOHHH! JOOOOOOHH! **The South Bird's cries echoed through the forest, all of them seemingly enjoying their torment.

**-x-**

"I don't see it behind us anymore," Ricky told the South Bird as he looked behind them for any signs of the angry spider.

"JOOOOOH! JOOOOOH!" the South Bird crowed.

Ricky looked back in front of us and his eye went wide. THE SPIDER WAS IN FRONT OF THEM! The spider was perched on the tree branch they were heading towards and was snapping its pinchers angrily. **CLAK-CLAK-CLAK!**

"Crap," Ricky cursed. Then he quickly pointed he eye on his hand at the giant spider. "Robin! Do something! Grab it!"

**WHA-WHAP!** Twenty arms grew out of the surrounding trees and grabbed hold of the surprised spider. **WHING! **Ricky threw himself in front of the South Bird and lashed out with his still drawn sword. "Red Storm: LIGHTNING STRIKE!" **SLISH! **A red-tinted air blade flew off of Ricky's sword and slashed the bound spider. Robin's arm released it causing the spider to fall off of the branch and down towards the forest floor.

**TMP! **Ricky landed on the now empty branch and the South Bird flew passed him crowing in victory, "JOOOOH! JOOOOOH!"

Ricky nicked himself with his sword and sheathed it, then pointed Robin's eye at the South Bird. "Would you mind grabbing that one too?" he requested into the ear.

**WHA-WHAP!** Another cluster of twenty arms grew out of the trees and caught the South Bird as it flew into them. **SKISH! **Ricky launched himself off of the branch and grabbed onto the bound bird. **WHUMP! **"You're not going anywhere, stupid!" he growled.

With its wings trapped against its sides by Ricky's arms, the South Bird could no longer fly and the two of them plummeted down towards the ground.

"JOOOOOH! JOOOOOOH!" the South Bird cried in alarm.

"No way am I letting you fly again!" Ricky snapped, "At least we'll land in that bush." And so Ricky and the frantic South Bird dropped towards a bush but it wasn't until they were right over it that Ricky's noticed one important thing: the thorns. "Damn my lack of depth perception." **KRASH! **Ricky and the South Bird went crashing down into the thorn bush and disappeared from sight.

**-x-**

Back at Cricket's house, the Saruyama Alliance was staring down Bellamy and his crew.

"If you're looking for a fight, then you've come to the right place!" Shoujou remarked.

"You're gonna regret mocking the Saruyama Alliance!" Masira growled.

"RAAAH!" Sarquiss roared as he, Rivers, and Ross charged at the man and the monkeys.

"Heh heh heh," Bellamy chuckled as he stood back watching the crew.

"Hand over the gold, old man!" Sarquiss ordered as he threw a punch at Cricket only for the 'old man' to block it. **Whap! **"Do it quickly and we may even let you live!"

Bellamy's First Mate lashed out with a barrage of punches but Cricket blocked them all with relative ease. **Whap! Whap! Whap! **"You forgot to say 'please'," Cricket taunted. **THWAK! **He lashed out his leg and sent Sarquiss flying.

"Uugghh…" Sarquiss groaned as he flipped over in the air and crashed to the ground. **FWUMP!**

"MONKEY PUNCH!" **SHA-POW! **Masira sent Rivers flying with a big swinging punch.

"RAAAH!" Shoujou roared as he floored Ross with a punch of his own. **KA-POW!**

"…" Bellamy stood by watching silently as his crew was taken down.

"Grrr…" Sarquiss growled as he got up and pulled out the huge kukri blade that he got his 'Big Knife' nickname for. **Shwup-shwup-shwup-shwup… **Sarquiss twirled his blade around and glared at Cricket who stared him down while standing in a ready stance.** SKISH! **"RAAAAH!" Sarquiss roared as he jumped at Cricket and lashed out with his knife.

**THWAK! **Cricket kicked Sarquiss' wrist and sent the big knife flying away from him. **SHUNK! **It sunk into the ground in front of Bellamy.

"You know its dangerous for a kid like you to be playing with such a big knife," Cricket taunted.

"Looks like the boys might actually need a hand," Bellamy remarked, "Guess I'd better show 'em how it's done…" **Whup… **Bellamy's body sank downwards as his legs coiled up like a giant pair of springs. "SPRING… SNIPER!" **SHOOOOM! **Bellamy sprang off of the ground and launched himself across the clearing in an instant and slammed his fist into Masira's back while he was busy fighting Rivers. **KA-POW!**

"AAAAHHH!" Masira groaned as he started falling backwards. **Whup!** Bellamy pulled himself up on Masira's big body and pressed his feet into the monkey's face causing his legs to coil up like a pair of springs again. **SHOOOOM! **Masira went flying backwards as Bellamy sprang off of him and caught Shoujou off guard with a flying punch to the face. **KA-POW!**

"WAAAAAH!" Shoujou wailed as he was sent rolling away across the clearing.

**WHUP… **Bellamy touched down on the ground and his legs coiled then he sprang off again and launched himself at Cricket. **SHOOOM! **Cricket leaned to the side and barely managed to avoid being hit. **SWISH! **Bellamy kept going and landed feet first on the side of the Going Merry. **WHUP… **His legs coiled up again and he launched himself off of the ship. **SHOOOOM! **

**KRAASH!** Cricket stared in horror as the front quarter of the Going Merry broke off when Bellamy sprang off of it.

**KA-POW! **Bellamy smashed his fist into Cricket's face and finally took him down. **Tmp! **Bellamy landed next to Cricket and grinned to himself having taken down all three members of the Saruyama Alliance with ease.

"So what do you think of our Captain's Spring Spring Fruit Powers, old man?" Sarquiss taunted as he pressed his foot down into Cricket's back.

"Uugghh…" Cricket groaned.

"Aww, he's speechless!" Sarquiss remarked, "PAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Clean up this trash now," Bellamy ordered as he walked away and left his men to deal with the defeated opponents. "And be quick about it."

Now that their opponents were once again not fighting back, the Bellamy Pirates had no problem roughing up Cricket, Shoujou, and Masira.

**THUD! **Masira hit the ground. **THUD!** Shoujou fell next to him. **THUD!** Cricket dropped too. All three had been bloodied and had no way to defend themselves from the Bellamy Pirates' brutal assault.

"PAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sarquiss laughed, "Well so much for the Saruyama Alliance! Just an old man and two smelly apes! What a joke! PAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"**Hey Bellamy!"** Eddy called out as he came out of Cricket's house carrying a big bulky sack. "We hit the jackpot." Eddy put the sack down in front of Bellamy who opened it to reveal the golden South Bird statue and the three golden ingots.

"Whoa, I'll say," Bellamy gasped, "Look at this! That's a fine piece of gold!"

"And now, it all belongs to us," Sarquiss commented.

"Ugghhh… no way…" Cricket groaned as he fought back up to his feet. Blood was streaming down out of a gash on his forehead and left three trails going down his face. "You punks have no right to take that gold."

"No right?" Sarquiss repeated as he glared at Cricket. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT GIVES US THE RIGHT!" Sarquiss charged the injured Cricket while swinging his knife at his side. **SKISH! **Sarquiss surged off of the ground and summersaulted through air towards Cricket.

"Ah!" Cricket started.

"Grrr…" Masira growled as he surged off of the ground and positioned himself in between Sarquiss and Cricket.

"BIIIIG CHOOOP!" **SLA-SLISH! **Sarquiss' big knife cleaved into Masira's back while he flipped over the monkey and landed on the other side of him. **Tmp! **

"You damn fool…" Cricket whispered as Masira hit the ground with a big bloody gash running down the entire length of his back. **FWUMP!**

"PAHAHAHAHA!" Sarquiss laughed. "We're way stronger than you and your pals, old man! I'd say that alone gives us the right to take what we want, when we want, don't you? Come on… let's dance!"

"If you don't mind… I'm cutting in!" Shoujou interjected as he pushed himself up to his feet and pulled out his microphone. "HAAVOOC SOOONAAAAR! **WOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAA!"**

The power of Shoujou's voice caused the ground to crumble and the Bellamy Pirates to recoil.

"Why you little…" Sarquiss growled as he readied his knife for another attack.

"Sarquiss, no!" Bellamy cut him off. "I'm going to finish him off my way!" **WHUP! **Bellamy sank downward as his legs one again turned into coiled springs.

"It's him again," Cricket realized, "The one with those Spring Spring Fruit Powers. SHOUJOU, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

"SPRIIIING… SNIIIIPEEEER!" **SHOOOOM! **Bellamy sprang off of the ground and rocketed towards Shoujou who was still caught up in shouting into his microphone.

**BA-BUMP! **"UGGGGHHH!" Shoujou let out a pained groan.

"NOOO SHOUJOU!" Cricket cried.

Blood spewed out of Shoujou's still opened mouth as Bellamy's fist sank into his stomach with enough force to shatter the golden clasp on his way-too-small shirt as well as some of his ribs. **KRASH! **Shoujou went flying backwards and smashed clear through Cricket's house, burst through the wooden cut out on the back, and went splashing down into the water. **SPLOOSH!**

Cricket stared after Shoujou in shock.

"_Old timer, look what we found!" a younger Shoujou called out years ago as he showed off the golden ingot he and his crew had found on the ocean floor. "GOLD! A bell-shaped ingot! AAAHAHAHAHAAA!"_

Shoujou's battered body broke the water's surface and floated on the far side of Cricket's house.

"Nooo…" Cricket whispered.

"_Look!" Masira exclaimed with a big smile as he held up the golden ingot and pointed to a passage in Noland's logbook. "It's just like it says here in the logbook! Gold bells! THE STORY'S TRUE! OOKEEKEE!"_

Masira's bloody body was still lying nearby with the large wound running down his back,

"We're done here," Bellamy addressed his crew, "let's go."

"And as for you, old man," Bellamy called out as he and his men headed back to their ship. "GROW UP! HAAHAA! The City of Gold is just a fairy tale. That liar Noland dreamt it all up. If you want to be a pirate in this New Era, you've got to wise up! YOUR DREAMS WILL NEVER COME TRUE, EVER! HAAHAAHAAAHAAAHAAAA!" Bellamy's crew laughed along with him.

"_The City of Gold does exist!" Masira cheered in Cricket's memories. "OOKEEKEE!"_

"_WOOOHOOO!" Shoujou cheered._

"_Hahaha!" Cricket laughed at the antics of the two monkey brothers. "Hey guys, take it easy! You'll wreck my house! Hahahaha!"_

"You know something, junior," Cricket finally called after Bellamy. Upon seeing the state the that two monkeys who had wormed their way into his heart were in, he didn't really care what Bellamy did to him at this point. Cricket pushed himself back up to his feet and lit up a cigarette. "A worthless little punk like you who's too afraid to believe in dreams… doesn't have the right to call himself a pirate."

Bellamy stopped in his tracks and looked back at Cricket with a crazed look in his eyes, **"What was that?" **Bellamy growled.

**-x-**

**The 100 Million Berri Man:**

**-x-**

"So let me get this straight…" Nami recapped, she, Usopp, and Sanji had reunited with Luffy and Chopper, "Not only did you not manage to catch a bird, but you _lost_ Ricky?"

"The birds kept sending giant swarms of bugs after us!" Luffy protested. "We could never even get close enough. Ricky went after the first one but we haven't seen him since."

"Huff… huff…" Chopper panted as he laid on the ground beside him. "All we did was run…"

"Uggh…" Nami sighed, "It's a wonder that you two didn't end up back at Mock Town."

"Eight people couldn't even catch one bird," Usopp muttered, "That's pathetic. Come on guys, would you get it together?"

"You're one to talk," Sanji muttered.

"**I believe Mr. One Eye managed to catch one," **came Robin's voice as she walked into the clearing with Zoro following behind her. "But I lost contact with him when he and the bird fell in a thorn bush."

"We didn't even see _one_," Zoro stated, "Just an army of dumb crickets. It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"And we've been at this for _hours_," Nami complained, "I can't run anymore."

"**Have I ever mentioned… that I hate birds?"** Ricky walked into the clearing holding a subdued South Bird upside down by its feet. The two of them were covered in thorns.

"RICKY! YOU CAUGHT ONE!" Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper cheered.

Ricky turned to Robin and nodded at her, "Thanks for your help. The next time we end up in a strange forest, I'm sticking with you."

"So… did you end up naming it?" Nami asked as she eyed the South Bird.

"I never got around to it," Ricky admitted, "I've just been calling him 'stupid'."

"Works for me," Luffy and Chopper chorused. They remembered the incident with the bees.

"Jooooh! Jooooohhh!" the South Bird crowed in what sounded more like a whine.

"He says 'I don't want to leave my home behind'," Chopper translated.

"Oh great, now I feel bad," Ricky muttered.

**Fwap-Fwap! **"JOOOOHJOOHJOOOOOOH!" another South Bird landed on a branch above them and crowed angrily at them. It was the one with the brighter pink facial feathers that had taken over tormenting Luffy and Chopper while Ricky had gone after the original one.

"She says 'Let him go, you jerks'," Chopper told them.

"And now I don't," Ricky said, as he turned to face the new South Bird. The head of the one he was holding stayed pointed in the same direction whiles its body turned along with Ricky. "Look, we're going to Sky Island and we're taking this guy with us whether you like it or not." The new bird looked even angrier. "_But_… I'm willing to bring you along too if you want to stick together so bad. However, in exchange I don't want any trouble for either of you… got it?"

"JOOH!" the South Bird agreed with a nod. **FWAP-FWAP-FWAP! **She flew down and perched on Ricky's shoulder. This was made slightly awkward due to the large size of the bird. The male South Bird that Ricky was still holding by its feet grinned slightly.

"Right, now we've got two South Birds," Ricky resolved, "Let's get back to Cricket's house."

"How'd you know they wanted to be together?" Nami asked.

"The one didn't want to leave, the other didn't want us to take him," Ricky reasoned, "One's male, the other's female. I know I'd be beyond upset if someone showed up out of nowhere and took you away to some strange place where I'd never see you again. I figure these two are a set. And I guess there's nothing like out-flying a giant man-eating spider that'll bring two guys closer together… even if one's a bird."

"Teeheeheehee!" Chopper suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Usopp asked.

"Big Brother just reminded me of a picture in my favorite book," Chopper answered he reached into his medical bag and pulled out a book. "This is the book about pirates that I read after Dr. Hiriluk told me about them…" The reindeer paged through the book and grinned when he found the right page, "Teeheeheehee!"

Luffy and Usopp came over and peered over Chopper's shoulders at the book and then glanced at Ricky before they both burst out laughing, "SHISHISHISHISHI! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What is it?" Ricky asked.

Sanji and Robin went over to take a look and when they saw the picture they started laughing too, "Wahahahahahaha! Fufufufufufufu!"

"Seriously, what?" Ricky asked again.

Zoro decided to see what all the fuss was about and glanced down at the book too, he couldn't help chuckling at what he saw, "Heh heh!"

"Would someone _please_ tell me what's so funny?" Ricky requested.

Chopper turned the book around to face him and Nami took one look and immediately started laughing, "HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" Even the South Birds started lauging at him, "JOHJOHJOHJOH!"

The picture in the book showed a traditional pirate with a cutlass at his waist - just like Ricky, an eye patch - just like Ricky, a treasure chest that he was dragging with one hand - like Ricky did sometimes, and a parrot perched on his opposite shoulder - just like Ricky. With the exception of the shaggy beard, at this moment, Ricky looked just like a traditional pirate.

"Yar," Ricky growled resigning himself to being the butt of the joke which caused another round of laughter from the others. "Let us be returnin' to Cricket's cove, mateys." The others laughed even harder at the ancient pirate slang. "We've but one moon to reach the fabled island in the sky, yaarr. Come along crew and there'll be plenty of booty for all, yaaarr…"

"AHAHAHAHA! MY SIDES HURT!" Usopp cried, he and the other were laughing so hard.

"Booty?" Nami repeated.

"Aye," Pirate-Ricky replied, "Come along wench…" **Whup! **He grabbed her and tucked her under his arm and started carrying her away.

"Who're you calling a wench?" Nami complained. "Lemme go! This is so undignified!"

"Yaar," Pirate-Ricky drawled, "if ya keep strugglin' then I'll just throw ya in the brig and you'll get no treasure... Yarr..."

"Oh, well since you put it so eloquently," Nami reasoned with a playful grin as she snapped of a salute, "Aye-aye, sir!"

Then suddenly… "Dereshishishishi!"

Everyone turned to stare at Robin. Her eyes went wide and she clamped her hand over her mouth. "I haven't laughed like that since I was a little girl," she confessed.

"You should do it more often, it was cute," Ricky reassured her, finally breaking character. Despite all of Robin's self-control her cheeks took on the faintest hint of pink. Not wanting to make Robin uncomfortable under everyone's scrutiny, Ricky quickly drew the attention back to himself, "YARR! Let's go crew!" He started making his way north towards Cricket's house with Nami still tucked under his arm and the heads of the two South Birds pointing behind him.

"AYE-AYE!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper cheered as they ran after him.

"Hey wait…" Luffy suddenly realized, "RICKY! _I'M _THE CAPTAIN!

**-x-**

"HEY POPS! WE MANAGED TO CATCH _TWO _OF THOSE BIRDS!" Luffy exclaimed when they returned to Cricket's house.

But the jolly mood the Straw Hats were in immediately faded when the saw the state the house, Cricket, Shoujou, Masira, and the Going Merry were in.

"Pops… what happened?" Luffy asked.

"Masira?" Usopp called out as he stared down at Masira's bloody and prone form.

"Shoujou!" Sanji exclaimed when he spotted him floating in the water behind the house and immediately made his way over to him.

"What the… what happened here?" Nami wondered.

"I've got a better questioned," Sanji replied as he dragged Shoujou toward the shore, "Who did this." Chopper quickly ran over to Sanji. "Hey, gimme a hand…" Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point form and helped Sanji get the unconscious monkey onto the shore.

"GAAAAH! THE GOING MERRY!" Usopp shrieked when he spotted the ship. The entire front of it had come clean off. "WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHO DID THIS? WHEN I FIND OUT, THEY'RE GONNA BE SORRY THEY EVER LAID A FINGER ON HER! THE SAVAGES! DAMN IT!"

"Sorry… kid…" Cricket groaned.

"You're alive!" Luffy cheered.

"Koff! Koff!" Cricket wheezed.

"Don't try to move, okay," Luffy told him, "Just take it easy."

"I'm sorry—KOFF—about this…" Cricket apologized, "We did everything we could to stop them… but it wasn't enough… Made us look pretty pathetic…" Cricket struggled to sit up, "Gotta get moving though… the ship's not gonna patch itself up…"

"Hold on, pops!" Luffy said, "Wait, tell us what happened first. Who did this to you?"

"Calm down, it doesn't matter anymore," Cricket reassured him, "Did you have any luck finding…" Cricket's eyes widened when he spotted Ricky with two South Birds perched on his shoulders. "Huh, would you look at that, you managed to catch _two _South Birds. They're really hard to catch."

"LUUFFYY! RIIICKYY!" Nami called out from in the remains of Cricket's house. "Cricket's gold! IT'S GONE!" The others stared at her in different degrees of surprise. Ricky gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"That stuff… its junk," Cricket attempted to reassure them, "Just forget it. It doesn't matter. Your dream is more important. We have to get you to the Kno—"

"FORGET IT!" Usopp interrupted. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? THINK ABOUT WHAT IT TOOK TO GET THAT GOLD! TEN YEARS OF DIVING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN! SUBJECTING YOUR BODY TO ALL THE PRESSURES OF THE DEEP! COME ON! YOU CAN'T JUST—"

"Shut up!" Cricket snapped as he glared at Usopp. "I'm serious. That gold, and what happens to it is your problem, got it? Your ship's in no shape to make it to the Knock-Up Stream. If we can get all the Saruyama Alliance crew here, they'll have it fixed and reinforced by morning. You'll still be able to set sail tomorrow. Listen, everything will be alright… We _will _send you to the sky, I promise that."

"Old timer…" Usopp whispered.

"Hey Luffy…" Zoro called out from where he was staring at the remains of Cricket's house. Luffy turned to him and Zoro pointed to the familiar symbol that he'd been staring at. It was a smiley face with a line through it.

"That's Bellamy's mark!" Nami realized.

Luffy silently stood up.

"You want any help?" Zoro offered.

"I'll handle this one on my own," Luffy told him.

"Luffy don't be stupid!" Nami scolded him, "We have to set sail in three hours!"

"Birds, move," Ricky ordered as he pointed to Sanji. The two South Birds flew from Ricky and perched on Sanji's shoulders. Ricky turned back to Luffy. "I'm going too. I know you don't need help. But I want to make sure you get there and back on time." The two brothers stared at each other, "You know me, Luffy. I won't just stand around when someone's hard earned treasure has been stolen."

"Fine," Luffy relented, then turned to Robin, "If we follow the coast will that take us all the way back to Mock Town?"

"Yes, it will," Robin answered.

"Hey!" Cricket called out as Luffy started walking off with Ricky following behind him, "Where are you going? Don't be an idiot! You can't possibly take on this Bellamy-guy all by yourself!" He stopped when he suddenly found Zoro's sword in front of him.

"If you want to stop them, use this," the swordsman offered.

"You two, don't do it," Cricket urged them.

In response, Luffy simply cracked his knuckles.

"Wait Ricky…" Nami called out. "If you're going too, would you mind doing me a favor?" She walked up to Ricky and whispered in his ear.

"He said _what_?" Ricky growled. **Whap! **Nami smacked him on the back of the head and whispered something else. "Oh, I'll do more than that…" **Whap! **Nami smacked him again and whispered in his ear again. "Fine. Consider it done." Nami stepped back and Ricky turned to Luffy and nodded.

"We'll be back by morning, guys," Luffy vowed.

**-x-**

**Cooo… cooo… **Back at Mock Town the silhouette of a seagull could be seen as it flew passed the moon.

**Pssssshhh… **"Well lookie there…" a drunk man named Jobo slurred as he relieved himself off the end of a dock in the Mock Town harbor. "It looks like the moon's right up there over the water. Heh! Guess my eye sight's really getting bad! I'd better get my eyes checked or I'm gonna end up falling off of this dock." The drunk zipped up his pants and turned away from the dock. "Hah hah hah! Imagine that, a pirate with bad eye sight. Me, I think I'd rather lose one eye than have two bad ones! Haahaa! At least I'd get an eye patch!"

**Cooo… cooo… **The seagull flew closer and was revealed do be a Delivery Bird and had a bundle of papers clutch in its beak. **FWUMP! **The seagull dropped the bundle on the ground in front of Jobo

"Hey! Whaddaya know!" Jobo exclaimed when he spotted the bundle. "A newspaper! Must be the really early edition!" Jobo staggered over to the bundle and picked it up. He unfolded it to reveal that it was actually a stack new Wanted Posters. "Huh? This ain't no paper! It's stack of Wanted Posters! Oh boy, what is this town coming to when lowlife scum outnumber the fine upstanding citizens like myself." The drunk began paging through the new Wanted Posters. "Oh, hey, there's an eye patch. But I think I'd get a fancy one. Hah hah hah!" Jobo's head tilted to the side when he recognized the two Wanted Posters of Luffy and Zoro around the one of the pirate with the eye patch.

"Hey, it's those two spineless guys from this afternoon!" Jobo realized, "Hah! That loony kid talking about the island in the sky was a riot! What was he worth… thirty million?" Jobo stared down at Luffy's Wanted Poster. "HAHAHAHAHA! I guess my eye sight really is getting pretty bad!" Jobo squinted and began counting the zeros that followed the one on Luffy's poster. "So… one, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand… a hundred thousand? I think I'm gonna need some reading glasses! HAHAHA! One hundred thousand… one million… o-one… h-hundred… m-m-million…" Jobo's eyes went wide in horror and his flushed face paled.

**-x-**

Luffy and Ricky ran side-by-side along the shore as they raced towards Mock Town. The sound of their heavy breathing and their rapid foot-falls was all the sound they made. Nami's warning still rang in their head.

"_Three hours," Nami had said, "that's all you've got. If you take any longer we're gonna lose our chance to go to Sky Island and its gonna be all your fault."_

They didn't have much time. The crew was counting on them to get back before sunrise. Going to Sky Island was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They couldn't afford to miss it.

**WHUP! **Luffy's foot caught on a tree root and he stumbled forward.

**Whap! **Ricky grabbed his arm and kept him upright. "Speed Step…" **ZZZZZOOOOOM! **Ricky put on a big burst of speed and pulled Luffy along with him then threw his rubber brother forward. **WOOOIIINGG! **Luffy's arm stretch as he flew over a small canyon then yanked Ricky over after him. **SHOOOM! **Without a word they both started running again.

"_He's in bad shape,"_ _Chopper had noted while Cricket laid being treated for Caisson Disease. "It looks like he's been diving dangerously like this for years, coming up too quick, and not giving the gas bubbles enough time to fully dissipate."_

Luffy's eyes narrowed as he put on another burst of speed. Bellamy had gone and stolen the gold that Cricket had spent ten years putting his body through hell in order to obtain. Ricky nodded and sped up alongside him.

"_All I'm doing is following what I believe to be my destiny," Cricket had told them after revealing his family legacy. "This is a battle between me and Noland."_

That gold meant way more to Cricket than it did to Bellamy. Not only did it take him ten years to find it all but obtaining that gold was what the old man claimed to be his destiny.

"_Sorry… kid…" Cricket groaned when they'd found him after he'd been beaten up and robbed by Bellamy and his crew. "We did what we could to stop them but it wasn't enough…"_

**Snort!** Luffy blew a hard breath out of his nose and put on another burst of speed. He was practically growling as he ran. Ricky, normally very fast, struggled to keep up with his enraged younger brother. "BEEEELLAAAAAMYYYYYYY!"

**-x-**

Back at Mock Town, Bellamy and his crew were back at the same bar where Luffy and Zoro had taken their beating without raising a hand in their defense.

"Those apes really cracked me up!" Sarquiss exclaimed as he sat at a table with Eddy, Rivers, and Ross, "It was hilarious when they were all bloody and had tears and snot running down their faces and started crying! _'Old Timer!' _Pahahaha! PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If he really meant so much then they should have done a better job of protecting him."

"Hahaha!" Rivers laughed.

"Hey, what did you expect?" Eddy asked. "The same thing would've happened to anyone else as stupid as them. Taking on a big time pirate worth fifty-five million berries like Bellamy, that's just insane."

Bellamy sat silently at the bar and had a drink while listening to his crew.

"Huff…" Lily sighed as she sat along in the corner. She actually hadn't left the bar since her humiliating loss to Nami. The large collection of empty mugs around her showed that she wasn't taking her loss of reputation well at all.

**THUD!** The doors slammed opened and Jobo came running in. "BAAAAAD NEEEEWSSS!" he screamed, gaining the attention of most of the bar. "THOSE GUYS! THE ONES THAT WERE HERE THIS AFTERNOON! THEY…" Jobo spotted Bellamy sitting at the bar. "BELLAMY! WHAT'RE YOU STILL DOING HERE? YOU'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE! YOU'RE IN TERRIBLE DANGER!"

"Hmph," Bellamy scoffed in annoyance, "What are you talking about? How am I in danger?"

**-x-**

"Huff… huff…" Luffy panted as he and Ricky continued running along the shore. They were running by the forest on the south end of the eastern half of the 'U' shaped island.

**Chip-chip-chip! **A familiar trio of Praying Mantises came flying out of the trees and rushed forward to meet them.

"Friends of yours?" Ricky asked.

"We don't have time for this," Luffy growled.

"Agreed," Ricky said as he drew his sword. "Red Blade… HURRICANE!"

**-x-**

**KRESH!** Back in the bar at Mock Town a shocked man dropped his glass causing it to shatter on the floor. Jobo had just revealed the bounties he'd discovered on the heads of Luffy and Zoro. The bar was shocked silent at the thought of such a huge bounty. And the fact that they'd beaten on a pirate with such a big bounty was even more worrying.

"Sixty…" one man gasped.

"One hundred…" another whispered.

"THOSE TWO TOGETHER ARE WORTH A HUDNRED AND SIXTY MILLION!" Jobo shouted, it was pretty easy math. "THEIR BOUNTIES ARE HIGHER THAN YOURS BELLAMY! Know what that means? YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! AND SO ARE WE!"

**-x-**

Luffy and Ricky kept running, leaving the southern forest behind as they raced along the southern shore of Jaya. Lying in their wake was a trio of unconscious Praying Mantis that Ricky had taken down with just one attack.

**-x-**

"WE WERE LAUGHING AT THEM!" a man at the bar shouted as he shot to his feet. "I THINK WE MESSED WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE! THEY'LL KILL US!"

"You think they remember what we look like?" another frantic man asked as he stood up next to the first man. "WE SHOULD GET OUTTA HERE NOW!"

Bellamy's response was a low chuckle. "Heh heh heh heh heh!"

"I've never heard of anybody having a bounty worth a hundred million before," a third man admitted. Jaya was in the first half of the Grand Line where higher bounties weren't common.

"Hahahahaha!" Bellamy's chuckle had turned into laughter which slowly rose in volume, "HAHAHAHAHA HAAHAAAHAAAAHAAAAA! Hey, hey, hey, HEY! All it takes to scare you big tough guys are some little scraps of paper?" Bellamy spun around on his stool to face the rest of the bar. "What? Do you all have empty sockets for eyes? You saw their scrawny little leader."

**-x-**

"Huff… huff… huff…" Luffy panted. He and Ricky finally stopped running. They had reached Mock Town, "Made it."

"Now we just need to figure out where they are," Ricky reasoned.

**-x-**

"This is nothing but a sham!" Bellamy continued, "Here, I'll explain it to you morons. See, there are pirates like these losers who fake their own Wanted Posters just to make a name for themselves. The fakers win fights without throwing a single punch. Their enemies take one look at their bogus bounties and just turn tail and run. JUST LIKE YOU SORRY EXCUSES FOR PIRATES ARE DOING RIGHT NOW! You saw them! They're weak! They didn't even fight back! BUT NOW YOU'RE ALL SCARED! Pathetic."

"Thanks Bellamy!" one of the previously scared men exclaimed, "Hey, they almost pulled one over on us, huh?"

"Yeah, he's right," another man agreed, "Besides, someone with a bounty of one hundred million would've had to pull off some pretty big capers. He looked pretty young if you ask me. If that kid's so wanted, how come we've never seen his face in the papers before?"

"Good point," a third man remarked, "I've never heard of any kid in a straw hat, have you?" Relieved chuckles echoed through the bars as the pirates laughed at almost being fooled by an obviously fake poster.

"ALRIGHT! BACK TO THE PARTY!" a man cheered. "CHEERS!" Everyone relaxed and went back to drinking.

"**BEEELLAAAAMYYYYYYY!" **a loud shout sounded into the bar from outside. **"WHEEEEREEEE AAAAREEEE YYYOOOUUUU!" **The 'relieved' men promptly spat out their drinks in alarm. Luffy had actually come. Jobo was whimpering as he hid behind the bar.

"Heh, excuse me gentlemen," Bellamy announced as he got out of his seat and walked out the swinging doors. He stood on the front steps of the bar but didn't see Luffy anywhere. The only one out on the wooden streets at this time of night was a red haired teen with an eye patch that was leaning against a building across the street. "Who the hell are you?"

"It's not me you need to worry about," Ricky replied, "he's up there." Ricky pointed up at the top of the Wild Cherry bar where Bellamy had beaten Roshio earlier that day.

"HEY!" a loud yell came from above them.

Bellamy looked up and found Luffy standing on the roof of the familiar five-storied bar.

"Well speak of the devil," Bellamy remarked, "We were just talking about you. You got something to say to me, kid?"

"I do," Luffy answered, "Give back Pop's gold, every bit of it, right now."

"Heh heh heh heh heh…" Bellamy let out a dangerous chuckle as he stared up at Luffy who was staring down at him.

**-x-**

Next chapter, Luffy takes on Bellamy and finally decides to fight back and we get a glimpse at the World's Greatest Power.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	13. Fight Back

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:**This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**Fight Back:**

**-x-**

Luffy and Ricky had returned to Mock Town to reclaim the gold that Bellamy had stolen from their friend Montblanc Cricket. Ricky was standing across the street from Bellamy while Luffy stood on the roof of the five-story Wild Cherry Bar ready to fight 'the Hyena'.

"What gold?" Bellamy questioned. "Hah! You mean the junk we got from old man Cricket?" Bellamy's legs turned to springs as he lowered himself into a crouch and then launched himself up into the air. **SHOOM! **Bellamy sprang up five stories and landed behind Luffy who turned to face him on the rooftop. "Maybe its news to you but that's what pirates do. Ever heard of looting? But what am I saying? You're just a pathetic dreamer who can't open his eyes to get a good look at the real world."

"Well then," Luffy replied, "If stealing is what we pirates do… I guess we should steal the gold back then." Luffy glanced downward, "Ricky… get the gold. I'll deal with this."

"Aye-aye," Ricky agreed, he made his way across the street only to find the occupants of the bar coming out into the street to watch the fight between the 'real' pirate and the 'fake' pirate. Everyone craned their necks to stare up at Luffy and Bellamy on the high rooftop.

"HAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!" Bellamy laughed. "That's cute! But be serious! Can you really fight? I mean, do you even know how to throw a punch? HAAHAAHAAHAAHAA! I saw your fighting skills earlier! You're very good at just standing there!"

"Huh… I was right…" Jobo realized as he stared from Luffy to his Wanted Poster. "That's him."

"You're still hanging onto that thing?" Sarquiss asked. "It's worthless. Get rid of it."

"But if this is the real thing then Bellamy's in trouble," Jobo pointed out. "He's good but you've gotta admit he can't beat someone with a hundred million berri bounty!"

"Hmph," Sarquiss grunted, "You've gotta be joking. Look at him, he's just a little runt. He's probably not even worth the trouble it would take to fight him. Just seeing him now makes me doubt that thirty million berri bounty."

**"Oh hey, the new Wanted Posters are out,"** came a voice. Sarquiss and Jobo both jumped when they found Ricky standing next to Sarquiss looking down at the posters Jobo was holding. "It sure took a while."

"You've got a lot of nerve sneaking up on me!" Sarquiss growled. "Who the hell are you?"

"Wait… I've seen that eye patch before…" Jobo realized. He tucked Luffy and Zoro's Wanted Posters under his arm and pulled out the other ones from his pocket. He paged through them until he came to a familiar one flipping him off. "Here he is! 'One Eye' Ricky worth…"

"Worth what?" Sarquiss demanded as he looked over Jobo's shoulder. "EIGHTY MILLION!" Sarquiss' shout drew the attention of the other Bellamy Pirates.

"More importantly, I'm the First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates," Ricky stated.

"You're just another faker like him!" Sarquiss insisted. "Maybe I should give you a beating like we did to your two pals!"

"But if you did that you'd miss your chance at seeing your Captain get creamed," Ricky pointed out.

"Creamed?" Sarquiss repeated. "You're as delusional as your runt Captain! There's no way he could beat Bellamy."

"Wanna bet on it?" Ricky offered with a sly grin. "It hardly makes sense for us to fight when our respective Captains are already doing it."

"So you're another coward that's afraid of fighting back," Sarquiss realized. "Fine then! Easiest money I've ever made. How much?"

"How much do you have on you?" Ricky countered.

"About ten million," Sarquiss answered causing Ricky to wince, "What's the matter? Too steep a bet for a punk like you?"

"Please," Ricky scoffed, "I don't even get out of bed for ten million. How 'bout you throw in that seventy-five million berries of stolen gold you've got inside the bar and actually make this interesting."

"How did you…" Sarquiss sputtered in surprise. "There's no way you can have that much on you!"

Ricky reached into his bottom left pocket and pulled out four wads of berri notes. "Twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, a hundred," he counted. "That should cover it, right?"

"Aaah!" Lily gasped in alarm from where she stood at the back of the group.

"_Oh please!" Nami scoffed, "My guy could buy a skank like you with his pocket change. Too bad you're so far beneath him."_

"You're supposed to be poor!" Sarquiss snapped. "Your Captain wears rags!"

"Do we have a bet or are you scared?" Ricky challenged him as he held out his hand.

Sarquiss blanched at being called a coward in front of his crew. "Fine, you've got yourself a bet, _loser_!" With a vicious grin Sarquiss reached out and grabbed Ricky's hand but instead of shaking it he attempted to crush it by squeezing it with all his strength.

"What're you doing?" Ricky asked as he calmly stared down at Sarquiss' hand. Sarquiss' strength was nothing compared to his brothers' or Zoro's. "That's annoying." Ricky started squeezing back. **Krek-krek-KREK!**

"GAAAH!" Sarquiss yelped as he yanked his throbbing hand away from Ricky's.

Ricky casually slid his hands and his money in his pockets and turned to Luffy. "Luffy!" he called up to his brother. "The gold's in the bag! You can go ahead and let him have it now!"

"Let me have it?" Bellamy repeated. "He's not even moving!" Bellamy glared at Luffy. "What? Are you freezing up like this afternoon? Admit it, you're too scared to fight me!"

"This afternoon was different," Luffy stated, "I'm not scared."

"Heh heh heh…" Bellamy chuckled then burst out laughing, "HAHAAHAAAHAAAA! WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT REAL SOON STRAW HAT! I'M SICK OF LISTENING TO YOU! SO I THINK I'LL SHUT YOU UP FOR GOOD THIS TIME!" Bellamy's legs turned into springs as he crouched down and sprang off of the rooftop. **SHOOOM! **Bellamy's Captain coat flew off as he shot up overhead using his Spring Spring Devil Fruit Powers.

**KRASH!** The force of Bellamy's launch was so great that it caused the top floor of the Wild Cherry bar to break off and take Luffy down with it.

"DON'T WORRY!" Bellamy shouted to his crew. "THIS WON'T TAKE LONG!" He flipped over and landed springs-first on another building, "SPRING SNIPER!" **BOING! **Bellamy shot off the wall and flew at Luffy who was still perched on the roof of the falling top story of the Wild Cherry. "RAAAAAHH!" **KA-POW! SKISH!** Bellamy's fist slammed into the chunk of building and smashed it but Luffy was no longer standing on it and had launched himself up into the air with his own impressive strength and speed.

"HE CAN FLY TOO!" a watching pirate exclaimed as Luffy flew from the falling roof to the roof of a nearby two-story building.

"Waah…" Luffy gasped as he reached up and grabbed the peak of the steep roof to keep from sliding off. **Whap! **He hung there while Bellamy landed on his springs in the middle of the street. **BOING!**

"Ha ha!" Bellamy chortled, "HE GOT LUCKY! SPRING SNIPER!" **SHOOOM! **Bellamy sprang off of the street and flew at the roof Luffy was now standing on top of. **KRASH! **Bellamy's fist smashed through the peak of the roof while Luffy jumped out of the way and hung from the edge.

"Does your Captain really think he has a chance here?" Sarquiss teased Ricky, "Pahahahaha!"

Ricky held up one finger, "One punch, that's all it'll take," Ricky stated, "That chump you call a Captain doesn't hold a candle to mine."

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!" Sarquiss yelled. "HE'S JUST RUNNING AWAY!"

"If nothing else, this'll be entertaining," Eddy reasoned. "Bellamy always puts on a good show."

"Hahahahahaha!" Eddy and Rivers laughed at the thought of seeing another one-sided beating.

**BOING! **Bellamy landed on the top of a tall building that overlooked all of Mock Town. "COME ON! IS THAT REALLY THE BEST YOU CAN DO?"

"Hup!" Luffy grunted as he hoisted himself back onto the roof Bellamy had nearly knocked him off.

"YOU'LL NEVER GET THAT GOLD BACK AT THIS RATE, SHRIMP!" **SHOOM! **Bellamy sprang off of the rooftop and flew at Luffy but Luffy jumped to the side causing Bellamy to flying passed him. **WOOOSH! **Bellamy landed springs-first on the building behind Luffy's. **BOING! **"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LITTLE BOY THAT BELIEVES IN DREAMS! YOU DISGRACE THE REST OF US BY CALLIGN YOURSELF A PIRATE! ITS TIME TO STOP THIS FOOLISH DREAMING AND GROW UP!"

"…" Luffy said nothing as he fell from the top of the building he'd jumped off to avoid Bellamy's attack.

"LET'S END THIS!" Bellamy shouted. **SHOOM! **He sprang off of the roof he was on and slammed into Luffy in midair. **WHAM! **Luffy flipped end over end over end and plummeted down towards the street.

"HE'S HEADING RIGHT FOR US!" a pirate called out in alarm, "RUUUN!" The pirates scattered as Luffy slammed into the ground. **KRASH!**

**BOING! **Bellamy landed on the roof of another tall building and smirked down at Luffy. "See? There is no point at trying! I've eaten a Devil Fruit so you don't stand a chance against me!"

"WAY TO POUND HIM INTO THE GROUND BELLAMY!" Sarquiss encouraged his Captain. "PAHAHAHA!"

"Aw, the kid's hurt," Rivers taunted, "Maybe he needs his mommy! HAHAHAHAHA!" The other Bellamy Pirates laughed along with him and all failed to notice that Ricky disappeared.

"Pay attention you idiots," Lily muttered to herself who was the only one who had actually noticed Ricky's disappearance. Of course, she had no intention of tipping of the people who had just previously been laughing at _her_.

"Heh, looks like your dreams are at an end," Bellamy remarked.

**Kresh… **Luffy pushed himself out of the hole his body made on impact with the wooden street then stood up and stared up at Bellamy.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT, DO YOU?" Bellamy growled. "FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY! WE'RE JUST GETTING TO THE GOOD PART!" Bellamy crouched down on the rooftop and waited a second for his springs to build up for a big jump. "SPRIIIIINNGGG HOOOOPPEEEEERRR!" **SHOOOM! **Bellamy launched off at a much faster speed than before and came down on the wood road next to Luffy. **BOING!** Bellamy bounced off of it and then started ricocheting off of all the surrounding buildings. **BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING! **Each time Bellamy bounced off of something he picked up speed, by now he was nothing more than a blur bouncing around Luffy. **BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING!**

"BELLAMY DISAPPEARED!" someone shouted in alarm.

"This is the same kind of move he pulled to kill Roshio!" someone else exclaimed.

"YOUR CAPTAIN'S DEAD MEAT NOW!" Sarquiss taunted. "PAHAHAHA—HEY! Where'd he go?" Sarquiss and the other Bellamy Pirates had finally noticed that Ricky was gone. "GRRR! HE'S A COWARD JUST LIKE HIS CAPTAIN! He saw that Straw Hat had no chance of winning so he took off so he wouldn't have to pay up on the bet! One punch, my ass!"

"**So you want the gold back, huh?" **Bellamy called out to Luffy as he bounced around him. He was moving so fast that he was invisible to the naked eye. All anyone could hear was his mocking voice and springs bouncing off of the surrounding buldings. **BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING! "Because old man Cricket's your friend? WAAKEE UUP! HE'S NOTHING BUT A DECREPIT FOOL WHO SPENDS ALL HIS TIME CHASING AFTER A FOUR-HUNDRED YEAR OLD LIE! But that's probably what you like about him, right? You like to call yourselves pirates BUT YOU KNOW NOTHING! THERE'S NO CITY OF GOLD, NO ISLAND IN THE SKY! JUST OCEANS AND SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO SAIL THEM!"**

Luffy frowned, "You asked if I know how to throw a punch…" he said as he raised his arm in the air and cracked his knuckles as he clenched them into a tight fist.

"JUST FINISH HIM SO WE CAN DRINK BELLAMY!" Sarquiss called out. He failed to notice Ricky standing beside him with a bulky sack of gold on his back. "WATCHING YOU BEAT HIM SENSELESS IS MAKING ME THIRSTY! PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The other Bellamy Pirates laughed along with him.

Ricky shook his head and glanced back at Lily who was once again the only one who had noticed him due to her position at the very back of the group. He held up a single finger.

"One punch…" she whispered.

**SHOOOOM! **"SO LONG STRAAW HAAAT!" Bellamy roared as he whizzed at Luffy with all the built up speed from his bouncing.

"RAAAH!" Luffy yelled as he finally lashed out his fist. **KA-BAM!** One punch. That was all it took. Luffy's fist slammed into the side of Bellamy's face and knocked him out cold.

"GAAH!" Bellamy let out an involuntary gasp as he spat up blood and his limp body hit the ground. Luffy hadn't even used his Devil Fruit Powers. But he had hit Bellamy so hard that he'd left a fist-shaped indent in the side of his face.

Blood dripped off of Luffy's hand as he stood over the fallen and finally silent Bellamy while his crew all stared in shock.

"Whoa…" Hewitt gasped.

"Hey… quit messing around Bellamy!" Sarquiss called out. "Get up. The joke's over. We know that runt couldn't beat you. Come on! Get up!" But Bellamy didn't move. He was out cold. "THIS REALLY ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE! NOW SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU HAVE TO GET UP AND SHOW THAT KID WHO YOU ARE! YOU'RE A REAL PIRATE! NOT LIKE HIM! YOUR BOUNTY'S UP TO FIFTY-FIVE MILLION! YOU CAN'T LOSE TO SOME ROOKIE!"

"_THOSE TWO TOGETHER ARE WORTH A HUNDRED AND SIXTY MILLION!" Jobo had shouted, "THEIR BOUNTIES ARE HIGHER THAN YOURS BELLAMY!_

"Aaah…" Sarquiss gasped as it finally sank in.

"You see!" Jobo exclaimed. "I told you it was true!"

"Ricky… did you get the gold?" Luffy asked.

"**Got it right here."**

"AAAAH!" Sarquiss jumped and let out a squeal when he noticed Ricky standing next to him.

"_Here he is!" Jobo had said when he found Ricky's Wanted Poster. "'One Eye' Ricky worth…"_

"_Worth what?" Sarquiss demanded as he looked over Jobo's shoulder. "EIGHTY MILLION!"_

"I took it upon myself to settle our bet," Ricky informed Sarquiss as he jostled the gold-filled sack on his back. Ricky walked over to Luffy and joined him in the middle of the street.

"That kid beat Bellamy!" a shocked pirate gasped.

"Those two plus the other… ARE WORTH TWO HUNDRED FORTY MILLION BERRIES!" someone shrieked. "RUUUUNN!" The nameless pirates ran off screaming.

**-x-**

"FIX THE SHIP, MONKEY CREW! FIX THE SHIP!" the Saruyama Alliance crew chanted as the attempted to repair and reinforce the Going Merry. "BANG THE NAILS, MONKEY CREW! BANG THE NAILS! SAW THE WOOD, MONKEY CREW! SAW THE WOOD!

"Wow, these guys must be pretty tough," Usopp remarked as he watched Masira run by holding a pile of boards and toss them over to Shoujou. "They were just beaten unconscious and now they're here fixing the ship." Usopp glanced over at Chopper who was tending to some of Cricket's injuries while the man sawed some wood. "Either they're the world's fastest healers or Chopper's the world's best doctor."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU GO WITH RICKY AND LUFFY!" Nami snapped at Zoro who had been drafted into reinforcing the Going with the Saruyama Crew.

"What's with you?" Zoro complained, "Don't fight, fight, don't go, go, do this, no, do that. Make up your mind, woman!"

"Hmph, you're scared," Nami taunted, "Those guys beat you the first time around."

"That's what you think?' Zoro questioned. "You don't get it! They didn't beat us. Refusing to fight doesn't mean that we were afraid. When there's no reason to fight, the only way to win is to stand down. Didn't Ricky drill that into your thick head?"

"I'm just glad Ricky went with Luffy instead of you," Nami remarked. "Stand down, real brave. And knowing you you'd probably just get Luffy lost."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FIGHTING!" Zoro shouted at her. "JUST SHUT UP!" **BANG! **Zoro slammed his fist on the steel plates going around the main mast for emphasis.

"DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP!" Nami yelled. "Like it matters, you don't listen anyway!" **BANG!** She smacked her fist against the railing she was leaning on.

"I KNOW MORE ABOUT FIGHTING THAN YOU EVER WILL!" Zoro retorted. **BANG!**

"OH YEAH?" Nami countered. "THEN WHY WAS I THE ONLY ONE WHO ACTUALLY _WON _A FIGHT YESTERDAY?" **BANG!**

"GUYS!" Usopp scolded them. "BE CAREFUL! WE'RE TRYING TO FIX THE SHIP NOT BREAK IT!"

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A THIEF!" Zoro snapped. "I don't get how Ricky could possibly like you! I CAN'T STAND YOU!"

"HEY MOSSHEAD!" Sanji yelled. "WHAT'D YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MISS. NAMI?"

"GUUUUYS! THE SHIIIIIIP!" Usopp whined as Zoro and Nami stopped fighting and Zoro and Sanji started.

**-x-**

"Ready for the run back, Captain?" Ricky asked as he held Cricket's reclaimed gold over his shoulder.

"Yup," Luffy replied, "That wasn't hard at all." They turned to leave while the remaining Bellamy Pirates gathered around their fallen Captain. Most of the others had run off in terror, all the remained was Sarquiss, Eddy, Rivers, Ross, Muret, Hewitt, and Lily.

"Im-impossible!" Sarquiss stammered as he knelt at Bellamy's side. "How could he lose?" He shot up and called after Luffy and Ricky, "HEY YOU! GET BACK HERE! YOU HEAR ME? YOU PUNKS! I'M TALKING TO YOU! I'LL GET HIM! WE WON'T BE BEATEN BY SOME PRETEND PIRATES!" Sarquiss charged after Luffy and Ricky but Eddy held him back.

"NOOO!" Eddy shouted as he struggled to restrain Sarquiss.

"I'LL SHOW YOU A REAL PUNCH!" Sarquiss yelled. "DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME! I'M 'BIG KNIFE' SARQUISS!"

**Snap!** Ricky snapped his fingers, "I _knew_ I was forgetting something," he said to himself as he stopped and turned around. "_You're_ Sarquiss?"

"I see you've heard of me," Sarquiss noted, "Get back here and fight! THAT WAS A FLUKE!"

Ricky glanced at Luffy. "Do you mind?" he requested. "This'll only take a couple seconds."

"Go ahead," Luffy agreed.

"A COUPLE SECONDS?" Sarquiss shrieked as he doubled his struggles against Eddy.

"By the way," Ricky called out, "I took the liberty of taking the ten million berries you had in your pocket. I _did_ say the gold was in addition to it."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Sarquiss roared. Ricky's last taunt enraged him just enough for him to break free from Eddy. He pulled out his big knife and raced at Ricky while swinging it by his side. **Shwup-shwup-shwup-shwup-shwup… SKISH!** Sarquiss jumped up and flipped through the air and lashed out his knife at Ricky. "BIIIG CHOOOP!" **SHUNK!** At the last second Ricky spun to the side causing Sarquiss to sink his knife into the wooden street.

Ricky stared at Sarquiss as he struggled in vain to pull his knife free. "I was told to 'kick that smug grin off of your stupid face'," he stated.

"_Boyfriend?" Sarquiss repeated back in the bar where Luffy and Zoro had refused to fight them. "Don't tell me he's like those two weaklings."_

"_He's nothing like them!" Nami retorted, "But if he were here, he'd kick that smug grin off of your stupid face!"_

"Wait… then you're…" Sarquiss realized.

Ricky shot his leg up and smashed the steel toes of his foot into Sarquiss' jaw. **PUNT! **Sarquiss went flying up into the air, flipped over twice, and slammed down to the wooden street. **THUD!**

"SARQUISS!" Eddy cried as he, Rivers, and Muret walked over.

"He knocked him out cold," Rivers realized.

"He broke his jaw," Muret noted.

Lily glanced back at Bellamy and then down at Sarquiss. "Looks like _they're_ the disgraces now," she remarked. "I'm done with this stupid crew. I quit."

She turned to Luffy and Ricky who had started walking off again and called after them, "Hey! Where are you going now?"

"Where are we going?" Luffy repeated. He pointed up at the sky. "Up there."

Lily and the remaining Bellamy Pirates gaped in shock as Luffy and Ricky walked off.

**-x-**

Elsewhere, 'Hawk Eye' Mihawk sailed onward in his coffin-boat to a destination only he knew.

"_These minor league pirates beat one of the Warlords,"_ Mihawk thought to himself as he glanced down at the Wanted Posters of the three pirates that had caught his interest. _"I bet this is causing a stir somewhere. I knew I'd hear those names again. Monkey D. Luffy… his First Mate Ricky… and Roronoa Zoro..."_

Mihawk thought back to his duel with the spirited swordsman that had caught his interest.

"_Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame," Zoro had said before Mihawk finished him off._

"Honestly, even I didn't expect them to come this far so quickly," Mihawk remarked. "We may meet up again sooner than I thought." Mihawk grinned as his boat carried him across the waves to his intended destination. The Straw Hats were indeed creating a stir in the World, and he was about to find out just how much of one.

**-x-**

**The World's Greatest Power:**

**-x-**

The Holy Land of Mariejois. It was stationed on top of the Red Line that divided the Grand Line in half and was known as the capital of the World Government. The Council of Kings a meeting that brings together all the Kings from the major kingdoms is regularly held here. Essentially, the entire world was run from this location.

But it wasn't the Council of Kings that ran things, instead it was a group of five men known as the Five Elders. These five men were not only in charge of the Marines but also signed the pact with the Seven Warlords that made them allies of the World Government. The Five Elders were in charge of two of three great powers in the world and they were currently in a meeting.

"Red Hair and Whitebeard?" one of the Five Elders repeated.

"Yes," a Marine Officer confirmed his report as he knelt before the five men that ran the world, "Red Hair made contact."

"That is disturbing," the Elder responded, "I assume he didn't go himself."

"No," the Marine Officer answered, "He sent one of his crew. Elder, I'm concerned, these two working together could mean real trouble for the rest of us."

"Yes," the Elder agreed. He was a large man with a full gray beard and a scar running down the left side of his face. He wore a black hat over his gray hair which was braided into dreadlocks. He also wore a black suit and was holding a walking stick as he sat in his chair.

Standing beside him was the second of the five elders. He was a tall, thin man that wore a black suit that matched the first one. His hair was white and he had a long pointed beard and mustache that both reached down to the collar of his suit.

The third Elder sat with his hands clasped together. He was bald with a round head and patchy birthmarks on his forehead and the right side of his face. He had a big mustache that stretched out passed the sides of his face and a short beard. He wore a black suit that matched the others'.

The fourth Elder appeared to be the oldest of the five but was dressed the most differently. He was bald and had no facial hair. He wore round glasses and a white gi and was holding a sword. He had two fingers pressed to his temple as he thought to himself.

The fifth Elder was the youngest of the five. He had neatly combed blond hair and a short matching blond beard. He wore a suit like the first three elders but didn't wear a tie which left his white undershirt undone to reveal the top of the scar on his tan chest.

"But let's wait for now," the First Elder decided, "They haven't done anything yet and Red Hair isn't the type to act unless he's provoked. We'll keep an eye on them but I'm afraid we have more pressing worries to attend to."

"We need to focus on the Seven Warlords," the Fourth Elder stated, "With Crocodile gone we are in need of a replacement. Pirates they may be, the Warlords keep things balanced. With one of their number gone we may encounter serious problems. What plans have we made so far?"

"Sir, we've called all of the Warlords to Mariejois for a meeting," the Marine Official reported. "But there's no way to tell how many of them will actually show up. They are pirates after all, they do as they pleased."

"Damn it Crocodile," the First Elder growled picked up the familiar smiling Wanted Poster off of Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy's defeat of Crocodile had been mostly covered up, and these five had been the ones to order it. "It's because of you that we're in this mess. We can't let the pirates that defeated him go unpunished. We have to retaliate swiftly. I want all of our energy concentrated on finding this Monkey D. Luffy."

**-x-**

At the harbor, a ship transporting two of the Seven Warlords had just arrived for the meeting. A large number of high ranked marines saluted as they stood lining the dock while the Warlords walked by.

The first Warlord stood at an impressive ten feet tall. He had peach shin and short blond hair. He was dressed incredibly flamboyantly with white sunglasses with upturned edges that made the purple lenses look bird-like. He tight dark pants with dark pink designs on the sides, pointed black flippers, and most notably a large coat with pink feathers covering the back, sides, and sleeves. His walk was a bow-legged waddle and his overall appearance made him look like a flamingo. This was Warlord **Don Quixite Doflamingo **back when he was a pirate he had an impressive bounty of **β340,000,000**.

The second Warlord was a massive bear-like man that stood at an incredible twenty two feet six inches. He had shoulder length curly black hair, his eyes looked like they were clear lenses, his face was expressionless and stoic and looked like it had been carved out of stone… or steal, and his legs that were relatively short in comparison to his huge torso. He wore a hat with a pair of rounded bear ears on the top, he wore a zipped up jacket with a white circle on the middle that had white lines on the top, sides, and bottom which made it look like a crosshair. Around the hem of the jacket were a series of white paw prints. He wore gray gloves, gray shoes, and lighter gray pants with black paw print designs on them. This man was once a vicious pirate known as 'the Tyrant' with a staggering bounty of **β296,00,000 **but now he had a bible tucked in the crook of his arm and was known as **'The Pacifista' BartholomewKuma**.

A woman's voice over a speaker Transponder Snail announced the arrival of the two Warlords, **"Marine Headquarters to Mariejois, announcing the arrival of Warlords Don Quixite Doflamingo and Bartholomew Kuma!"**

**-x-**

Inside the Mariejois Palace was a room with a large round table set up for the meeting with the Warlords concerning Crocodile's replacement. Kuma sat silently on a chair reading his bible.

The room suddenly dissolved into chaos when two of the attending Marine Officers suddenly shot out of their seats and started attacking each other clearly against their will.

"What… what're you doing…" one marine gasped as another one held him by the throat.

"It's not me!" the other marine told him, "I don't know what's going on!"

"This isn't the time for your stupid pranks!" the first marine snapped.

"It's no prank!" the other marine insisted. "It's like something's moving my hands and I can't stop them!"

"That's ridiculous!" the first marine growled, "Gah… I can't… breathe…"

A third Marine Officer got out of his seat and attempted to stop the others.

Further around the large round table sat an old woman. She had gray hair tied back in a short ponytail and wrinkles on her forehead and around her mouth. She wore a short-sleeved pink blouse with a dark tie and had a white Marine coat draped over her shoulders. This old woman was known as **'Great Tactician' Tsuru **and was a Vice Admiral stationed at Mariejois.

"Doflamingo, is this your doing," Tsuru chided, "Be a good boy and stop that."

"Fuffuffuffu," Doflamingo laughed as he sat outside the room on the edge of a balcony casually working his fingers like a puppet master with the Marine Officers serving as his unwilling puppets. "Be a good boy? You're something Tsuru. If you don't mind, I'd like to get this little shindig started sometime in the near future."

"Huff… huff…" the first marine wheezed when Doflamingo flicked his fingers causing the other marine to finally stop choking him.

"Unless you haven't had enough," Doflamingo added, he flicked his fingers and the two marines drew the swords that were sheathed at their waists.

"You idiot!" one of the marines exclaimed, "What do you think you're doing now?"

"This foolishness has gone on long enough, Doflamingo!" another marine snapped.

"**STOP! ENOUGH!"** Everyone turned to see two new arrivals standing in the doorway.

The first, had black hair in the style of an afro but was partially covered by the white cap he wore. The cap said 'Marines' on the front and had a stuffed seagull perched on the top. He had round black glasses, a thin mustache, and a long braided black beard that went down passed his chest. He wore a fancy white uniform with numerous medals pinned to a purple sash that went diagonally across his chest. He wore a big white coat with thick gold shoulder pads. At his feet was his pet goat. This man was **'the Buddha' Fleet Admiral Sengoku **and he was the supreme commander of the entire marine forces.

"There's no time for this," Sengoku addressed the room, "Now sit down, there are pressing matters to discuss."

"Maaaa…" Sengoku's goat bleated.

"I apologize for the late welcome," Sengoku told the Warlords, "Thank you for coming."

"I say we stick those two in prison along with Crocodile," the familiar man behind Sengoku spoke up, "Then we round up the other four and arrest them too."

"Smoker, don't create trouble," Sengoku scolded the newly promoted Commodore Smoker who stood with his arms folded behind Sengoku. "I asked you here because you were directly involved with the incident concerning Crocodile in Alabasta."

"Hmph," Smoker grunted, "And I only agreed to come along because I had nothing better to do while I waited for my Lieutenant Commander to have surgery with Dr. Vegapunk back at Headquarters."

Kuma finally looked up from his bible and glanced in Smoker's direction.

**-x-**

In a dark room, Lietenant Commander Devo laid shirtless on an operating table. Ensign Tashigi sat beside it holding his good hand. The two of them had grown a lot closer after what they had gone through together back in Alabasta.

"**I'm ready to begin the operation," **Dr. Vegapunk announced as he stood shadowed on the far side of the operating table, "I must warn you: I need your nerve endings to be fully responsive when I attach your new arm so I can't give you an anesthetic. This is really going to hurt. I'd suggest thinking about your reason for doing this, that may help you get through it."

"You might want to leave," Devo advised Tashigi. But she shook her head.

"I'm here for you," she reassured him as she squeezed his hand just a little tighter.

**-x-**

"I don't trust any of the Warlords, especially after what Crocodile pulled," Smoker admitted back at Mariejois as he glared across the room at Doflamingo, "How's your slave auction house going, pirate scum?"

"How thoughtful of you to use my former title, Smoker," Doflamingo retorted. "Business is going so well it practically runs itself. So I took a vacation."

"Forgive me for not applauding your business success," Sengoku replied, "I'm afraid that for the rest of us, there are few things more distressing than a booming pirate industry. Now let's sit down and start the meeting."

"Fuffuffuffuffu," Doflamingo laughed, "Careful Sengoku, the Marines and the Warlords may be allies… but there are limits." He got off the balcony and approached the table while Sengoku and Smoker took seats around Tsuru. Together the Marines took up half the seats at the table. There were six notably empty seats opposite them.

Kuma closed his bible and turned his attention to the meeting while Doflamingo climbed onto the table sat down on the empty side.

"Feet off the table, Commodore," Tsuru scolded Smoker who had leaned back in his chair and had his feet rested on the table. Smoker scowled then glared at Doflamingo and reluctantly lowered removed his feet.

"I doubt any of the other Warlords are going to attend," Sengoku reasoned. The government pirates really just did as the pleased. Like Doflamingo who was actually sitting on the table without a word from anyone while Smoker had been reprimanded for putting his feet up.

"Smart man," Doflamingo remarked, "I only came along out of sheer boredom."

**Tmp… Tmp… Tmp…** Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside and everyone looked up in surprise as the World's Greatest Swordsman 'Hawk Eye' Mihawk walked into the room.

"So good to hear your dulcet tones again, Doflamingo," Mihawk remarked. "And you Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I hope you've been well."

"HAWK EYE!" one of the marines gasped.

"I must say," Mihawk said, "I've never understood why the Warlords and the Marines insist on pretending they get along, but perhaps you can enlighten me."

"'Hawk Eye' Mihawk," Doflamingo greeted the other Warlord as he walked up to the table. "Perhaps this little get-together will be interesting after all."

"What brings you here, Mihawk?" Sengoku inquired.

"Well, I heard about your meeting and thought I might sit in on it," Mihawk replied, "I have an interest in the pirates you'll be discussing and I'd like to stay informed. That is all."

Smoker cast a vaguely curious glance in Mihawk's direction.

"**Forgive the intrusion,"** a smooth voice called. Everyone turned and saw a man sitting on closed windowsill. Somehow he'd snuck into the room without even Mihawk noticing him. "But if Hawk Eye's staying, perhaps you wouldn't mind adding one more to the party. I will tell you though, my intentions are a bit less passive than his are."

"Who are you exactly?" one of the Marines demanded. "And how'd you get in here anyway?"

"Quite a prestigious group you have here, Fleet Admiral," the mystery man remarked. "I'm truly impressed. I was hoping I might join you." The man slipped off of the windowsill and twirled the cane he was holding. **TAK-TAK-TAK!** The man did a little jig revealing that he was wearing tap shoes which spoke even greater volumes if he was able to sneak passed all the high ranked marines, plus three of the six remaining warlords while wearing them. **TAK-TAK-TAK! **"I heard the news about Crocodile. It's a terrible shame he's gone." **TA-TAK! **"Fortunately, for you, I've come here to offer a solution to your little problem. The Six Warlord of the Sea just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?"

"You're Lafitte," Tsuru realized.

"Who is he Tsuru?" Sengoku questioned.

"Ah-ha, someone has heard my name before," the now named Lafitte commented. He was a very tall, very thin man. He was very pale and had purple lips. He wore an off-white collared long-sleeve shirt decorated with yellow crosses and a tight navy singlet along with his aforementioned tap shoes. He was holding a hooked cane and wore a classic black top hat on his head. "I'd have thought it had been forgotten."

"A former police officer from the West Blue," Tsuru answered, "He was banished for being excessively violent."

"Glad to see you're so well informed," Lafitte remarked. He didn't seem very violent now. "Who I am doesn't matter. That's in the past. I've come here to talk to you about another man. One who I believe will make an excellent addition to the Warlords."

**-x-**

But while two of the Three Great Powers were meeting at Mariejois, two members of the Third Power were planning a meeting of their own. The Four Emperors were known as the four strongest pirates in the world. And just these four pirates and their vast crews were enough to keep the balance of power in the world against the Marines and the Warlords.

The Moby Dick, the massive white whale themed ship of Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate sailed through calm waters somewhere in the New World. Whitebeard was known as one of the Four Emperors and known by many to be the Strongest Man in the World. And at the moment, he was listening to a message from a subordinate of one of his fellow Emperors.

"Shanks…" Whitebeard said, "I haven't heard that name in a long time. So, after all these years he sent me a letter?"

"Yeah," 'Red Hair' Shanks' representative replied. "And whatever it says must be important or else he wouldn't have chosen me to deliver it for him."

"I see," Whitebeard commented, "You're high up on the food chain, are you?"

"Well… uh… not exactly," the messenger admitted. He was a fairly tall, burly man with dark skin and red hair in a liberty spikes style. He wore a dark purple double breasted coat that was left opened to reveal the light orange wide-collared shirt he wore under it and the red necktie he wore in the collar. He wore a yellow sash around his waist that hung down on both sides, light blue pants and brown boots and carried a green sabre. The colorful man's name was **Rockstar** and he had a bounty of **β94,000,000**. "I mean, I am still new to the Red Hair Pirates. But it's not like its my first pirate gig, I've been around for a while and I'm pretty sure I've made a name for myself." Rockstar looked across the deck where First Division Commander Marco was having a casual conversation with the newly returned Hannibal King. "Hey! You've heard about that famous pirate named Rockstar, right?"

"Nope, never heard of him," the sleepy-looking man answered then he turned back to Han, "So what were you saying?"

"Well, the kid has me and the reindeer-monster he calls his brother catch this massive Bananwani…" Han recounted part of the adventure with the Straw Hats in Alabasta.

**RIIIP! RIIIIP!** Rockstar's attention was torn away from them when he saw Whitebeard tearing up the letter he'd delivered from Shanks. "GAAH!" he gasped in alarm. "Hey! What're you—"

"HE SENT ME A LETTER?" Whitebeard boomed, "When did that kid become so important that he thought that it would be okay to send ME a letter? Time to take him down a notch!"

"Wait! Hold on!" Rockstar protested as he picked up some of the torn pieces of Shank's letter. "What do you think you're doing? That was an important letter! THIS IS SHANKS YOU'RE DEALING WITH! THE LEADER OF THE RED HAIR PIRATES!"

"You forget, I'm Captain Whitebeard!" Whitebeard retorted as he lifted an entire barrel of grog in his large hand and drank it like a mug.

"Captain…" a blonde nurse wearing pink scrubs standing at Whitebeard's side called up to him, "It's time for your medicine again…"

"I've got all the medicine I need, right here!" Whitebeard snapped as he slammed down the grog barrel. **TONK! **"NOW SILENCE! Fetch me another keg!"

"I HOPE YOU KNOW, MY BOSS WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!" Rockstar threatened.

"Don't make me laugh," Whitebeard growled, "Anyway, I already know what the letter's probably about. He's worried about Blackbeard and that kid Ace. You tell Shanks that if he wants to talk, he can come see me himself. Now why don't you take off. I'm too busy to talk to a snot-nosed rookie. Run home to your boss."

Rockstar growled and stormed off.

**Shunk!** **ZZZIIIIIIP! **An arrow sank into the deck and a green clad figure slid down the rope that was attached to it and landed in front of Whitebeard. **TMP!**

"The guy came with a message about my Division Commander and the bastard who cut out Ricky's eye, and you didn't even bother to read it?" Ollie questioned as she glared up at the massive form of Whitebeard.

The huge man now wore a black bandana over his brown hair, his long white Captain's coat, and a large pair of gray pants. His muscular body was covered in battle scars and he was hooked up to an IV. A breathing device was on his nose above his signature white crescent shaped mustache that he got his name from.

"I don't need that brat telling me how to handle my business," Whitebeard stated, "The only reason I didn't go after Teach myself was because Ace insisted on chasing him instead. Even if you don't trust my judgment, you should trust Ace's determination to bring Teach to justice."

"I suppose," Ollie admitted.

"Now…" Whitebeard prompted, "Tell me about this girl that managed to swindle our Ricky…"

**-x-**

"Dahahahaha!" Red Hair Shanks laughed when he heard Whitebeard's response via Transponder Snail from an indignant Rockstar. "The old man hasn't changed a bit! Dahahahaha!"

"_**How are you laughing at this, boss?"**_ Rockstar questioned on the other end.

"Dahahaha!" Shanks continued to laughed, "I figured that would happen. Don't worry about it."

Snow was falling all around him. Shanks and his crew were currently relaxing on a Winter Island that was part of Shanks' territory in the New World as one of the Four Emperors.

"_**Just give me a little bit more time," **_Rockstar requested, _**"I promise. I can straighten this guy out."**_

"I don't know what you plan to do, my friend," Shanks replied, "but forget about it. You did a good job. Now just get yourself back to base, alright?"

"_**But… but what about my pride?"**_ Rockstar protested. _**"I have to show this guy who I am."**_

"Hey, your life is more important to me than your pride," Shanks told him, "Come on, there's nothing more for you to do out there. We have some things to plan."

**CHOMP!** Lucky Roux tore a chunk of meat off of the large slab he was eating. "So… what're we gonna do, boss," he questioned.

"We're going," Shanks decided. "Prepare to set sail, men!"

You're going to see Whitebeard?" Benn Beckman asked.

"Sure am," Shanks agreed.

"Even you can't think that the World Government won't react if you pull a stunt like that," Shanks' First Mate pointed out.

"No Beckman, I fully expect them too," Shanks admitted as he stood up, "I just don't care." The rest of the gathered Red Hair Pirates turned their attention to their Captain. "Now's not the time to worry about the Government. Before much longer, they'll be the ones worrying about us."

"YEEEAAHH!" the Red Hair Pirates cheered.

"YOU HEARD 'IM MEN!" Lucky Roux called out as he got up, "LET'S GET GOING!"

"Alright boys," Shanks addressed his crew. "Let's get some grog ready to take with us."

**-x-**

Back at Mariejois, the meeting concerning Crocodile's replacement as one of the Seven Warlords was still underway and the strange man called 'Lafitte' still had the floor.

"Teach?" Sengoku repeated.

"That's right," Lafitte replied, "He's the Captain of the pirate crew to which I belong."

"Tell me, if I've never heard of him what use is he to me?" Sengoku questioned, "With no reputation he would pose no threat."

"You know, I thought you might feel that way," Lafitte remarked, "And I assure you we need only a little bit more time. We are drawing up a plan at the moment that should take care of everything."

"Fuffuffuffu!" Doflamingo laughed. He was still sitting on the table while Kuma had migrated from his bench to one of the seats on the Warlord side. Mihawk was still standing near the table. "Well he's got my attention. Why don't we give him a try, Fleet Admiral?"

"I guess I'm the only one that wants to have this clown arrested for breaking into a secured government facility," Smoker reasoned. He crossed his arms and grunted, "Hmph. He makes a joke of the security here and you want to reward him by making his Captain a Warlord. I say we arrest the whole crew before they get a chance to cause any trouble."

"No Smoker," Sengoku answered, "We need a replacement Warlord to keep the balance of power in the World. I want to see how this plan of his plays out."

"Hmmhmm," Lafitte chuckled with a mysterious grin, "The crew I belong to is known as the Blackbeard Pirates. I suggest that you remember that name."

**-x-**

Back at Mock Town, the dust was still settling on Bellamy's defeat at the hands of Luffy.

"Did you hear," one man said to another, "Someone beat up Bellamy."

"Who could do that?" another man wondered.

A familiar man walked over to the hole Luffy had smashed in the wooden street during the battle and picked up Luffy's discarded one hundred million berri Wanted Poster.

"This kid looked too bright eyed to be worth even thirty million," the large man from the bar remarked, "But one hundred million?"

"So what's our next move, Captain?" a familiar big burly man questioned.

Sarquiss walked up to them. He had gotten up after Ricky's kick but his broken jaw was heavily bandages. "Dos duys god luggy… day'r nod weally word dad much…" Sarquiss mumbled as he glared at Luffy's poster. "Dow dad away bufowa I do id foah you…" (Translation: Those guys got lucky… they're not really worth that much… Throw that away before I do it for you…)

"THAT'S ENOUGH OUTTA YOU!" The large man grabbed the top of Sarquiss' head and violently smashed him through the wooden street.** KRASH!**

The big man grinned, "Well that oughta shut him up," he remarked, "I was looking for someone with a bounty that was worth my time! Zehahahahaha! The crew's gonna be rich soon boys, very soon, very stinkin' rich."

And so the four odd characters that the Straw Hats had seen at some point during their visits in Mock Town had gathered together.

The burly Masked Wrestler that shouted from rooftops had challenged random people to fights: **'Champion' Jesus Burgess **the Helmsman of the Blackbeard Pirates.

The sniper that had shot down three seagulls from a distance where the island he was on wasn't even visible and had fired a gun down a crowded street to see who it was Fated to hit: **'Supersonic' Van Auger **the Sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates.

The sickly man who had been giving out apples that exploded and killed people if they had chosen a 'bad one' but had commented on Luffy being 'lucky' when he chose a 'good one': **'Grim Reaper' Doc Q **the Doctor of the Blackbeard Pirates and his sickly horse **Stronger**.

And finally, the large man that had nearly gotten in a fight with Luffy over something as trivial as their tastes in food but had encouraged him to find the Sky Island: **'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach **the Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates. The same man who had been on the Whitebeard Pirates with Ricky and had cut his eye out and left him for dead to obtain the Dark Dark Fruit.

Together the four men (and one horse) made their way down the street. Their large stature meant that the people in the streets parted automatically when they saw them coming. Anyone that didn't move out of the way got knocked over by the men that were all over ten feet tall.

Blackbeard was staring fixatedly at the two Wanted Posters in his hand.

"_The new generation of pirates… will be led by the next King of the Pirates… MONKEY D. LUFFY!"_

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Jesus Burgess exclaimed. "It's about time we all had full pockets again. Wiiihahahaha!"

"But Captain, weren't we supposed to be meeting with Lafitte here?" Van Auger questioned.

"Huh?" Blackbeard grunted as he looked up from the wanted posters. "That's not like you, Auger. If we miss him, we miss him. That's Fate. We can't let a bounty like this get away, ZEHAHAHAHA!"

"You're right," Doc Q agreed, "A man's no better than his luck. We've gotta do all the living we can right now. Death comes for everyone, even pirates."

Blackbeard's plan to gain reputation and become a Warlord was beginning to unfold, and it started with Monkey D. Luffy.

**-x-**

"Huff… huff… huff…" Luffy panted as he and Ricky raced along the shore back to Cricket's house. _"Don't worry, Pops. We got your gold back. And we'll be there by sunrise, I promise!" _"Do you think he's okay?"

"The old man's got Chopper with him," Ricky reasoned, "He couldn't ask for a better doctor. He'll be fine. We just have to concern ourselves with getting there on time."

"Right," Luffy agreed as they picked up speed and ran even faster.

**-x-**

That was a fun chapter to write. Next chapter is the final chapter in the Jaya Arc as the Straw Hats set off for the Knock-Up Stream in the hopes that their ship sails to the sky. But before that can happen, there's the long awaited encounter with Blackbeard.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	14. The Knock Up Stream

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:**This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**The Knock-Up Stream:**

**-x-**

"Where the heck are they?" Nami demanded as the Straw Hats as well as a heavily bandaged Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou stood on the shore beside Cricket's damaged house waiting for their Captain and First Mate to return. "I expected this sort of thing from Luffy but I thought Ricky would've gotten him back here on time. They were supposed to be here five minutes ago! We're going to miss the current!"

"Well, Ricky's usually on time," Usopp reasoned, "but now he's got Luffy and the gold weighing him down so I'd compensate and add about twenty minutes."

"Uggh…" Nami groaned in annoyance, "Why does that rubber idiot always insist on making everything ten-times harder?"

"The only schedule Luffy's concerned with is his own," Sanji said.

"You don't think someone in town beat them up do you?" Chopper questioned.

"Those two, no way," Zoro stated.

"What about that guy Bellamy?" Usopp asked. "He sounded pretty nasty."

Nami growled, "Well if Bellamy didn't beat them up then you better believe I will!"

"Oh is that right?" Zoro challenged her, "Tough girl. The only reason you _or Bellamy _could beat those two is because they wouldn't bother fighting back."

Cricket, Shoujou and Masira sat silently as the Straw Hats complained about their Captain.

"**HEEEEEYYYYYYYY!" **a loud familiar voice called out to them.

The Straw Hats turned in time to see Luffy and Ricky come rushing out of the Southern Forest on the back of a huge spider. Luffy was smiling and waving while Ricky held reigns made out of spider's own webbing.

"LOOK THERE!" Masira exclaimed. "They're back! I knew they'd make it!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Ricky apologized as they rode up on their giant spider. "The gold was weighing us down so we decided to take a shortcut through the forest. Without the South Birds sending swarms of giant bugs after us it wasn't so bad. We ran into this thing on the way and since we were a little worn out from sprinting all the way to Mock Town and halfway back we decided to convince it to give us a ride." No one failed to notice the large lump on the spider's head.

"You're still late!" Nami complained.

"By what? Five minutes?" Ricky questioned, "That falls under 'fashionably late' in my book." Luffy and Ricky jumped off of the spider's back. Ricky tossed the sack of gold to Cricket then turned to the spider, "Go." And the spider raced off back to the forest.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed, "AND LOOK AT WHAT I CAUGHT!" Luffy held up a bug. "It's a Hercules!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Usopp yelled.

"YOU STOPPED TO CATCH A BUG!" Nami screamed.

"No we didn't, I swear," Ricky assured her, "You have to have more faith in me than that. Luffy just reached off the side of the spider and grabbed it."

"WHOA!" Luffy gasped when he spotted the Going Merry. The upgrades added by the Saruyama Alliance included a pair of metal wings coming out of the starboard and port sides, a metal tail coming off the stern, a metal collar had been fastened around the base of the badly repaired figurehead at the bow along with a headband around the Going Merry's sheep head which added the red comb and waddle of a chicken. "THAT'S AWESOME!"

"Introducing the Going Merry: Flying Edition!" Usopp proudly announced.

"IT CAN FLYYY?" Luffy repeated with stars in his eyes.

"I KNOW!" Usopp exclaimed as he motioned to the still gathered members of the Saruyama Alliance, "They built it just for us!"

"WAH-HOO!" the Saruyama Alliance cheered and posed.

"SHISHI!" Luffy laughed and posed along with them. "WAH-HOO!"

"They turned our ship… into a chicken…" Ricky dead-panned, notably less impressed.

"Something about it makes me feel kind of uneasy," Nami admitted.

"For once I agree with you," Zoro said, "Chickens don't even know how to fly. They should've made it a pigeon."

"WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING, YOU DOPE!" Nami snarled.

"Everything," Ricky replied, "A pirate's ship is a representation of himself. If we float around in a giant chicken, everyone else is gonna think we're chickens."

"No wonder Usopp's so proud of it," Zoro remarked.

"IT'S TIME TO SET SAIL!" Usopp called out. "Come on, if you're with me, let me hear it!"

"YEEEAAAH!" the Saruyama Alliance cheered. The Straw Hats and the Saruyama Alliance boarded their respective ships leaving only Luffy and Cricket lingering on the shore.

Cricket had set his recovered gold on the stump in between them and was silently smoking a cigarette. He had yet to acknowledge his gold being given back.

"What're you waiting for?" Cricket eventually asked. "Get on board… unless you plan on missing your chance at the sky... like a fool."

Luffy smiled and nodded, "Thanks for the ship!" he chirped.

Cricket casually put out his cigarette in the ash tray in front of him. "Thank them," Cricket said as he motioned to Shoujou, Masira and their crews who had boarded their respective ships. "They built it."

"Yeah, THANKS FOR THE SHIP YOU GUYS!" Luffy called out to them. He held up his beetle and grinned. "YOU CAN HAVE MY HERCULES!"

"Oooh, really?" Shoujou asked. "Ya mean it? Are you sure? THAT'S SO KIND OF YOU!"

"I still don't see what the big deal is about bugs," Ricky admitted.

"Alright, enough of this foolishness," Masira resolved, "We have some time but not much."

"Follow us," Shoujou instructed, "We'll lead the way!"

"COME ON LUFFY, LET'S GO!" Usopp shouted as Luffy ran to the ship.

"COMING!" Luffy returned.

"Hm," Cricket grunted to himself as he watched the boy go then glanced back at his recovered treasure. He remembered what Bellamy had said to him after he beaten him up and stole it.

"_The City of Gold is just a fairy tale! That liar Noland dreamt it all up!"_

"_YOUR DREAMS WILL NEVER COME TRUE, EVER! HAAHAAHAAAHAAAHAAAA!"_

Cricket gripped his treasure and turned to face his crew, "SARUYAMA!" he shouted.

"AYE!" they all chorused.

"I'm counting on you men!" Cricket addressed them. "I don't care what happens, you give our friends here everything you've got!"

"YEAH!" the men cheered.

Luffy smiled back at Cricket before jumping onto the Merry, "TIME TO SET SAIL!"

"You heard him," Nami said to the other Straw Hats, "Shove off!"

"ALRIGHT!" Usopp exclaimed.

"YEEES! MISS. NAMI!" Sanji swooned.

The anchor was raised and the chicken-themed Going Merry cast off from the shore.

"Well kid, looks like this is where we part ways," Cricket told the departing ship as the stood on the shore.

"Yup," Luffy replied.

"There's only one thing you've gotta remember above everything else," Cricket advised. "Not one person in history has ever _disproven_ the existence of Sky Island! People may say I'm crazy, and even laugh at me but I don't care, I'm a romantic, like you."

"Romantic," Luffy repeated. Not a person that believed in the romance between people but a person that believed in the romance between and man and his dreams that drove him to making them come true.

"Oh, and thanks for retrieving the gold," Cricket added almost as an afterthought as the Going Merry set sail with the two Saruyama Alliance ships at its side.

"Our pleasure," Ricky stated. He looked over his shoulder and found Robin standing behind him. "Someone should put a bell on you." Robin simply smiled.

"And hey," Cricket said, "don't be falling from the sky, ya hear?"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "SEE YA AROUND, POPS!"

"THANKS FOR EVERYTHING CRICKET!" Nami called out.

"THINK OF US WHEN YOU FIND THE CITY OF GOLD, OLD TIMER!" Usopp exclaimed.

"DON'T DIVE TOO RECKLESSLY!" Chopper advised.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" Cricket snapped.

**-x-**

The Going Merry wasn't the only ship that had set sail for the Knock-Up Stream. A large boat designed to look like a raft was sailing in the same direction. The body of the boat was four huge logs strapped together with cannons carved into them. There was one mast and it had three black sails on it. The top and bottom sails were small but the middle one was large and displayed the ship's Jolly Roger. Instead of only have the two diagonal crossbones, this one also had a third one going up and down. And instead of having just one skull, this mark had three with the two skulls at the sides looking in opposite directions while the one in the middle faced straight ahead.

This was the pirate ship of the Blackbeard Pirates. The raft's design meant that the ship went wherever Fate took it.

"It's morning already?" Blackbeard questioned as the sat in front of the main mast with Doc Q while Jesus Burgess and Van Auger stood at the front of the ship and looked off ahead of them. "Burgess! See anything out there?"

"Can't even see an outline of the shore yet," the masked grappler admitted, "You really think they're going to that Sky Island?"

"Yeah," Blackbeard replied, "So they say. They'll be pretty tough to follow up there. So we've gotta take care of 'em before that." Blackbeard grinned. "'Straw Hat' Luffy, who would've thought that twerp would be worth a hundred million berries?"

**-x-**

"Okay, listen up!" Masira instructed as, Shoujou, their respective crews and the Straw Hats sailed south for the Knock-Up Stream. "It's currently six forty five AM. We need to arrive at our final destination no later than eleven. It's like Cricket already told us, the spot where the Knock Up Stream erupts is different every single time. We need to get there as early as possible in order to pin-point its exact location."

Luffy tuned out Masira's explanation and instead focused on the South Birds perched on the rear railed of the front deck. Both of the South Birds were dutifully staring south.

"Check it out!" Luffy called out to the others on the front deck as he grabbed 'Stupid's' head and turned it to the side.

"Joooooohh!" Stupid called out in annoyance.

"Luckily we're only a little bit behind schedule," Masira continued but then noticed that Luffy wasn't paying attention, "HEY! ARE YOU KNUCKLEHEADS PAYING ATTENTION?"

Luffy took his hands off of the South Bird's head at being reprimanded which allowed the South Bird's head to snap back into the right south-pointing position. **SWUK!**

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed in amusement while Usopp and Chopper stood nearby, "Did you see that? It has to face forward! Shishishishi!"

"Strange," Usopp remarked, "I've never seen a bird like that."

"They can only face south!" Luffy continued to laugh, "It's that funny! These goofy birds act just like compasses! Shishishishishi!"

**KONK!** The other South Bird leaned forward and bonked Luffy on the head with her beak.

"JOOOOH!JOOOOH!" Stupid crowed.

"Did you hear what it said?" Usopp asked Chopper.

"He said he's 'going to face a different direction on purpose and laugh at us when we're lost'," Chopper translated.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Go ahead and try!"

"Jooh!" Stupid grunted as he turned his head so he was looking backwards.

"Whoa!" Luffy gasped, "He really did it! He's facing north!"

"Jooooh… joooooh…" Stupid started groaning and sweating from the exertion of facing a different direction. **Swip! **He turned his head so he was once again facing South.

"TOLD YA HE COULDN'T DO IT!" Luffy exclaimed, "SHISHISHI!" Usopp and Chopper joined in at laughing at Stupid's failed attempt at looking in another direction.

"Jooohh…" the other South Bird crowed and sweat-dropped.

"HEY! SHOW THE BOSS SOME RESPECT AND PIPE DOWN OVER THERE!" some of Shoujou's men yelled, annoyed at the Straw Hats for ignoring one of their bosses.

"No, they're fine," Shoujou reassured his men. "It reminds me of the old days when I was young and irreverent."

"Uh-oh, what'd they say?" Luffy wondered as he turned his attention away from the South Birds and towards Shoujou's men. "HEY! There's no point in getting so worked up fellas! Shishishi! Try to relax!"

"And who put us being schedule?" Sanji questioned.

"Hey, it was only five minutes," Ricky pointed out, "Considering its Luffy, you should be thankful I got him back when I did. The way I see it, we've still got plenty of time."

"You know what, he's right," Masira decided, "Being tense won't get us anywhere. We may as well enjoy ourselves."

"I see your point," Shoujou said, "Full speed ahead men! Anyone not relaxing answers to me!"

"Aaahh, that's better," Luffy sighed.

The Going Merry and the two Saruyama Alliance ships visibly sagged as their crews relaxed.

"This is ridiculous," Zoro muttered.

"Hey, if we're all just relaxing do you mind if I call up my turtle?" Ricky requested. "I don't want him getting hurt in the Knock-Up Stream so I'm gonna try to figure out a way for him to follow us from the sea."

"Just tell him to follow the cumuloregalus cloud," Masira advised, "Once you're on top of it, your turtle can just follow it from below and he'll be nearby when you come back down."

"Then you'd better get some money out," Nami suggested, "If we're not gonna see your portable safe while we're up there you should get our funds together while you still can."

"Good call," Ricky said as he pulled out the receiver to the Transponder Snail he'd planted in Sheldon's ear. "Sheldon, come on up."

**-x-**

About three hours later, the Straw Hats and the Saruyama Alliance were still sailing south… but were the Blackbeard Pirates.

"Wait… what's over there?" Jesus Burguess wondered as he lowered his binoculars and just stared off ahead of the ship. "The sky! Its dark!"

There were no binoculars needed. The dark shadow being cast by the thick clusters of clouds up ahead were plainly visible to everyone on their ship.

**-x-**

The Straw Hats and the Saruyamas were sailing nearby. Sheldon had gone back underwater and was shadowing the three ships from below. One of Masira's men spotted the dark clouds.

"BOSS! LOOK! I see the cumuloregalus cloud to the south-west!"

"It can't be!" Masira barked, "What time is it?"

"Ten o clock!" the man exclaimed, "THEY'RE A FULL HOUR EARLY!"

"Shoujou!" Masira called out to his brother, "Do you think we can make it?"

"DISPATCH THE UTON DIVERS!" Shoujou ordered. "FIND ME THOSE CURRENTS!"

"Ooo! Ooo!" Shoujou's team of divers grunted before they dove into the water. **SPLOOSH! **

"INCREDIBLE!" Nami exclaimed as she stared at the clouds up ahead.

"WHAT'S GOING ON NOW?" Usopp asked as he came running out of the storage room while Sanji poked his head out of the galley.

"The cumuloregalus clouds appeared a lot sooner than expected!" Nami explained. "Now everyone's scrambling to find a current!"

"**WOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAA!" **Shoujou shouted into his microphone so his team of divers could use his voice as sonar. When it came to undersea search and salvage, Shoujou and Masira were the best there was.

**SPLOOSH! **One of Shoujou's divers broke the surface and waved his arm and shouted, "SONAR WAVES DETECTED! THERE'S A LARGE CURRANT AT TWELVE O CLOCK!"

"THERE'S A LARGE CREATURE DETECTED AT NINE O CLOCK!" another diver yelled, "IT COULD BE A SEA KING!"

"THERE'S WAVE ACTIVITY DETECTED AT TEN O CLOCK GOING AGAINST THE CURRANT!" a third diver hollered. "I BELIEVE IT'S A GIANT WHIRLPOOL, SIR!"

"THAT'S IT!" Masira realized, "FULL SPEED AHEAD DIRECTLY FOR TEN O CLOCK! THAT'S WHERE THE KNOCK-UP STREAM'S GONNA ERUPT! I'M SURE OF IT! GO!"

**SHOOOOM!** A huge wave blew past and rocked all their ships.

"Hold on!" Zoro warned the others as the Straw Hats clung to various parts of the ship. Except Usopp and Chopper who were clinging to Ricky.

"THE WAVES ARE GETTING HIGHER!" Nami exclaimed in alarm.

"WE'RE GONNA SINK!" Usopp wailed from on Ricky's back.

"Steady men!" Masira ordered, "It's a pre-eruption tremor!"

"ERUPTION?" Chopper shrieked while perched on Ricky's shoulders.

"Chopper get your hoof outta my eye!" Ricky complained, Chopper moved it and Ricky turned to Zoro, "Zoro, get the South Birds into the anchor room. It doesn't look like we'll be needing them anymore and I don't want them exposed to the storm."

"I thought you hated birds?" Zoro questioned.

"I do," Ricky admitted, "but we took them away from their home so that means it's our responsibility to look after them.

"HEY! MISS. NAVIGATOR!" Robin called out to Nami, she had to practically shout over the roaring waves. "WHAT DOES THE LOG POSE SAY?"

Nami glanced down and the Log Pose on her wrist, "ITS POINTING STRAIGHT UP AT THOSE CLOUDS!" Nami shouted back.

"You mean… the Sky Island's above that?" Usopp questioned as he looked up at the dark stormy clouds above them.

"The wind direction's perfect," Nami realized, "THE CLOUDS ARE LINING UP EXACTLY OVER THE CENTER OF THE WHIRLPOOL!"

"What whirlpool?" Luffy questioned, "I haven't seen anything!"

"It's just starting to form up ahead," Ricky pointed out.

"Nice work brother!" Masira said to Shoujou, "I think we hit the jackpot on this one!"

"Yes, and it seems we're in for a nice-sized explosion!" Shoujou added.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Luffy asked.

"Of course!" Masira replied.

**SHUK!** Metal hooks shoot out from Masira's ship and clamped onto the front railing of the Going Merry.

"What's that?" Luffy inquired.

"We'll lead you to the inner edge!" Masira informed them.

"Alright," Nami said, "But what should we do?"

"Position yourself on the flow and head towards the center!" Masira instructed them, "Then you'll be fine."

"HE WANTS US TO GO TO THE CENTER?" Nami repeated incredulously. She didn't like the idea of sailing to the center of the whirlpool.

"It makes sense," Ricky reasoned, "You said before that the clouds were lining up with the center of the whirlpool. If the Knock-Up Stream is coming out of the center of it then that's where we need to be."

"In that case…" **Whap! **Nami had joined Usopp and Chopper and was now clinging to Ricky's front. But before Ricky could once again resign himself to once again being their meat shield, he realized he had two new additions.

"Really?" Ricky asked as she glanced down at Robin's arm that was hooked on his.

Robin shrugged as she casually stood next to him, "Everyone else was doing it," she replied.

Ricky looked the other way at Sanji, the cook wasn't clinging to him but was standing right next to him with is hands in his pockets. "REALLY?"

"Someone has to protect the women," Sanji stated. "You've got your hands full."

"HEY!" Usopp and Chopper yelled.

Ricky glared over his shoulder at Zoro who was the only one down on the main deck, "Don't you get any ideas!"

"Please," Zoro scoffed then smirked, "Besides, even if I wanted to there's no room."

"HERE WE GO!" Luffy shouted as they were pulled into the whirlpool.

**-x-**

**The Going Merry Sails to the Sky:**

**-x-**

Cricket was still sitting on his stump stood outside his house with his sack of treasure on the stump table behind him. The sky up above him had gone dark due to the presence of the cumuloregalus cloud.

"I have never met a group of characters like them before," the man remarked.

"_YOU MEAN THERE'S NO SKY ISLAND?" Luffy shouted when Cricket had told them that the Sky Island was only supposed to be a fairy tale. "ARE YOU SURE?"_

"_Cricket's gold!" Nami exclaimed after she'd discovered that his gold had been stolen by Bellamy the Hyena. "IT'S ALL GONE!"_

"_You know me, Luffy," Ricky had said to convince his Captain to take him along to retrieve the gold. "I won't just stand around when someone's hard earned treasure has been stolen."_

"_We'll be back by morning guys," Luffy vowed before he and Ricky set off._

"_Shishishi! See ya around, pops!" Luffy laughed as he and his crew set off for the Knock-Up Stream, intent on proving that the legendary Sky Island was actually real._

Cricket put out his cigarette on the edge of his overflowing ashtray, he smiled faintly as he remembered the pirates that had changed his life. "Always yapping about dreams…"

**-x-**

"I DON'T WANNA GET SUCKED IN!" Usopp screamed as the Going Merry sailed in the outer rim of the swirling whirlpool while being pulled by Masira's ship.

"I DON'T REMEMBER SIGNING UP FOR ALL THIS!" Nami shrieked.

"DON'T WORRY!" Sanji reassured her, "I'll make sure nothing happens to you!"

"**Gurgle!" **Ricky gagged as he was inadvertently strangled by the terrified duo, "Can't breathe!"

"I've never seen one quite this big before!" Robin admitted as she stared around her at the enormous whirlpool that they were currently sailing in.

"Teeheehee!" Chopper giggled, he was ignoring what was going on around him and was instead picturing the happy geyser gentle pushing the Going Merry up into the air.

"THIS IS BAD!" Usopp wailed, "I CHANGE MY MIND! I WANNA GO BACK!"

"Sorry Usopp," Zoro apologized to him, "Too late for that. You-Know-Who is already excited."

"LET'S GO TO THE SKY!" 'You-Know-Who' cheered in elation. "SHISHISHI!"

**SHOOOOM! **An enormous yellow Sea King with green spots and a fin going down its back burst out of the water in front of them. "YAAAAAAHHH!" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper yelled as the clung even tighter to their meat shield at the sight of the monster's huge teeth.

But the current in the whirlpool was too strong even for the mighty Sea King and pulled it away from the Going Merry and further into the deadly water storm. The fact that the terrifying monster was no match for the current they were sailing in only served to terrifying Nami, Usopp, and Chopper even more.

"It's time for us to go!" Masira called out. The hooks had been removed from the Going Merry and he had sailed his ship back over to Shoujou's while the Straw Hats continued to sail further into the whirlpool. "The rest is up to you! Good luck!"

"BYE GUYS!" Luffy exclaimed as he smiled and waved at the monkey brothers. "THANKS A LOT FOR EVERYTHING!"

"DOON'T GOOO!" Usopp howled while Chopper screamed along with him, "I DON'T WANNA DIE! TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

"NO ONE EVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT DIVING HEAD-FIRST INTO A GIANT WHIRLPOOL!" Nami yelled.

"Enough you three!" Ricky snapped as he finally pried Nami and Usopp clingy hands off of his throat. "You can either cling to me, or you can scream, not both! I'm don't wanna go deaf!"

"I agree," Robin said as she used an extra hand to clean out one of her ears.

Usopp and Chopper stared at each other. Then slipped off of Ricky and started screaming a new. "COOOOME BAAAACK! IIII'M SCAAAARED! I DON'T WAANNAA DIIIEEEEEE!"

"WE'RE BEING SUCKED IN!" Chopper waited as the Going Merry swirled around the outer rim of the whirlpool.

Nami whimpered and decided she preferred having a meat shield to screaming and tightened her hold on Ricky before she buried her head in his chest.

"Don't be so unreasonable Luffy!" Usopp pleaded to the Captain with tears of terror running down his face. "Let's go back while we still have time! Don't you understand! This Sky Island stuff is just a myth! It's not worth getting us killed!"

"It's all make-believe?" Luffy questioned, "Is that what you think?"

"This is starting to seem like a really bad idea!" Chopper protested.

"It may be a stupid dream," Luffy admitted, "but I have to try." Luffy turned to face them with a huge 1000 megawatt grin that made if face practically sparkle, "IF WE DON'T DO THIS WE COULD REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!"

"It's too late!" Usopp cried in despair, there was no arguing with the Captain when he was this enthusiastic. They were DOOOOOMED!

"Instead of wasting your time bickering, you might wanna take a look," Zoro suggested as he pointed off the side of the ship. "It's sucking us in."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Usopp and Chopper screamed as the Going Merry was sucked out of the outer rim of the whirlpool right into the middle of it.

**SPLOOOSH! **The Going Merry touched down in the center of the whirlpool and suddenly the waves were all gone. The sea was calm.

"What happened?" Sanji sputtered, "It disappeared!"

"What's going on?" Luffy wondered.

"But… I don't get it…" Usopp said, "Where'd it go?"

**BLUB! BLUB! BLUB! **Underneath the Going Merry, the water started bubbling.

Nami felt the underwater tremors and let go of Ricky. "I feel it…" she said as she stared down at her feet in terror. "Its starting…"

"What?" Ricky questioned.

"The whirlpool has sunk under the surface!" Nami explained, the panic clear in her voice.

"You don't mean…" Usopp whimpered.

"**HOOOLD IIIT RIIIGHT THEEEEREEEE!" **came a loud shout.

The Straw Hats turned to see a raft like boat with black sails sailing out to meet them in the middle of the underwater whirlpool.

"Hey Zoro… look!" Luffy pointed out.

"Who is it?" Ricky asked as he squinted in an attempt to see who was on the incoming ship.

"It's that guy from Mock Town," Nami, who had decent depth perception, realized.

"What guy?" Sanji questioned.

"Mr. One Eye, that sniper we encountered is there too," Robin observed.

"**ZEHAHAHAHA!" **

The sound of the familiar laughter caused Ricky's eye to narrow and his fists to clench.

Blackbeard and Van Auger stood on the two middle logs of the raft-themed boat while Jesus Burgess and Doc Q were on the side ones using oars to paddle them closer to the Going Merry.

"'STRAW HAT' LUFFY!" Blackbeard shouted, "I'VE COME ALL THIS WAY TO COLLECT ON YOUR HUNDRED MILLION BERRI BOUNTY! SO DON'T BE SHY! ZEHAHAHA!"

"**Yyoouu…" **Ricky growled through gritted teeth while his clenched hands shook.

**-x-**

"Were those youngsters expecting some company?" Shoujou wondered as he and Masira watched as the Blackbeard Pirates closed in on the Straw Hats.

"I don't know brother," Masira confessed.

**-x-**

"A hundred million?" Luffy repeated. No one had gotten around to telling him about his raise in bounty. "What're you—" **WHUMP! **Luffy was cut off went Ricky pushed passed him and shoved his brother to the ground.

"TEACH!" Ricky shouted.

"Well if it isn't my old pal, Ricky!" Marshall D. Teach remarked, "It's been a while! How'd that eye of yours heal up?"

"Eye… Teach…" Nami repeated to herself then her eyes widened in horror, "Oh no…"

"I'm not your pal!" Ricky spat, "YOU RUINED MY LIFE YOU BASTARD!"

Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji's eyes widened in realization, "So that's the guy…" Zoro whispered.

"Then you're gonna hate to hear this kid," Blackbeard said, "But now that Crocodile's been arrested, my latest goal is to replace him as the Seventh Warlord! I'm here for your Captain's impressive bounty! Actually… with you and the Pirate Hunter thrown in that's almost a quarter billion berries! Maybe the two of us meeting here after all this time is Fate!"

"Oh no, he said the F-word…" Nami whimpered.

"LIKE HELL I'M GONNA ALLOW THAT!" Ricky yelled he reached up for his eye patch. **Whap! **Luffy grabbed his wrist and held him back.

"Ricky… we don't have time for this…" Luffy told him. **SWOOOSH! **Ricky swung around and threw his brother off of him and sent him tumbling down the steps.

"SANJI! DO SOMETHING!" Nami shrieked.

Ricky reached for his eye patch again but this time Sanji grabbed his wrist before he could pull it off. **Whap! **"Ricky!" Sanji snapped, "CONTROL YOURSELF!"

**WOOOSH!** **THWAK!** Ricky spun Sanji off of him and with a well-placed kick sent the cook crashing into Usopp and Chopper causing all three of them to land in a heap. **WHUMP! **Ricky turned back around and stepped onto the railing.

"Don't tell me you're trying to stop me again, kid," Blackbeard said, his good-natured smile was now gone. "I thought you would've learned your lesson about fighting Fate after last time."

"This time I'm not trying to stop you…" Ricky growled, "This time… I'LL KILL YOU!"

**Whap! **"Seis Fleur!" Six arms grew out of the railing and Ricky's body, two anchored his feet down onto the railing while the other four wrenched his arms behind his back. "Mr. One Eye, think about what you're doing… the Knock-Up Stream's about to go off…" Zoro finally reached the front deck and wasted no time in yanking Ricky off the railing while Robin continued her attempts to reason with him, "There are four of them and you have no idea how strong they are. If you go over there there's no coming back."

"SO BE IT!" **WHAM!** With his arms still pinned behind him by four of Robin's, Ricky slammed bodily into Zoro and knocked the swordsman off of him.

"RICKY DON'T!" **WHUMP!** Nami launched herself across the front deck and pounced on him, with a helpful hand from Robin grabbing his ankle she managed to knock him down. **Whap! Whap! **Arms instantly grew out of the deck and restrained Ricky but he continued to struggle.

"He's fighting," Robin stated as he crossed her arms across her chest and struggled to keep Ricky pinned on the ground, "I don't know how long I can hold him without hurting him."

"DAMN IT RICKY!" Nami yelled as she rolled on top of him, "CALM DOWN!" Desperate, she leaned in and kissed him. Ricky's eye widened in surprise as did Zoro's and Robin's.

"Is… is she trying to suck the fight out of him?" Chopper questioned. They'd finally managed to extract themselves from the pile.

Usopp blinked but to their surprise Ricky's struggles were dying down. "Yes Chopper, that's _exactly_ what she's doing."

"Miss. Nami! NOOOO!" Sanji wailed.

Luffy held him back, "It's working, don't interfere."

"Get a room," Zoro complained before he turned around and looked the other way.

"Uuuhhh…" Blackbeard said not sure what do now that his targets were ignoring him. "Hello?" He waved. "We're here to capture you!"

**-x-**

"Make sure you keep your eyes opened, Going Merry crew!" Shoujou called out.

He and Masira were oblivious to what had just gone on. But what they _did _notice was the fact that the still water underneath the Going Merry was starting to rise.

"It's here," Shoujou noted, "I hope they're ready for it. BRACE YOURSELVES!"

**-x-**

The giant dome of water the size of the whirlpool had risen up underneath the two ships.

"Huh?" Blackbeard grunted when he felt his ship start drifting backwards.

The Going Merry had been exactly in the middle of the whirlpool so it rode upward on top of the rising dome while Blackbeard's raft started sliding backwards down the side.

"EVERYONE GRAB ONTO SOMETHING!" Sanji warned the others. The Straw Hats scrambled to grab onto the nearest railing or any sturdy part of the ship they could find.

"They're still going at it…" Robin felt obligated to point out as she stared at Ricky and Nami. Nami had successfully drained the fight out of Ricky but now he was returning the kiss and it was actually starting to get pretty heated. The two of them were in their own world completely oblivious to everything going on around them.

While she held onto the railing behind her, Robin sprouted arms out of Nami and grabbed onto the ones that were still holding down Ricky.

"AAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed. "OOOH NOOO! THE SHIP! IT'S BEING LIFTED UP!"

The dome of water reached its peak before it exploded upward. **KA-BLOOOOOSH! **An enormous torrent of water as wide as the whirlpool erupted upward and sent the Going Merry flying up towards the clouds.

The Going Merry had been on top of the dome and shot straight up with the Knock-Up Stream. Blackbeard wasn't so lucky and his raft plummeted downward and broke apart when it hit the ocean.

"WAAAAAAH!" Blackbeard and his crew screamed in alarm.

**-x-**

Outside his house, Cricket smiled as he watched the Knock-Up Stream explode upward knowing that his faithful crew had gotten their friends on it.

The Knock-Up Stream was truly a sight to behold. The mighty column of water had shot miles up into the air and burst through the bottom of the cumuloregalus cloud.

**-x-**

"HELP! WE'RE GONNA CAPSIZE!" one of Masira's men yelled as both ships rocked from the huge waves that were coming off of the Knock-Up Stream.

"HOLD STEADY!" Masira ordered.

"DON'T LET GO MEN!" Shoujou shouted.

The monkey brothers stared off their ships at the Knock-Up Stream, "GO SKY ISLAND!"

**-x-**

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Nami yelped in alarm. She and Ricky's had finally broken apart when they realized they were _hanging _from the arms Robin had coming out of the deck.

"We're sailing _up _a huge pillar of water!" Sanji exclaimed.

"AAAWEEESOOOOMEEE!" Luffy shouted as he launched himself over Ricky and Nami and grabbed onto the chicken-shaped head of the figurehead.

"HOW ARE WE DOING THIS?" Usopp screamed.

Nami pushed herself further off of Ricky and held the wind blowing through her hair, "Wind…"

"Robin, you can let us go," Ricky instructed. Robin nodded and her arms disappeared causing Ricky and Nami to slide down the now sideways front deck until they connected with the railing. Since the Going Merry was now sailing straight upward, the floor was sideways and the deck and walls were now flat. Ricky quickly repositioned them so they were sitting on the railing.

"ALRIGHT!" Luffy cheered, "I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS FINALLY HAPPENING! LET'S GO TO SKYPEIA!"

On the main deck, Zoro was casually standing on the wall beside the storage room, Sanji and Chopper were leaning against the main mast, Usopp was clinging to the rear railing of the front deck with his body fluttering like a kite in the rushing wind.

"Hold on," Sanji warned him, "It's not gonna be that easy. Look…"

"OH WHAT NOW?" Usopp complained.

"What's wrong?" Luffy questioned. "Did we forget about something?"

"The hull's starting to float," Sanji pointed out.

The Going Merry had been sailing straight up the side of Knock-Up Stream but now they'd reached a height that was too much for their little winged ship and it was starting to push off of the pillar of water. Considering how high they were now, there was no way they'd survive the impact with the sea.

"If we don't stop it we're gonna fall into the ocean!" Sanji continued.

"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT US TO DO?" Usopp demanded as his dangling body wiggled helplessly while he clung to the railing, "We're having a hard enough time holding on!"

"OOOH NOOO!" Chopper suddenly screamed, "WHAT IS THAT?"

Something large and yellow had come out of the side of the Knock-Up Stream and was now falling towards them.

"IT'S THE SEA KING!" Zoro realized.

"From before?" Chopper questioned. The familiar monster that had been sucked into the whirlpool dropped past them and continued to plummet helplessly towards the sea.

"See?" Sanji said, "It's only a matter of time before the same thing happens to the Merry."

"I know," Zoro replied "But what can we do? We don't have a whole lot of options when it comes to Mother Nature. We're at her mercy."

"I guess we hold on and hope for the best," Sanji resolved.

"WAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper screamed again as large chunks for broken ships started dropping from above them and fell past them. "SHIPS ARE FALLING FROM THE SKY! WE'RE GONNA END UP DRIFTWOOD JUST LIKE THAT!"

Usopp was practically crying, no, forget 'practically' he was _actually _crying, "WE'RE GONNA TAKE A NOSEDIVE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN ALL BECAUSE LUFFY HAD TO FOLLOW SOME STUPID DREAM!"

Nami spun around and called out to the crew on the main deck, "Spread the sails!" she ordered, "Right now! It may be a pillar of water but it's still the sea. It's a rising currant! The wind from below is a rising air current caused by geothermal heat causing a steam explosion. It may be packaged differently but it's still wind and water." Nami smiled down at them, "Trust me, I'm a Navigator, aren't I?"

"THAAANK YOOOUUU MIIIISS NAAAAMIIIII!" Sanji swooned.

Ricky stared wide-eyed at her, then smiled and rolled off the railing, "Aye-aye," he dropped down onto the sideways main mast and ran along to drop the main sail. "Let's go crew, Navigator's orders!"

"YEAH!" the Straw Hats chorused. The main sail dropped and billowed with wind.

"Alright guys," Nami instructed, "Catch the starboard wind and align the ship with the current!"

"YES MA'AM!" the Straw Hats replied.

"Hey… we're rising above the water…" Chopper pointed out in alarm as he stared off the side of the almost airborne ship. "Is that okay?"

"NAMI!" Luffy yelled, "DO SOMETHING! WE'RE GONNA FALL!"

"Come on…" Nami urged the ship, "Do it…"

**SHOOOOOM! **With the wind blowing into the billowing sail and the chicken wings out at the side, the Going Merry pushed off of the Knock-Up Stream and started _FLYING_ up to the clouds.

"WE'RE FLYING!" Luffy exclaimed. "YEEAAH! WE'RE HEADING TO THE SKY!"

"We made it…" Usopp mumbled in shock.

"…" Robin was silent but was smiling brightly.

"AAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed, not sure what to make of the flying ship.

"YES!" Zoro cheered.

"I did it!" Nami realized.

"MISS. NAMI! GOOD JOB!" Sanji gushed, "I THINK I LOVE YOU!"

"I'll say," Ricky whispered, instead of staring up ahead like all the others were, his eye was locked on the Navigator.

**-x-**

"_Go for it kid," _Cricket thought to himself as he stared up at the sky, _"Always remember to keep dreaming."_

**-x-**

"YEEEAAAAHHHH!" Shoujou and Masira cheered as their friends' success.

**-x-**

"If the wind keeps this up, we can sail as high as we want," Nami explained to the others.

"Hey Nami!" Luffy called back to her, "Are we almost to Skypeia?"

"If it exists, it's past those clouds!" Nami replied as she pointed up ahead.

"Past those clouds…" Luffy repeated. "I can't wait to find out what's up in the sky! LET'S BUST THROUGH 'EM AND FIND OUT! YEEEEEAAAAAAAHH!"

And so the Going Merry flew upward into the sky and into the clouds towards the Sky Island.

**-x-**

Jaya's finally done, onto Skypeia. Next chapter, the Straw Hats reach the white sea.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	15. The White Sea

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:**This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**The White Sea:**

**-x-**

"Gaaah!" Luffy gasped as the Going Merry sailed up the Knock-Up Stream and surged through the Cumuloregalus Cloud at the top of it. The rubber pirate spat out bits of cloud that ended up in his gaping mouth. **SHOOM! **The Going Merry flew out of the cloud and into the opened sky up above it. The chicken wings and chicken tail that had been added to the sheep-themed ship broke off before the Going Merry came crashing down in an ocean of white. **SPLOOSH! **

**-x-**

Miles below them, Montblank Cricket sat outside his house on Jaya and stared out at the Knock-Up Stream with a fond smile. He didn't have to see it know that the Straw Hats had made it.

**-x-**

Marshall D. Teach, Jesus Burgess, Van Auger, Doc Q and his horse Stronger sat on the one giant log that remained of their raft-themed ship and stared up into the sky after the Straw Hats.

"ZEHAHAHAHA!" Teach laughed, he seemed to find the whole situation hilarious. "Oh well! They got away!"

"Hee hee!" Doc Q chuckled, "That guy's lucky."

"SO WHAT?" Burgess snapped, "We're just gonna sit here and let him escape? WE JUST LOST A TWO HUNDRED FORTY MILLION BERRI BOUNTY! And you're laughing about it? Come on! We've gotta do something!"

"Zehahahaha! Easy Burgess!" Teach reprimanded his Helmsman. "They haven't left this world. They'll be back. We'll meet them soon enough as long as we're on the Grand Line."

"This is true," Van Auger agreed, "We are but cogs in the gears of Fate. And though they've managed to escape today, they can't run from destiny."

"Zehahaha!" Blackbeard chortled, "Y'see Burgess?"

"Ah, whatever," Burgess muttered.

"KOFF! KOFF!" Doc Q wheezed as the log that remained of their ship bobbed up and down on the waves while Blackbeard's laughter was carried over the roar of the waves.

**-x-**

The Straw Hats laid scattered and panting on the deck of the Going Merry.

"What the… What just happened to us?" Zoro asked as he sat against the ship's railing, "Everyone alright?"

"Koff! Koff! All present and accounted for," Ricky reported.

"Hey! Look guys!" Luffy called out, "Out there! What is that?"

The Straw Hats glanced off of the ship in the directions their Captain had indicated and all they saw was white. Up above them were white clouds and down below them were white clouds.

"What in the world?" Sanji questioned.

"IT'S SO WHITE!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THEY'RE CLOUDS!" Chopper realized.

"But how?" Nami wondered. The Straw Hat's weather expert was completely perplexed by the presence of clouds that were solid enough to support their ship. "Why aren't we falling?"

"Do you _want _to fall?" Ricky inquired.

"NO!" Nami quickly answered, "But… this shouldn't be possible!"

"Clouds float, boats float, it's the same thing," Luffy 'reasoned'.

"No its not!" Zoro, Sanji and Chopper scolded him.

"AH! OH NO!" Chopper shouted when he spotted Usopp still lying prone on the deck. "USOPP'S NOT BREATHING!"

"HE'S NOT?" Luffy questioned. "SOMEONE DO SOMETHING! MOUTH-TO-MOUTH!"

"Right!" Sanji agreed, "I'll do mouth-to-mouth on Nami!"

"Moron," Zoro muttered.

"USOPP! COME ON!" Chopper urged the sniper, "SPEAK TO ME!"

Usopp's eyes finally popped opened and he took a breath.

"HE'S ALIVE!" Luffy and Chopper cheered.

"I am?" Usopp questioned. He sat up and saw nothing but white. "WHERE ARE WE? WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE CLOUDS? THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"

"Basically it's an ocean in the sky," Nami explained even though she didn't completely understand it herself.

"No way!" Usopp exclaimed, "Seriously?"

"But look, the Log Pose is still pointing up," Nami pointed out as she motioned to the glass ball on her wrist.

"So we must still be somewhere in the middle of the cumuloregalus cloud," Robin reasoned as she and Chopper sat together on the railing.

"You mean we have to travel even higher?" Chopper asked.

"That's what the Log Pose says at least," Robin pointed out.

"Did I hear you call me a moron?" Sanji growled at Zoro.

"I don't know, did ya?" Zoro challenged him.

"Don't dive in!" Ricky scolded Luffy as he struggled to hold his brother back. "You can't swim and since these clouds are acting like water we can't risk you jumping in and drowning in them."

"An ocean!" Usopp gasped as he stared down at the white clouds their ship was resting on. "AHAHAHAHA! HERE I GO!" The sniper slipped down the top of his overalls and posed on the railing. "CLOUD OCEAN SWIMMING CHAMP USOPP!"

Luffy and Chopper cheered at Usopp's proclamation, even if they couldn't swim, they were excited to see their friend try it.

"Hey, you can't swim here!" Sanji protested. "We still don't know anything about this place!"

"You're right," Ricky agreed as he pulled off his shirt, "Which is why we should take this opportunity to explore it." There was an almost foreign look of excitement on the usually calm treasure hunter's face. "I've only ever been able to stare at clouds from a distance but now that I've actually got a chance to swim in them, I'm taking it." Ricky slipped off his boots and jumped up onto the railing next to Usopp. "Come on, Cloud Ocean Swimming Champ Usopp, time for you to earn that title!"

"Alright, I will!" Usopp retorted as he pulled his goggles down, "Watch me! Ahahahahahaha!" The two of them dove off the side of the ship and disappeared into the white ocean below them. **SPLA-SPLASH!**

"THEY DID IT!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THEY'RE SO BRAVE!" Chopper cheered.

Ricky grinned and glanced to his left at Usopp as they swam side-by-side in the White Sea. Usopp smirked and put on an additional burst of speed and swam out ahead of Ricky who seemed more intent on taking a casual swim in the clouds.

"_This is incredible," _Ricky thought to himself.

"_It's hard to see anything,"_ Usopp admitted, _"but I'm really moving! There's so little resistance! Wow! I'm just going deeper and deeper! It's so easy!"_

**-x-**

Back on the surface, Luffy and Chopper stared over the side of the ship at the clouds below them and looked depressed as they tried to spot Ricky and Usopp.

"Aw man! It's no fair!" Luffy complained, "I wish I could swim like that."

"I bet it's the funnest thing ever," Chopper lamented.

But as more time passed, Ricky and Usopp still weren't resurfacing.

"Hey uh… they're not… coming back up," Zoro pointed out.

"You know it's possible…" Robin started to suggest as she, Nami, and Sanji joined Luffy and Chopper in staring off the side of the ship, "…this ocean may not have an actual bottom."

"Say what?" Sanji questioned while Luffy and Chopper jolted in alarm.

"But this is Ricky we're talking about," Nami pointed out, "he wouldn't be stupid enough to keep swimming until he fell through… would he?"

"Who knows," Robin replied, "Mr. One Eye admitted that he's never swam in clouds before. How would he know how deep they go or if they have a bottom or not?"

"THOSE IDIOTS!" Zoro yelled while the other started to panic.

"RICKY! USOPP!" Luffy shouted in alarm before he pulled back his arm and shot it down into the sea of clouds. **SHOOM! **Luffy's arm stretched downward as he tried to make a blind grab for Ricky and Usopp.

"I warned them not to go in there," Sanji grumbled.

"Mr. Captain, stretch out as far as you can," Robin instructed Luffy.

"I am but I can't see where they are!" Luffy confessed.

"Leave that part to me," she reassured him, "Ojos Fleur!" Deep inside the sea of clouds a familiar dark blue eye with a lighter blue ring appeared on Luffy's stretched palm while a few other eyes sprouted on his extended arm.

Robin closed her original two eyes and concentrated on seeing through her other eyes in the hope of spotting Ricky and Usopp in the middle of the sea of thick clouds.

"There they are!" Robin called out when suddenly spotting Ricky swimming frantically towards the arm with Usopp thrown over his shoulder. **WHAP!** Ricky surged forward and grabbed hold of Luffy's extended hand. Robin turned to Luffy, "Okay, now pull them up."

**SHOOOOOM! **Luffy tugged on his upper-arm causing his extended arm to retract and he began reeling Ricky upward through the clouds. **WOOOSH!** Ricky and Usopp came flying out of the clouds and Luffy dropped them on the deck.

"THEY'RE BACK!" Nami and Chopper cheered.

"Don't start celebrating just yet," Ricky warned them, "I think we brought back some company."

**DOOOM! **As if on cue, a giant squid-like monster popped up through the clouds. It easily dwarfed the Going Merry and boasted a number to large tentacles that were each about ten times the size of the caravel.

"**ROOOAARR!" **Another monster shot out of the clouds, this one had a long purple serpent-body, a crocodile-like mouth filled with sharp teeth, and a shark-like dorsal fin on its back. It was about a third of the size of one of the squid's tentacles but it looked a lot more ferocious.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Nami and Chopper screamed in terror at the sight of the two sky monsters but Zoro and Sanji wasted no time in springing into action.

**SKISH!** Zoro leapt up off of the ship and drew his swords as he flew at one of the sky-squid's huge tentacles, "You hungry?" he growled, "EAT THIS!" **PLOOOP! **Zoro slashed the tentacle with is three swords and the tentacle burst opened and seemed to _pop_ as it was instantly reduced to nothing with one attack.

Sanji looked surprised at the popping tentacle but quickly forgot about it as the purple serpent-crocodile-shark monster lunged at the ship. **SKISH!** Sanji surged up into the air and flew up over the monster's head then brought his foot down on it, **THWHAM! **Even in the sky, a pair of monsters were nothing compared to two members of the Straw Hats' Monster Trio.

**Huff! Huff!** Despite the minimal effort he'd exerted dealing with the squid, Zoro was panting after the short battle. "What's with this air?" Zoro wondered. "It's so thin. It's hard to breathe."

"What do you make of this?" Sanji questioned as he eyed his unconscious monster as it hung on the side of the Going Merry by its large mouth. "It's the strangest creature I've ever seen. I'm not even sure it's a fish."

"And that octopus-thing was more like a big balloon," Luffy remarked.

"Sorry for the trouble guys," Ricky apologized as he sat on the deck with Usopp. "The clouds were so thin it was really easy to swim through them. It was actually a challenge to keep ourselves from falling through the bottom. Once I'd reeledUsopp back in those monsters attacked us. Those clouds are like a big ocean filled with creatures living in it and everything."

"What's this big snake thing?" Chopper asked as he stared at the limp purple monster hanging off of their ship.

"I dunno," Luffy admitted, "A flat-fish?"

"It wasn't flat until Sanji kicked it!" Chopper reminded him.

"GAAAAAAH!" Usopp finally sat up and started screaming and wiggling.

"Gimme a break Usopp," Sanji muttered, "What's wrong now?"

"There's something… in my pants!" Usopp exclaimed as he reached into his overalls and pulled out a weird-looking blue fish that had gotten caught in there. The fish was pale-blue and had a flat body and a wide mouth with short fins and was covered in soft feather-like scales

"Usopp!" Chopper cried out as he ran over to Usopp to check on him.

"Not his day," Robin commented. The fish flopping around inside his pants must have been uncomfortable. Robin smiled as she picked up the pale blue fish and examined it "Hold on… do you know what this is? I think it's one of the sky-fish that Noland described in his Log Book. It sounded pretty fantastic at the time but now that I see it… it looks like these creatures have somehow evolved to survive up here in the clouds."

"They evolved?" Zoro questioned, "You mean they turned all flat and balloony and stuff."

"Makes sense to me," Ricky said with a shrug as he stood with Zoro and Nami and eyed the odd sky-fish that had been in Usopp's pants.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he ran over and snatched the fish from Robin then ran off to Sanji.

"They did it to make themselves even lighter," Robin reasoned, "The buoyancy up here must be several times weaker than the ocean's down below."

"Then they grew scales like feathers," Nami added, "And those weird carnivore-like mouths."

**Chomp!** "DELICIOUS!" Luffy exclaimed as he ate a piece off of a plate of cooked sky-fish.

"I tried sautéing it," Sanji told him as he casually stood next to him smoking a cigarette.

"HEY! WE WERE STILL EXAMINING THAT!" Nami scolded them. "WHAT WERE YOU GUYS THINKING?" A second later… "Oh! This is _good_! I've never tasted anything like it!"

"Wahahaha!" Sanji laughed happily, "Well you know me, I aim to please."

"Ricky try this!" Nami offered.

"I'm not eating anything that was in Usopp's pants," Ricky stated firmly.

"Then let's eat this big one too!" Luffy suggested.

"Forget it," Sanji said, "I don't aim to please that much."

While the others dealt with the fish, Chopper had relocated to a broken beam hanging off the side of the ship front deck that the Going Merry's wings had previously been attached to before they snapped off. The reindeer was happily staring through a pair of binoculars.

"So where is this Sky Island?" he wondered as he stared out at the seemingly endless white clouds in a distance. But then he spotted something, "Huh, what's that? A ship?" Off in a distance was a large pirate ship with two masts and twin sails on the front and a single red and white striped sail in the back. "HEY GUYS! THERE'S A—WAAAAH!" Chopper yelped in alarm as the distant ship suddenly exploded and broke apart before it began sinking down into the white clouds under it.

"What wrong Chopper?" Ricky asked, startling Chopper enough that he dropped the binoculars "See anything?"

"YEAH!" Chopper answered, he sprang off his seat and hopped back onto the railing looking alarmed. "A ship! It was there and then it split!"

"Say what?" Zoro questioned as he and Sanji came over.

"WAAAH!" Chopper screamed going into hysterics. "AND THERE'S A BULL WITH WINGS! AND HE'S RUNNING AROUND ON THE CLOUDS! AND HE'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US!""

"Whoa, calm down," Ricky attempted to console him.

"What's gotten into him?" Sanji wondered.

**SHWOOSHH!** But Chopper was right. A strange man was seemingly running on the clouds straight towards the Going Merry. He had dark skin, tribal tattoos on his upper arms and small wings growing out of his back. He wore a brown grass skirt as well as a large wooden mask which had a mostly green face with red designs around the eye holes and orange tribal markings on the cheeks. The mask's mouth was filled with teeth including two huge fangs that pointed upward and there were a pair of bull horns on the top. Finally the man was wielding a long metal bazooka-like weapon and had a wooden shield strapped to his other arm.

"Check it out, he's right," Sanji realized when he spotted the strange man approaching the front of the ship. "There's a guy running around out there."

**SKISH! **The bull-masked man leapt off of the clouds revealing the strange metal shoes on his feet and flew at the Merry looking to land on it.

"Hey stop!" Sanji called out to the man, "What do you want?"

"TO DESTROY YOU!" the man shouted.

"Oh, is that all?' Sanji questioned.

"He's mine," Zoro quickly called out.

"Who is?" Luffy asked. "What's going on?"

**THWAK!** Before anyone could react the man flew over the railing and sent Sanji crashing into the side of the galley with a surprisingly powerful kick.

The man landed and Zoro rushed at him. **SWISH!** Zoro swung at the man with his swords but the masked man ducked under Zoro's attack and swung his foot around into the back of the swordsman's head.** WHAM!** The impact from the attack ended up being a lot stronger than it looked and Zoro was driven down into the deck.

**SKISH!** The man sprang off of the deck and lunged at Ricky, **SWISH!** Ricky dropped down and slid under him and managed to avoid getting hit. **Tmp!** The stranger touched down on the deck and launched himself up into the air with a series of flips. The man flipped downward and drove his foot down into the top of a still confused Luffy's head. **THOOM!** The surprisingly powerful kick sent Luffy crashing down into the deck.

"HEY DON'T LET THAT GUY WALK ALL OVER YOU!" Nami shouted. This strange man had taken down all three members of the Monster Trio before they even knew what was happening. "RICKY! GET HIM!"

The masked man landed on the railing and launched himself up into the air. **SHOOM! **The man grabbed hold of his bazooka and aimed it at the ship below him.

"WAAAAH!" Chopper screamed in terror. "HE'S GONNA BLOW US UP!"

"Sky Island is scary…" Usopp whimpered, he still hadn't moved from where he'd been lying when he pulled the sky fish out of his pants.

"Robin! Gimme a boost!" Ricky quickly requested.

"Seis Fleur…BRANCH!" **SHOOM! **Six arms shot out of the deck and launched Ricky up into the air overhead.

Ricky quickly drew his red sword as he flew up to meet the masked man causing the attacker aim his bazooka at Ricky instead of the Going Merry.

"_This was a bad idea…"_ Ricky thought to himself as he stared down the masked man as they both started a slow decent downwards, _"I can barely breathe up here."_

"**THAT'S ENOUGH, VILLAIN!" **Ricky and the masked man both stared up in surprise as a man in knight's armor wielding a long metal lance flew down out of the clouds on a large bird.

The armored man's cape fluttered behind him as he leapt off of his bird and lashed out at the masked man with his lance. **KLANG!** The masked man managed to block the attack with his shield but the impact sent him flying downwards and he disappeared into the clouds. **PLOOSH!**

Meanwhile,the bird swooped around and caught Ricky on its back.** SWOOSH! **

**TMP!** The armored man landed on the railing of the Going Merry.

"Oh great," Nami grumbled, the guy had helped them out but considering how he was dressed she was waiting to present judgment if he turned out to be a weirdo. "Now who's this guy?"

The armored man hopped off of the railing and turned to face Nami and Robin who were standing together on the deck. The man was skinny and had a short white beard and mustache which showed his old age. He wore a helmet with a pointed spear on the top and a visor that was raised so they could see his kindly face. He had a cape that was black in the back and yellow in front, chest armor went down to mid-chest and showed the dark red shirt he wore underneath. He also wore metal gauntlets and boots as well as a metal skirt that almost went down to his knees and showed his brown pants.

"Miss, you may call me, the Sky Knight," the man replied.

**SWOOSH!** "PIEEE!" the Sky Knight's bird crowed as it swooped down and landed beside him, allowing Ricky to quickly slip off. The bird had mostly pink feathers on its body with some dark spots, a dark tail, and dark feathers which came up into two points and outlined its white face and a long and pointed yellow beak.

**-x-**

**Heaven's Gate:**

**-x-**

"He's gone," the Sky Knight observed as he stared off the side of the Going Merry. The masked man hadn't reappeared after disappearing below the clouds.

"What's going on here?" Nami asked, "Who the heck was that guy. And you…" Nami turned and scowled at Luffy, Zoro and Sanji who were sitting on the deck looking dejected. "Could you be any more worthless? That was pathetic! You had him outnumbered three-to-one!"

"Nami, calm down," Ricky tried to reassure her, "He just caught them off guard. He was on the ship for all of thirty seconds. If he had stuck around those three would've maimed him."

"You saved us!" Chopper exclaimed as he bowed to the Sky Knight, "Thanks a lot!"

"Just doing my duty," the Sky Knight assured him, "This one's on the house."

"What gives?" Sanji wondered as he took sharp gasps of the thin air. "I feel… so weak!"

"Yeah…" Luffy gasped, "I can… barely move…"

"It must be because of the thin air," Robin suggested.

"Oh yeah," Zoro said, "I almost forgot about that."

"You must be Blue Sea People," the Sky Knight reasoned.

"'Blue Sea People' what's that?" Nami questioned. "And who're you?"

"As I said, I am the Sky Knight," the Sky Knight stated. "And 'Blue Sea People' is what we call those who live beneath the clouds."

"The Sky Knight…" Chopper whispered in awe.

"I'm assuming that you traveled here from the Blue Sea," the Sky Knight told them as he walked up the steps and took a seat on the railing in front of the galley door.

"Yeah, that's right," Luffy confirmed.

"Then that explains it," the Sky Knight replied, "You have reached the White Sea, seven thousand meters in the air. The White White Sea where I assume you're heading is still further up at about ten thousand meters. Ordinary Blue Sea People can't possibly endure it here."

"Okay… I think I'm used to it," Luffy announced as he sat up.

"Yeah, me to," Zoro agreed.

"No-no, that's just not possible," the Sky Knight insisted with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"We're not like most Blue Sea People," Ricky informed him, "Those three can endure anything."

"Mr. Knight, why was that guy running around on the clouds attacking people?" Chopper asked.

"Now, not so fast," the Sky Knight told him, "I have no doubt you have many questions but we first have matters of business to discuss."

"Business?" Nami repeated.

"You see, I am a soldier for hire," the Sky Knight explained, "the White Seas can by quite dangerous. They are filled with guerrillas lurking about like the one you just faced who would like nothing more than to turn you into food for the Sky Fish. But if you purchase a five million extol One Whistle, I'll protect you."

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji tilted their heads in confusion, "What're you talking about?" Luffy asked.

"Now listen!" the Sky Knight said, sounding frazzled, "That price is quite reasonable! I can't afford to lower it a single extol more! I have to earn a living too!"

Nami shoved Ricky forward, "Um… hi, I'm Ricky, First Mate and Crew Financial Manager," he introduced himself, "What exactly is an 'extol'? I'm assuming it's a form of currency, right?"

"You don't know?" the Sky Knight questioned, "I don't understand. You came here from the summit of High West, didn't you? You must have passed an island or two."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Luffy dead-panned.

"Wait," Nami cut in, "Are you saying there's _another_ way we would've gotten up here and we would've passed an island or two along the way? As in there's more than one Sky Island?"

"We took the Knock-Up Stream up here," Ricky informed the Sky Knight. "You and the crazy guy in the mask are the first people we've come across."

"My word!" the Sky Knight exclaimed, "That monstrous current? So there are still souls in the world brave enough to make the attempt."

Nami looked on the verge of tears, "That means we risked our lives for nothing!" Then the tears were gone and she became enraged and grabbed Luffy and started strangling him, "ARE YOU HAPPY? WE COULD'VE BEEN KILLED! IF WE HAVE JUST ASKED AROUND A LITTLE MORE WE COULD'VE FOUND A SAFER WAY TO GET HERE!"

"I should probably put a stop to this," Ricky decided, he reached down and hooked his arms around Nami's waist and managed to drag the enraged navigator off of his brother. Of course, the hot-headed navigator didn't go without a fight.

"LEMME GO!" Nami yelled as she struggled against him and looked about ready to spit fire, "HE DESERVES IT! HE COULD'VE KILLED US ALL!"

"How is that different than any other day?" Ricky asked her. "Instead of dwelling on all the times that we could've died why don't you focus on the fact that we _didn't_. Once again our little crew managed to survive and do the seemingly impossible."

"STILL!" Nami insisted, "He can't just get away with nearly getting us all killed _again_!"

"Yeah, well you were strangling him and I was getting jealous," Ricky dead-panned. "Now calm down so I can question this Sky Knight guy and do _my_ _duty_ of keeping us all alive."

"He handles her well," Robin remarked to Zoro.

"I suppose," Zoro admitted, "but I'm still worried about _her_ handling _him_."

"Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary…" Usopp mumbled as he laid on the deck in the same spot. The Sky Island was too terrifying for him to even risk moving again.

"Ah, so you didn't lose any of your crew then?" the Sky Knight questioned.

"Nope!" Luffy happily informed him, "We all made it!"

"Then you can consider yourselves fortunate," the Sky Knight replied, "The other routes all have their own perils. But with the way of the Knock-Up Stream either everyone dies or everyone survives. That's the gamble and not many are willing to accept that kind of all-or-nothing risk, especially these days."

"See?" Ricky asked Nami, "All the ways here are potentially fatal. Asking around would've been a waste of time. We asked the right people and we all got here safely."

"If nothing else, I see now that you are navigators of exceptional bravery and skill," the Sky Knight observed.

"Yeah," Usopp was quick to agreed, "Weeelll, I don't wanna take all the credit. But see, when things got scary and these guys were all screaming and crying for their mommies, I stood up and said…" **Squish! **An irritated Nami reached out and pinched the side of Usopp's face causing the liar to quickly change his tune, "…nothing at all!"

"Thought so," Nami said.

The Sky Knight pulled out a simple silver whistle and showed it to the Straw Hats. "This is the One Whistle," he explained as he tossed the whistle down on the deck. "Should you find yourselves in danger, you have but to blow it and I will come to your aid! As I said, normally I would charge you five million extol but for today please accept this as my gift to you."

"Wait-wait-wait!" Ricky quickly cut in. "You still never explained what extol were. I get that they're a form of currency here on the Sky Island but is there some place that I can go to exchange some gold or treasure for extol?"

"I believe if you continue onward you'll eventually come across Heaven's Gate," the Sky Knight told him as he got off of the railing and headed over to his bird that was waiting for him on the side of the Going Merry. "There is a toll in place that you'll have to pay to continue onward. Perhaps the gate inspector that's stationed there can help you."

"Right, I suppose that'll work," Ricky said.

"Hold on, we still don't know your name!" Nami reminded him.

"I am Gan Fall," the Sky Knight introduced himself as he stood on the railing then he motioned the bird standing next to him. "And this is my partner, Pierre."

"PIIIIEEE!" Pierre crowed.

"Despite appearances, Pierre is no ordinary bird," Gan Fall told them, the Straw Hats watched in different degrees of surprise as the bird began to transform. "Long ago he ate the Horse Horse Fruit and gained its powers."

Pierre's two yellow bird legs turned pink with dark dots like the rest of his body and the clawed talons became hooves. Two more identical hooved legs grew out of his front.

"Wait, what powers?" Sanji questioned.

"He is able to transform into a horse with wings," Gan Fall revealed as Pierre's bird wings grew longer and sturdier but remained feathered.

"Oh wow!" Nami exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "A Pegasus!"

"Yes! A Pegasus!" Gan Fall confirmed as he sat on the back of Pierre the Pegasus.

"PIIIEEEEE!" the dark-spotted pink horse crowed.

The Straw Hat's enthusiasm quickly faded as they wondered what the point was of having a flying bird able to transform into a flying horse.

"Wow that's… something…" the Straw Hat's chorused with noticeable lack of excitement.

"MAY LUCK BE WITH YOU, BRAVE WARRIORS!" Gan Fall the Sky Knight called out as Pierre the Pegasus flew off in a distance.

"Am I the only one who finds that bizarre?" Sanji asked the others.

"I don't get it," Nami said, "Was there even a reason for it to transform?"

"Good question," Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper replied.

"But in the end he really didn't tell us anything, did he?" Robin pointed out.

"I guess he pointed us in the right direction though," Ricky reasoned.

"How're we supposed to get to that Heaven's Gate place?" Sanji wondered.

"I KNOW!" Luffy exclaimed as he picked up the One Whistle that Gan Fall had left behind, "We can just call the old man back and we can ask him!"

**WHAP!** Nami and Usopp raced over and practically tore the One Whistle away from him.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, LUFFY!" Nami yelled. "You don't blow that whistle to ask for directions! It's supposed to be for emergencies only!"

"Yeah!" Usopp agreed, "Like if that guy who attacked us comes back again! You wanna get blown up?"

"I'll tell you what," Zoro decided, "For now let's just keep moving."

"Given your sense of direction, I'm reluctant to just sail onward at your say-so," Ricky replied, "I'd prefer if we had something to sail towards. The Sky Knight didn't exactly tell us where this 'Heaven's Gate' place was."

"HEY! LOOK OVER THERE GUYS!" Chopper called out as he hung on the railing so he could look off of the side of the ship.

"What is it?" Robin asked as she came up behind him.

"Some kind of cloud," Chopper answered.

"You'll have to be more specific," Ricky stated, "There are clouds everywhere."

"It looks like a waterfall," Robin noted as she and Chopper stared at a towering cloud shaped like a waterfall that was off in a distance.

"Then let's just go that way," Zoro suggested.

"I suppose we have nowhere better to go," Ricky reasoned.

And with that decided, the Straw Hats sailed onward towards the waterfall they'd spotted off ahead of them.

Nami glanced down at the Log Pose on her wrist for the first time since they'd reached the White Sea. The needle was no longer pointing straight upward but instead at an upward angle that left it vaguely pointing at the top of the cloud waterfall.

"Hey, hold up, stop the boat here!" Nami instructed.

The Going Merry slowed to a stop as they found themselves faced with a number of white puffy clouds that were seemingly floating on the sea of clouds that they were sailing on.

"It looks like the way is blocked," Robin pointed out as she eyed the puffy clouds.

"Those clouds look like they're floating on top of the ocean," Sanji calmly observed, "Sort of like icebergs."

"So they're cloud-bergs?" Usopp questioned.

"There's clearly something different about them," Nami commented.

"Maybe I can grab a piece," Luffy suggested, he pulled his arm back and swung it around then shot his rubber arm out at the cloud. **WHOOOM! **But when his rubber fist reached the puffy white cloud it bounced right off. **BOING! **"IT BOUNCED OFF! SHISHISHI! WOOOW!" **SKISH!** And without another word, Luffy jumped from the ship and landed on the puffy cloud.

**BOING! **Luffy landed on the cloud and bounced off then flopped down and was launched back up. **BOING!** The cloud was acting like a trampoline and Luffy was bouncing around like Bellamy at his best. **BOING! BOING!**

"HEY LOOK!" Luffy called out to his crew. **BOING! **"I'M NOT SINKING!" **BOING! **"ITS ALL FLUFFY AND BOUNCY!" **BOING!** "IT'S GREAT!" **BOING!"** SHISHI! YOU GUYS HAVE GOTTA TRY THIS!" **BOING! **"COME ON ITS FUN!" **BOING! **"SHISHISHI!"

"How does this work?" Nami wondered as she stood beside Robin and watched Luffy bounced around on the cloud.

"It's a mystery," Robin admitted.

"WAAAHOOO! HERE I COME!" Usopp cheered before he leapt off of the ship. **SKISH!**

"ME TOO!" Chopper shouted as he jumped after him. **SKISH!**

"Aaaahh…" Luffy sighed as he laid face-down on the bouncy cloud, "So soft! It's like a gigantic marshmallow pillow! Maybe I'll just take a little nap…"

**BA-BOING!** Luffy's nap was interrupted before it could begin when Usopp and Chopper landed on the cloud and started bouncing around with him. **BOING! BOING! BOING!**

"That's it, I'm going too," Ricky decided as he climbed up onto the railing and launched himself off the ship.

"I thought he was more mature than this!" Nami complained, "RI—"

"Shhhh… don't try to stop him," Robin interrupted, "He hasn't put his shirt back on yet."

Nami quickly directed her attention back to the cloud in time to see Ricky sink down onto the cloud and then launch himself up into a backflip which was quickly followed by an even higher front-flip. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all flopped around on the bouncy cloud but Nami's attention was solely on Ricky causing her face to turn pink as she watched his muscles tense, flex, and stretch as he chained together an impressive series of flips. She was so caught up in her ogling that she didn't hear Sanji calling her.

"Miss. Nami… Miss. Nami… MISS. NAMI!"

"WHAT?" Nami yelped suddenly drawn from her staring. "I was… sight-seeing."

"I'll say," Robin agreed.

"How are we going to get through the clouds?" Sanji inquired.

"Uhhh…" Nami stalled for a second as she attempted to kick-start her brain then called out to the four pirates bouncing on the cloud. "HEY GUYS! SEE IF YOU CAN FIND A PATH THE SHIP CAN TAKE!"

Luffy and Usopp quickly darted off ahead while Ricky grabbed Chopper. "I've got an idea," he said as he launched them up into the air then threw his little brother down at the cloud. "See if you can get a better vantage point!" **BOING!** Chopper bounced off of the cloud and with the added force of Ricky's throw he rocketed up over his head with a bounce that rivaled one of his Jump Point leaps.

"HEY! I SEE SOMETHING!" Chopper called down to Ricky as he started dropping, "IT LOOKS LIKE SOME KIND OF GATE!"

"I SEE IT TOO!" Usopp shouted from a few clouds over with Luffy.

"What the heck is it?" Luffy wondered.

"It's gotta be the gate that Gan Fall told us about," Usopp realized.

Luffy, Ricky, Usopp, and Chopper quickly scrambled back onto the Going Merry and they began sailing their way around the bouncy clouds towards the gate Usopp and Chopper spotted.

"So there's actually a man-made structure out there in all those clouds?" Sanji questioned.

"At this point, I'm not sure anything we find up here would surprise me," Robin said.

"Well, we'll see soon enough," Luffy resolved as he White Sea became a White Stream which the Going Merry followed through the fluffy iceberg clouds and slowly approached the waterfall that was up ahead.

"Take a left next!" Chopper called out.

"No, go right!" Usopp argued.

"But it's to the left!" Chopper insisted.

"It's on the right!" Usopp snapped.

"I'LL CALL THE OLD KNIGHT GUY!" Luffy offered.

The three of them quickly broke down in a squabble over the One Whistle.

But Nami eventually interrupted them, "Hey! We're here!"

It wasn't even a gate. More like a tunnel. But it was decorated with six yellow points that went around the structure making it look like the top half of a twelve-pointed star. Up above the opening they were approaching was red sign with white letters that read **'Heaven's Gate'**.

"That's a gate alright," Sanji noted.

"And look!" Nami pointed out, "That weird cloud we saw really is some kind of waterfall! It's coming down on top of those cloud-bergs." On the other side of the gate white water-like clouds actually fell down the waterfall and flowed out into the cloud sea below.

"I don't know about this name…" Usopp said, "Heaven's Gate sounds like some place you go when you die."

"But now that you mention it, maybe we are dead," Zoro casually suggested. "You ever think about that?"

"You know that would actually go a long way towards explaining this weird place," Sanji admitted with a similar casual air.

"I always figured I'd go to the other place if I was dead," Ricky confessed as he calmly slipped his hands into his pockets.

"I DON'T WANNA BE DEAD!" Chopper shrieked, startled by how calmly the other three had accepted the possibility of being dead.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed at the thought of death, "WHO CARES! WE'RE HERE! Where ever this gate goes! I'm going!"

"WILL YOU GET SERIOUS!" Nami yelled. **BONK! BONK! BONK! BONK! BONK!**

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Zoro snapped as the five of them rubbed the lumps on their head.

"I guess she doesn't wanna be dead either," Ricky stated.

"If you're making a joke, it's not funny!" Nami scolded them.

"So… why'd you hit me too?" Chopper whimpered.

"WAIT! LOOK OVER THERE!" Usopp called out as he pointed off to the side of the tunnel-like gate, "There's somebody coming out!"

There were paths lining the sides of the tunnel and there were two doors built into the tunnel walls. One of the doors opened and a tiny gray-haired woman with wrinkles all over her face and tiny white wings coming out of her back on her shoulders. She wore a pink dress and was currently taking pictures of the Straw Hats and their ship with some kind of camera.

"LOOK! SHE'S GOT WINGS!" Chopper exclaimed.

"The guy in the mask had wings too," Ricky reminded him.

"Whoa!" Luffy gasped, "That's what sky-people look like? She's so wrinkly."

"Um… hello?" Nami awkwardly called out to the woman.

"I am Amazon, the Heaven's Gate Inspector," the old woman stated. "State your business: Sight-seeing, war mongering, other…"

"Sight-seeing," Ricky quickly answered, "We're tourists."

"Yeah," Luffy said, "And we wanna go to the Sky Islands! They're past this gate, right?"

"Can we say all of the above?" Zoro asked.

"Don't say stupid things like that," Ricky scolded him, "We're in a whole different world up here so as long as we don't cause trouble we won't be treated like outlaws and can be tourists."

"It makes little difference anyway," Amazon announced. "But if you wish to proceed you must first pay the entrance fee of one billion extol per person. That is the law."

"WHAT? ONE BILLION?" Usopp shrieked in alarm.

"They're really big on these extol things around here," Sanji remarked.

"A billion anything sounds like a lot," Chopper noted.

"And a billion per person means eight billion total," Robin added.

"The Sky Knight did warn us about having to pay the toll," Ricky recalled.

"But I didn't expect it to be _that much_," Nami hissed. "Are you actually thinking about paying eight _billion_ extol?"

"She said it's the law," Ricky pointed out, "I thought you'd want to avoid becoming an outlaw in a strange new place. It may seem like a lot but we've got a whole lot more hidden in a turtle back down below."

Ricky stepped up to the railing to address the gate inspector, "There's a slight problem with that… we're Blue Sea People and we don't have any extol. Is there a way to exchange some of our money for extol? Or could I pay you in gold?"

"I'm just a gate inspector, not a foreign currency converter," Amazon answered, "The only places to exchange money are beyond the gate or back the way you came."

Ricky's eye narrowed in irritation, "Then how the heck am I supposed to pay the toll?"

"You can pass anyway," Amazon replied.

"WE CAAN?" Usopp shouted.

"The choice is yours," Amazon said.

"Hold on, what's the catch?" Ricky inquired.

"Either you pay or you don't," Amazon told him, "My job description does not actually require me to guard the gate. I'm merely here to ask your intentions."

Ricky glared at the woman, _"Yeah, she's a real go-getter. She won't even convert money so we can pay her ridiculously expensive toll."_

"So that settles it!" Luffy decided, "WE WANNA GO TO THE SKY ISLANDS!"

"But we don't have any extol so we can't pay you!" Usopp added.

"Very well," Amazon said, "The eight of you then?"

"Yeah," Luffy confirmed, "Except… we still need you to tell us how to get there."

**FWOOOSH!** Two giant red claws shot out of the clouds below them and clamped onto the stubs that remained of the Going Merry's wings. **KRUNCH!**

"AAAAAHHH!" Usopp screamed.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" Luffy yelled in alarm.

"The White Sea's famous Express Lobster," Amazon seemingly answered.

The huge express lobster that was about the size of the Going Merry surged out of the water then surged _backwards_ through the tunnel towards the waterfall.** SHWOOOOOOO!**

"WAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed, "IT'S A GIANT LOBSTER!"

"It's taking us up the waterfall!" Zoro realized.

"The Sky Knight mentioned that there was a White White Sea up above the White Sea down here," Ricky recalled, "I guess we just found out how they move people between the two."

The speedy lobster shot backwards through the clouds and began carrying the Going Merry up the cloud waterfall.

"EVERYBODY HANG ON TIGHT!" Nami hollered. The Straw Hats clutched at the railings as the lobster carried the Going Merry straight up the waterfall.

"IT'S SO FAST!" Sanji exclaimed while Usopp screamed in terror. They were already at the top of the cloud waterfall but it turned out their trip was far from over. Up ahead was a spiral path made out of the same clouds they were sailing on. The lobster surged onward and began carrying them up the spiral path of clouds.

Far below, and far behind them back at Heaven's Gate, Amazon watched the Going Merry while she spoke into a speaker. _**"This is Heaven's Gate Inspector Amazon reporting to the all-mighty God above and His holy priests! Eight illegal entrants have passed into Godland Skypeia! BESTOW UPON THEM HEAVEN'S JUDGMENT!" **_

Amazon smirked as the Going Merry continued its ascent up the spiral of clouds towards the White White Sea. The Straw Hats had no idea what kind of trouble would be waiting them.

**-x-**

**Angel Beach:**

**-x-**

**SHWOOOOOO! **The Express Lobster raced backwards up the spiral of clouds like it was a long winding milky white road and carried the Going Merry along with it. Wind rushed past the ship as the lobster carried the Straw Hats thousands of meters up into the air in mere minutes.

"My money says that we live through this," Sanji said to Zoro as he held onto the back of the front deck's rear railing for support.

"On a cloud that goes straight up?" Zoro questioned as he leaned back into the railing Sanji was holding onto. "You might want to reconsider that bet."

"I can't believe this is a natural formation of the clouds!" Nami exclaimed as she stared past Ricky while keeping her arms firmly wrapped around his waist while he kept a firm hold on front railing and took the brunt of the rushing wind for her.

"THIS IS HARDLY NATURAL AT ALL!" Sanji shouted.

"Maybe not to us on the ocean below," Ricky reasoned, "Who knows how things work up here. Speaking of which, I think maybe we should've gone back and found some extol to pay that lazy gate inspector with."

"Oh yeah, wandering aimlessly along a strange sea," Nami growled with sarcasm clear on her voice, "Great idea! Do you have any clue what the odds are of us actually stumbling across an island somewhere down there? We'd be lost in no time and then we'd just be sitting ducks if that freak in the mask decided he wanted to attack us again!"

"Hey, don't knock wandering aimlessly," Ricky scolded her, "That's how we found Chopper." They glanced over and saw that a pair of arms had sprouted out of one of the side railings and were holding onto the tiny reindeer so he didn't go flying overboard.

"TOO LATE!" Luffy hollered as he clung to the figurehead, "WE CAN'T GO BACK NOW! WE'RE ALMOST AT THE TOP!"

"LOOK THE EXIT!" Chopper called out, "THEY PUT UP A BIG SIGN!"

Those with depth perception (everyone but Ricky) stared ahead and read the sign that said **'Godland Skypeia'**.

"Godland?" Robin repeated in confusion. "What is 'Godland Skypeia'?"

"The 'Skypeia' part sounds familiar," Ricky recalled.

"THIS ISN'T THE EXIT!" Luffy suddenly realized, "ITS THE ENTRANCE!"

The lobster shot past the sign and barreled towards a hole going through the dark clouds that were up ahead of/above them.

The Straw Hats gasped in marvel as the Going Merry shot through the hole and flew out into the opened sky on the other side. The lobster dropped down and disappeared into the hole they'd come through while the Going Merry splashed down into a clear calm sea of clouds. **SPLOSH!**

The Straw Hats had reached the White White Sea and were now ten thousand meters above the Grand Line and Blue Sea where they'd come from.

Luffy's eyes were the first to adjust to the bright light and he gasped at what he saw. "WHOOOA! THERE IT IS! THE SKY ISLAND!"

The Straw Hats all stared in shock. Up ahead of them was an island made out of clouds. In short, it was beautiful. First there was the white beach made completely out of white clouds but with tropical palm trees growing out of it. Long white staircases that were seemingly made of cloud climbed the cloud and connected beautifully crafted buildings that had been built on the cloud as if it was a large fluffy white mountain. There were even some smaller clouds with single buildings on them that floated above the large cloud and were connected by larger staircases.

"Wait… didn't the sign we passed say 'Skypeia'," Robin recalled.

"Yeah!" Nami replied, "It's the same name scribbled on the map that Ricky found!"

"This is it!" Ricky exclaimed as a wide grin lit up his face. "We found it! This is Skypeia!"

The Going Merry cut a large wake through the calm sea of clouds and brought the Straw Hats in for a closer look at the island they'd found in the sky.

"WHOOOAAA!" Usopp and Chopper gasped.

"So that galleon that almost fell on us _did_ come here," Nami reasoned, "And the last time they set eyes on this was two hundred years ago! I'm amazed that this place had stayed beautiful for so long!"

"It's hard to believe that a place like this has been here all along," Ricky remarked, "To think of all the people that lived their whole lives without even knowing that a place like this even existed! If that galleon hadn't fallen on us we would've sailed right on without ever knowing it was here."

The Going Merry sailed onward until its bottom rested on the solid cloud that was below the watery cloud they'd been sailing on.

**SNIIIIIFF!** Luffy took in a long deep breath the let it out. "Aaah! You can smell the adventure! Potent as the seaweed in summer!" Without another word, Luffy leapt off the ship and ran for the cloudy shore. **SKISH!**

"WAIT FOR ME! I LIKE ADVENTURE!" Usopp called out as he dove head-first off the ship after Luffy. **SKISH! **

"Kind of shallow!" Luffy warned the sniper… **KRASH!** …just as he slammed down into the cloud-bed that the ship was resting on.

"Usopp, did you hurt yourself?" Luffy called down to Usopp's nose as it stuck out of the shallow milk-like water. **SPLASH!** Usopp quickly sat up. Even though the cloud under him was solid it was still a cloud which meant it was still soft.

Usopp turned to Luffy, "Hey, is it just me or is this whole place made of clouds?"

"Big fluffy ones!" Luffy confirmed.

"I love this stuff!" Usopp gushed. "Ahahahaha!"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed along with him then ran for the shore. "COME ON! LET'S GO ASHORE!" Usopp sprang to his feet and ran laughing after Luffy.

"HEY! I'M COMING WITH YOU GUYS!" Chopper shouted after them from where he was perched on the railing. **SKISH!** Chopper quickly jumped off and chased after the other two.

"Me too," Nami said, "but I've gotta change first."

Ricky caught Robin's eye and the two of them quickly disappeared below deck along with Nami.

"LUFFY! We may have a problem with dropping anchor here!" Zoro tried to warn the Captain. "There's no sea-bed at the bottom of this cloud!"

"You know, I thought about that," Luffy replied from the shore, "AND WHO CARES!"

"AHAHA!" Usopp laughed as he playfully shoved Luffy, "I love the way you think!"

"Thanks!" Luffy replied as he shoved Usopp back which led to a good-natured shoving match.

"ME TOO!" Chopper cried as he reached the shore, "I WANNA PLAY!" He lunged to the side but found that his shorter stature kept him from being able to shove anyone but the empty air.

"Who cares about the anchor?" Zoro muttered to himself as he grabbed the anchor and dropped it off the side of the ship. **SPLOOSH!** The anchor sank through the milky cloud but landed on the solid one under it. "Well… regardless of how the ground may feel, it sure is an amazing sight. Better than I imagined."

"It's a piece of work for sure," Sanji agreed, "but I think our Nakama are overreacting. It bugs me when they get all worked up." Sanji slipped off his shoes then let out a loud cheer as he jumped off the side of the ship, "WAAA-HAAAA-HAAA!"

"When _they_ get all worked up?" Zoro repeated as he stared after the high-spirited cook.

**KONK! KONK! KONK! **"GAAH! Get off, Stupid!" Ricky burst out from the flap in the deck sporting a large lump on his head and dove to the side allowing two angry South Birds to fly up out from the men's quarters. "JOOOH! JOOOH! JOOOH!" The two South Birds flew off the ship into the sky and quickly disappeared.

"Man, I hate birds," Ricky complained as he rubbed the lump on his head. "I guess we forgot about them in all the excitement. I feel kinda bad that we took 'em away from their home but we never would've found this place if we hadn't. And at least they have each other."

"Birds adapt to their environments quickly," Zoro reassured him, "They'll be fine."

"At this point, I don't really care," Ricky admitted as he stood back up.

"What're you wearing?" Zoro questioned as he eyed Ricky's new outfit. It consisted of simple sandals and a pair of black shorts with two large pockets, an opened white short sleeved shirt and his sunglasses. His signature sword and boots were nowhere in sight.

"We left our bounties behind on the Blue Sea," Ricky pointed out, "I figure we can afford to let our guard down a little so now we're just tourists on vacation."

"**My thoughts exactly,"** Ricky and Zoro turned in time to see Nami and Robin come out of the storage room.

"Whoa…" Ricky gasped and despite his considerable strength of mind and self-control his jaw dropped at the sight. Nami was barefoot wearing a pair of maroon pants and a blue, light-blue, and white cloud-print bikini top. Beside her, Robin was also barefoot but wore purple pants that reached her calves, a simple belt, a white armband around her left upper arm and a snug sleeveless yellow top that bared her midriff, shoulders, and a considerable amount of cleavage.

Nami smirked as she sauntered over to Ricky and made a point of closing his mouth for him.

"Hey, what happened with the anchor?" she asked Zoro.

"It's all taken care of," Zoro reported, "It hit the heavier cloud down below which is what I think this place floats on."

"That means that the sky island floats on a sea of cloud cover," Robin reasoned. "I wonder if it's stationary in the sky or if it moves with the tide."

"We could stay on deck all day and pick this thing apart," Nami told them, "But come on, what fun would that be? The fact is, most of this makes zero sense so let's make the best of it and enjoy ourselves while we're here." Nami grabbed Ricky's hand and tugged on it, jerking him back to reality. "Let's go, Ricky!"

"Right," Ricky agreed, he used Nami's hold on his hand to swing her around and scooped her up into his arms then and jumped off the ship. **SKISH!**

"WOOHOO!" Nami cheered as they dropped down into the milky clouds below. Ricky put Nami down and the two of them ran hand-in-hand toward the shore.

"Shall we, Mr. Swordsman?" Robin offered.

"I'm not carrying you off the ship," Zoro refused.

"I meant, shall we go after them," Robin corrected him, "It would seem like a waste to come all this way and just stay on the ship." She walked to the railing and stared off at the sky island in front of her. "The Captain smells adventure… huh, I never stopped to think of any of this as adventurous. Maybe I should reconsider my stance." **SKISH! **Robin smiled as she jumped off the ship and followed after Ricky and Nami towards the shore.

"Aaahh…" Chopper sighed as he laid face-down on a mound puffy white clouds he'd found on the shore. "Something about the squishiness of this island makes me wanna sleep all day…" Chopper closed his eyes and settled himself in for a nice nap on the pillow-like cloud. But what the clumsy reindeer failed to notice was the fact that he was rolling down the side of the cloud mound and was now tumbling across the soft cloudy beach.

"AHOY!" Luffy shouted as he hung upside down from one of the tropical trees with one of this rubber legs wrapped around one of the branches. "THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING! I must inform you that this place is too much fun for me to make any more Captain decisions!"

"Aye-aye Captain!" Usopp replied from the ground as he made a cloud-castle out of the soft sand-like cloud that make up the island. "Whaddaya say we just sit around and do nothing?"

"Nothing sounds like a plan to me!" Luffy agreed as he hung in the tree like a monkey. "PROPOSAL REJECTED!" Neither of them paid attention as Chopper rolled under Luffy's tree and started tumbling across the open beach.

"'REJECTED'? YOU MEAN 'ACCEPTED'!" Usopp snapped at him.

"Such mysterious looking flowers," Sanji remarked as he crouched down in front of a batch of short purple flowers that were growing out of the cloud at the base of one of the trees. "I've never seen anything like them." The cook was focused on his flowers and didn't notice when the doctor roll by behind him. Chopper rolled up the side of another cloud mound… then rolled back down and started rolling the other way. "I wonder if they're balloon-ish like that sea monster and if they'll pop when I pick one." Sanji reached out and picked one of the purple flowers and took a casual sniff.

"Aaaah!" Nami sighed as she stood beside Ricky and stretched her arms overhead. "This is great! Like you said, the Marines can't follow us up here so now we can all cut loose. After everything we've been through I think we could use a nice vacation."

"Yeah," Ricky agreed as peeked out of the corner of his eye at Nami while she was stretching. Her bikini top was wonderfully revealing. Thankfully his sunglasses kept his eye hidden.

Little did he know, Nami had purposely stood on his left side while stretching knowing that was the side he'd be able to peak from with his limited frame of vision

Ricky casually moved his foot out in front of him causing Chopper to roll into it and finally stop. "Enjoying yourself, little brother?" he asked the reindeer at his feet.

Chopper finally opened his eyes but then immediately blinked in surprise, "How'd I get here?"

"You were sleep-rolling," Ricky informed him.

"Hey Ricky, Chopper, what do you think that is over there?" Nami asked as she pointed to a wooden awning that was coming out of a flat surface of stone-like clouds.

Ricky quickly picked Chopper up off of the ground, "Let's go check it out," he decided.

"Alright Mr. Giant Fruit… you're all mine!" Luffy said as he hugged the green pumpkin-like fruit he'd gotten out of the tree he was hanging from to his chest. **CHOMP! **He bit down on the fruit only end up hurting his teeth when he realized he'd seemingly found the one _hard_ thing on this entire island made of cloud. "OWW! THAT HURT!" **KONK!** Luffy banged on the fruit's hard shell. "Why's this thing so hard? HEY USOPP?"

"Yeah?" Usopp replied, not looking up from his cloud-castle.

"Got some fruit for ya!" **WHOMP! **The thrown fruit crashed down on Usopp's head causing him to smash face-first onto the mound of could he'd been sculpting.

"YOU PRACTICALLY CRAMMED MY BRAIN INTO MY CHEST!" Usopp screamed at Luffy once he'd recovered, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

"MISS. ROBIN MY LOVE!" Sanji cried out as he ran along the beach towards Robin. The archeologist stopped as Sanji ran up to her and showed her the two purple flowers he'd picked. "I've got a present for you! An island flower!" Sanji reached out and slipped one of the flowers into Robin's hair then he glanced over his shoulder, "And one for… MISS. NAAMII!" The cook ran off in search of the navigator.

As soon as he was gone Robin silently plucked the flower from her hair and watched as the love-struck cook ran off. "MISS. NAMI! I HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU!"

"They're chairs… made of clouds…" Ricky realized as he, Nami, and Chopper stood together under the wooden awning and found themselves on an outdoor porch. They eyed the two cloud chairs they'd found there. Unlike the clouds that made up the beach that were puffy and white, these chairs were sleek and smooth and had a grayish tint to them. **FWUMP! **Ricky flopped down on one of the chairs and allowed his body to go limp.

Chopper climbed up onto the other chair and laid across the seat, "This cloud is different from the stuff on the beach," Chopper remarked, "It's a lot spongier."

**WHUP!** Nami plopped down beside Ricky on his chair and cuddled into his side. "Wooow," she moaned in contentment, "You know… Vivi showed me her bedroom while we were staying in the palace. And I used to think her bed was as soft as a cloud. But now I'm actually sitting on a chair made of _real_ cloud and it's even softer!"

"Sure beats my hammock," Ricky stated.

"I wonder if they have a factory that makes all this stuff," Nami said as she marveled at the unbelievably soft chair.

"Nami! Miss. Nami!" Sanji called out as he ran by behind their outdoor porch. "I have a gift for you! A pretty flower for a pretty lady!"

"I didn't figure on getting wet walking through clouds," Zoro commented to himself as he finally walked onto the shore. "Huh… what's that?" Up ahead of him he spotted something that was a slightly darker white than the cloud beach but in addition to fluffy also seemed to be _furry. _Zoro reached down and tugged at a fluffy white tail that was capped with a bright white tip.

"**Suuu!" **something cried as Zoro tugged on its tail. **"Suuu!"**

Zoro picked the creature up by its long fluffy tail and realized that he was holding a cloud-white fox. It had a pointed snout, pointed ears, and squinted eyes. Its body was covered in white fur that was about two shades darker than the tip of its tail that match the solid white cloud they were standing on.

"It's some kind of… fox…" Zoro realized as he stared at the cloud white fox in surprise, "HEY RICKY! Is this guy a friend of yours?"

With a commendable amount of effort, Ricky, Nami and Chopper managed to remove themselves from their cloud chairs and approached Zoro and the fox he was holding.

"I don't think we've met," Ricky admitted.

"Suuu suuuuuu!" the fox complained as it wiggled in Zoro grip.

"Aaaw! It's so cute!" Nami cooed when they approached Zoro, she reached out to pet the fox only for it to flip free from Zoro's grasp. But instead off falling to the ground the white fox lunged across the space between them and landed on top of Chopper's hat. **Whup!** Then promptly sprang up onto Ricky's shoulder.

"You sure it's not a friend of yours?" Zoro asked as he eyed the fox-like pirate and the cloud-white fox perched on his shoulder. The fox's tail was wrapped around the back of Ricky's neck so the tip of it was resting on his opposite shoulder.

Ricky glanced at the fox on his shoulder and reached his opposite hand up to it, "Ricky," he introduced himself to the fox who surprisingly held out its paw and allow Ricky to shake it.

"Suu," the fox replied.

Ricky looked back at Zoro, "I guess we're friends now at least." Ricky reached up and gently rubbed the fox's side, "You're a clever girl aren't you?"

"Suuu suuu suuuuu!" the fox purred.

"Considering how tame it is," Nami noted, "I'm guess that its…"

"Someone's pet," Ricky finished for her.

"Suuu suuuuu…"

"She says her owner is…" Chopper started to translate.

"Right over there," Ricky finished as he motioned further down the beach with his free arm.

"Can you… understand it?" Zoro asked.

Ricky shrugged slowly so he didn't jostle the fox on his shoulders.

"Must be a fox thing," Nami reasoned.

With that decided, they looked in the direction Ricky had indicated and it was only then that they heard the faint music that was drifting towards them.

**Truummm… tring tring… truuummmm…**

The music was coming from a large cloud mound further down the beach from them. And there was a person standing on it.

"Look, there's someone over there!" Zoro pointed out drawing the attention of the others.

"Izzat music?" Luffy wondered as he again failed to eat one of the rock hard green fruit.

"Oh great it's another monster…" Usopp growled as he quickly ducked down and hid in a bush.

"Where's the whistle? Where's the whistle?" Chopper panicked, "We can ask the Sky Knight to save us!"

"No we can't," Sanji told him, "That's not who you think it is… that right there… is an angel."

**Thhruumm… thrink thrink… **

"An angel?" Usopp repeated.

Standing on top of the cloud mound was a beautiful young woman. She had pale skin and pale blonde hair that went downward in two braids but also form two round antennas on the top of her head. She had small white wings growing out of the back of her shoulders and wore a short pink dress that went down to her mid-thigh and had a black floral design that went down from her left shoulder to her left thigh. The beautiful woman looked serene and at peace as she skillfully plucked the strings of a golden harp and played a gentle melody.

**Thhhruuummm… thrink trink… **

The young woman stopped strumming her harp when she realized that all of the Straw Hats were silently staring at her.

She smiled at them and said, "Heso!"

**-x-**

**Dials:**

**-x-**

Sanji had hearts in his eyes at the sight of the beautiful girl while Luffy stood beside him and looked confused.

"Heso?" the both repeated.

"You think she's trying to say 'hello'?" Usopp questioned.

"What does 'heso' mean?" Chopper wondered.

"I kinda sounds like 'hello'," Zoro stated.

"It's probably a traditional Sky Island greeting," Ricky guessed.

"Did you come from the blue sea world?" girl asked as she made her way over to them.

"If that's what you call it," Luffy answered, "We sailed up a river of clouds to get here. Speaking of here, is this your home?"

"Yes," the girl replied, "It sure is. And I'd like to welcome you to Skypeia's Angel Beach." The girl looked down and spotted the hard green pumpkin-like fruit that Luffy had tucked under his arm and giggled, "Heehee, I bet you'd like to drink that."

"Uh-huh," Luffy confirmed as he handed it over to her.

"The top of a conash is as hard as steel, it's impossible to crack," the girl informed him as she turned it over, "So you have to cut through the underside like this…" The girl pulled out a small cooking knife and easily cut into the bottom of the fruit. She stuck a straw into the hole she'd made and gave it back to Luffy. "Here you go."

**SLUUURRRP! SLUUURRRRP! **"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy let out a loud groan of amazement at the taste of the conash's juice.

"If it's that good I gotta try some!" Usopp exclaimed, "Come on! Give it to me!" **Slluuuurrp! **"Aaaaaaaaaahhhh…" Usopp let out a content sigh at the pleasant taste.

"My name is Conis," the girl introduced herself, "And I see you've already met Suu." Conis smiled at Ricky and the fox that was now sleeping on his shoulder. "She's a cloud fox and seems to like you. If you need anything at all, please let me be of service."

"Yeah about that," Sanji said, "Your eyes are setting my heart on fiYAAAAAA!" His flirting was rudely interrupted when Nami yanked on his ear.

"Lay off," Nami scolded him before turning back to Conis, "Actually, we've got tons of questions. I hate to bother you but we've never been any place like this before."

"Sure," Conis replied, "Ask me anything you want to know."

"Guys looks," Zoro interrupted before Nami could ask anything. He was staring at a small figure approaching the shore "Something's coming…"

"Oh, that's my father," Conis told him.

"HESO CONIS!" the figure happily greeted his daughter.

"HESO FATHER!" Conis called back to him.

"Can't you say 'hello' like normal people," Luffy complained.

"Conis, what's that thing he's riding on?" Nami questioned as she spotted the strange contraption Conis' father was riding across the white sea clouds towards the shore. It had the metal handle bars of a motorcycle but the body and rear motor of a motorboat.

"That's my father's Waver," Conis informed her.

"WHOA! THAT'S AWESOME!" Luffy exclaimed.

"A Waver?" Nami repeated.

Conis' father had now gotten close enough for the Straw Hats to get a proper look at him. He was a normal-sized kindly-looking man with small white wings on his back. He sported a bushy brown beard the concealed his mouth and the top of his head was bald with the exception of two brown antenna that matched the blonde ones that Conis had. He wore goggles and a light brown robe that matched the pink one that Conis wore and even had the same black symbols going down the side as well as gloves and sandals that were a darker brown than his robe and had a basket strapped to his back on top of his wings. Oddly, the man's eyes were closed while he was racing towards them on the waver but he could still somehow see well enough to call out a warning.

"GANGWAY! STOPPING THIS THING IS A BIT OF A TRICK!" **SHOOOM! **The waver sped off of the sea clouds, onto the shore, and straight into a tree… **KRASH!**

The Straw Hats stared in alarm as he the man rolled off of his crashed waver and was seemingly unharmed as he glanced over at them through his closed eyes.

"My goodness… is everyone alright?" he asked.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CRASHED!" Zoro yelled.

"Hey Sanji," Nami addressed the cook, "Didn't you and Zoro bring back something like that waver from that sunken ship?"

"Now that you mention it I believe we did," Sanji recalled.

"Then that must be the boat we read about in that _Noland the Liar_ book," Nami realized, "A boat that can sail without wind!" Nami turned to face Ricky and flashed him her cutest smile, "Ricky… could you go find the Waver that Zoro and Sanji brought back from the sunken ship?"

"Uhh… fine," Ricky agreed, he scooped Suu off of his shoulder and handed her over to Conis then headed off sure towards the Going Merry.

"Did you make some new friends Conis, my dear?" Conis' father questioned once he'd finally gotten to his feet and propped up his Waver.

"Yes," Conis answered, "They arrived only a few minutes ago from the blue sea world."

"Oh, still adjusting," Conis' father realized, "There must be a great many things that puzzle you about the White White Sea. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," Usopp reassured him.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner," the man said, "My name is Pagaya."

"Nice to meet you," Usopp replied.

"So father, how was the fishing today?" Conis inquired.

"Quite a successful venture," Pagaya answered, "I have an idea, you should all come over for dinner. We'll fill your bellies with the taste of the island."

"I'M ALL FOR THAT!" Luffy exclaimed, "I'm starving!"

"Sky Island cuisine?" Sanji questioned, "You mind if I help you prepare it?"

"Before we go, I have a question," Nami cut in from where she was crouched down and studying Pagaya's Waver with interest, "This boat… it doesn't have any sails and you weren't rowing it either. So… how is it propelled through the water?"

"Oh of course," Conis realized, "Your people aren't familiar with dials are they."

"What's a dial?" Luffy questioned.

Instead of an explanation, Luffy found himself on Pagaya's Waver and pressed his foot down on the accelerator pedal that was on the floor of the Waver's motorboat like body next to the motorcycle-like handlebars. **VWOOOOOM!** The Waver roared to life and took off like a shot causing Luffy to go racing off the shore and onto the sea. **ZOOOOOOOOM!**

"YEEEAAAAH!" Luffy cheered. "ITS GOING!"

"HE DID IT!" Chopper exclaimed.

"WAAAAAAAHH!" Luffy's cheer quickly turned to a scream as he found himself struggling to steer the shaking Waver over the clouds. "W-WHY IS IT SH-SHAKING SO M-MUCH? IIT WOON'T STOOOP!"

**FWUMP! **Luffy lost control and the Waver flipped and sent him splashing down into the clouds. **SPLOOSH!**

"Oh no!" Conis cried in alarm, "I hope he's alright!"

"It's all my fault!" Pagaya exclaimed, "I shouldn't have let a rookie use the waver!"

The Straw Hats on the other hand were completely calm at seeing their Captain nose-dive into the clouds. The only one panicking was Chopper.

"Since Luffy can't swim I hope this sea is more buoyant than ours," Sanji stated.

"Maybe," Zoro calmly replied while Chopper looked from Zoro to Sanji in alarm. "If he can float on air then you're probably right. He can handle it."

"**GRGLE!" **Luffy blurted out before he sank below the clouds.

"Oh, he sank," Sanji casually noted.

"It's not the first time I've been wrong," Zoro casually admitted.

"AAAAAH! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Chopper screamed as he ran forward and dove into the water momentarily forgetting that he couldn't swim _either_. "**GRGLE!"**

"HEY RICKY!" Sanji called out when he spotted Ricky heading back for the shore while dragging the old rusted Waver they'd found alongside him. It was missing the boat-shaped body that Pagaya's had and looked like a very old motor-scooter. "COULD YOU BRING LUFFY BACK WITH YOU?"

"Yeah, fine," Ricky answered, "Apparently I'm everybody's errand boy today." Ricky eventually dragged Luff and the two Wavers back onto the shore.

"Was it really necessary for you to jump in too?" Usopp scolded Chopper as he dragged the reindeer back onto the shore.

"Sky Island scary… sky island scary…" Chopper whimpered much like Usopp had before.

"I apologize for letting him take the Waver out," Pagaya addressed the Straw Hats. "With its light body, even a small wave can shake the rudder. Unless you know the White White Sea like the back of your hand, the waver is almost impossible to ride. Again I am sorry."

"Is it really that difficult?" Chopper questioned. "I wanted to try it too."

"It's only recently that I became good enough to ride it," Conis confided in him.

"It usually takes ten years of training to drive it," Pagaya added.

"Any chance you could fix ours?" Ricky inquired as he looked off the shore with fond smile and watched Nami ride by on the Waver like she'd been riding one her whole life.

"WHOA! LOOK AT HER GO!" Usopp cheered.

"THIS IS WONDERFUL!" Nami shouted back at them.

"MISS. NAMI'S A VISION RIDING THAT WAVER!" Sanji swooned.

"This is unbelievable," Pagaya remarked, "It's her first time?"

"HOW COME SHE CAN DO IT AND I CAN'T?" Luffy complained.

"This one looks like its seen better days," Pagaya admitted as she bent down and investigated the Straw Hats' Waver. "But the dial seems to be in working condition so I should be able to fix it."

"Incredible," Ricky whispered, he tore his eye off of Nami and glanced over at Pagaya, "What was that?"

"I said I should be able to repair yours," Pagaya told him.

"Great," Ricky said, "Cause if you couldn't fix ours I wouldn't hear the end of it until I agreed to buy her a new one."

"Wow!" Nami exclaimed as she masterfully steered the waver over the clouds. "This really requires skill! NO WONDER YOU HAD A HARD TIME LUFFY! HEHEHEHE!"

Luffy growled and looked envious of Nami's ability to ride the waver, "NAMI WE'RE INVITED TO DINNER SO GET OFF THAT THING AND STOP BEING SO RUUUUDEE!"

**THWAK! **Sanji slammed his bare foot down on the top of Luffy's head, "Talk about rude."

"STUPID WAVER HOG!" Luffy yelled.

Nami ignored Luffy's jealous insults and called back to the shore, "GO ON AHEAD! If it's okay with Pagaya I'd like to stay out here and ride!"

"That's fine," Pagaya replied, "Just be careful."

"Not to sound rude," Ricky said, "But I think I'll stay out here and keep my eye on her."

"How can you keep an eye on her when you barely have depth perception?" Usopp questioned.

A tick mark appeared on Ricky's forehead, "I can still _hear_," Ricky growled, "I've got a few things on my mind and now I can finally take some time to sort through them. Nami and I can catch up with you guys later."

"But Ricky, there's FOOOD!" Luffy reminded him.

"But unlike you, I don't need to eat every five minutes," Ricky countered, "So if you'll excuse me, that cloud chair back there has my name on it."

So while Nami continued to ride the Waver Ricky headed back to the porch to reclaim his chair while the rest of the Straw Hats followed Pagaya and Conis up the first flight of cloud stairs to their house.

**-x-**

"Riding this freely on the open ocean without worrying about the wind is like a dream!" Nami remarked as she continued to steer the Waver with the same skill that made her an expert navigator. For someone who could read the weather and the waves as well as she could, driving a waver was a breeze. "I wonder if we can use these on our ocean back home."

**-x-**

"WHOOAA!" Usopp gasped as she stared off the side of the stairs they were heading up. "Is that some kind of factory?"

"Indeed it is," Pagaya answered, "That is our cloud quarry site. Its where our clouds are manufactured and cut to meet all types of needs."

The Straw Hats watched as some winged men loaded a cube of cloud onto a conveyer belt and added it to a wall they were making as if it was a brick.

"I didn't know you could cut a cloud," Zoro admitted.

"You did take the Milky Road to get to the White White Sea, correct?" Pagaya questioned.

"Milky Road?" Zoro repeated, "Is that the name of that messed-up current we took up here?"

"Yes," Pagaya repeated, "It's a canal constructed by our engineers and made using the natural clouds we quarry. There are actually two types of natural clouds on our island. Your ship traveled on top of what we call Sea Clouds. And the ones that float on their own that we can stand on and build on are called Island Clouds."

"They're not the normal clouds that we're used to, are they?" Zoro remarked as he and Robin followed Pagaya up the steps while Sanji trailed behind and walked side-by-side with Conis. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were frolicking and bouncing on the puffy cloud that ran alongside the stairs they were going up.

"No, their condensation nucleus is different from what you usually see," Pagaya explained, "It has to do with a mineral found in your Blue Sea World called Sea Stone."

"Sea Stone?" Robin repeated, speaking for the first time since setting foot on the Sky Island. "What effect does that have on the clouds?"

"It's like this," Pagaya said, "Inside the Sea Stone are keratin particles called Pyrobloin. During volcanic eruptions these particles gain moisture and ascend into the sky. Our clouds are formed based on the density of the moisture."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about those things," Luffy said in his attempt at sarcasm.

"Suuure," Usopp agreed, "I remember that from when I was a kid! We used to always play with keratin particles in the yard!"

"Enough sarcasm!" Sanji scolded them.

"In all actuality there are three types of clouds that we use in our day-to-day," Pagaya continued, "The Sea and Island types are natural while the man-made ones come from Island Clouds. Now if you'll follow me please…"

They'd reached the top of the staircase and Pagaya began leading the Straw Hats to his house.

"LOOK!" Chopper exclaimed, "If you can squint you can see Nami riding the Waver!"

Luffy turned around and stared down the long staircase they'd come up at Nami as she rode around in the White White Sea. "How come she's so good with that thing?" he complained, "FALL OFF!"

**WONK!** "Cut it out!" Sanji snapped after kicking Luffy over the head. He grabbed the Captain and proceeded to drag him along the rest of the way to Pagaya's house.

**-x-**

"GAAAHH! KOFF! KOFF!" Sanji gagged and retched like he'd just tasted something horrible. And he had.

"What happened to you?" Pagaya asked as he looked up from some of the food Sanji was helping him prepare.

"Ugh…" Sanji groaned as he turned around and showed Pagaya a jar with something purple in it. "Well, I saw this stuff sitting in your fridge and I uh… I'd never seen anything like it so I tried it and… it tastes like death. Now I'm all dizzy and my tongue feels swollen, how's it look?"

"Like you drank some spoiled sauce," Pagaya answered as he hung his head.

"THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS SITTING AROUND?" Sanji berated him, "IF SOMETHING'S OLD YOU THROW IT OUT!"

**-x-**

In the sitting room, the other Straw Hats and Conis could hear the commotion Sanji was making in the kitchen.

"It sure sounds like they're having fun in the kitchen," Luffy remarked.

"I'd bet Sanji's just excited about Sky Island food being such a new thing," Usopp suggested.

"So I was wondering," Robin spoke up as she, Zoro, and Chopper sat comfortably on cloud couches around a small table. "Could you explain some more to us about those dials you mentioned earlier?"

"Sure," Conis agreed, "but its complex. I don't exactly know where to start."

"Aaah…" Chopper sighed, "I'd never been this relaxed."

"Hm… this doesn't look like a dial," Luffy said as he held a spiral shell, "It's just a seashell."

"Yes, at first glance," Conis told him, "but why don't you put it to your mouth and talk…"

"Like this?" Luffy asked as he held up the shell so the hole at the bottom of the spiral was towards his mouth then he spoke in to the shell. "USOPP STINKS!"

"Why do you always pick on me?" Usopp whined.

"Hee hee," Conis giggled, "Now just press down on the apex of the shell."

"Wanna tell me what an 'apex' is?" Luffy asked.

"It means vertex or highest point," Usopp told him. Usopp reached down and pushed down on the top of the spiral shell. **Click!**

"_**USOPP STINKS!" **_Luffy and Usopp bugged out when they heard Luffy's voice coming out of the shell. _**"Why do you always pick on me? Hee hee, now just press down on the…"**_

"AAAAH! THE SEASHELL'S MAKING FUN OF USOPP TOO!" Luffy exclaimed.

"What did I ever do to you seashell?" Usopp complained.

"Hey, that's a neat trick," Zoro commented, "So it can store any sound and play it back?"

"Then that shell is one of the dials," Robin realized.

"Yes," Conis confirmed. "We call this one a Tone Dials. It's a shell from the White White Sea that records and replays whatever it hears."

"Hey, hold on," Zoro cut in, "I didn't think there was a bottom to your sea. Where do these things live anyway?"

"They live in the shallows in the cloud reefs," Conis explained.

"I still don't see how that little thing could move your father's Waver," Robin said.

"Well, that's because this is the kind that powers the Waver," Conis told her as she picked up a flatter spiral shell off of a counter. "This one's smaller but it does demonstrate the same process. Here, let me show you…" Conis crossed the room and held the shell up to a paper charm that was hanging above the doorway that let out to the balcony which overlooked the sea and pushed down on the apex/button on the flat shell. **Click! Fwwwooooo!** A gentle breeze blew out of the hole at the bottom of the shell and caused the paper charm to wave back and forth.

"Oh, so this one blows wind out of its backside!" Usopp realized.

"Lemme see!" Luffy eagerly requested as Conis handed the dial over to him.

"This one is called a Breath Dial," Conis explained, "It gives you the ability to store the wind and expel it as you desire."

**WHING! WHING! WHING!** Behind Conis, Luffy swung the shell around in the air before he pointed the hole at his face and pushed the button. **FWWOOOOO! **"Gaaah!" The stronger breeze caught Luffy off guard and nearly blew his hat off.

"The wind capacity varies depending upon the size of the shell," Conis continued, "If you attach the right size to the stern of a ship you can move along swiftly."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Robin admitted.

"I get it now!" Usopp realized as he and Luffy stared off the balcony at the sea, "The Waver moved by blowing a stream of wind through the water."

"Hey, where'd Nami and the Waver go?" Luffy wondered.

"Fufufu," Robin laughed lightly, "The only thing I can think of that could get Miss. Navigator off of that Waver is currently sitting in a chair on that beach."

"Oh, I see her now!" Usopp called out, "She's bugging Ricky!"

**-x-**

"Are you really just going to sit there all day?" Nami as she left the Waver propped up by the Sea Clouds and approached Ricky while he was sitting on the porch.

"A lot happened on our way here," Ricky told her. "I'm still trying to come to terms with it."

"Oh, I didn't realize me kissing you affected you that much," Nami teased him.

"This isn't about you kissing me," Ricky retorted, "This is about what happened before that. You know, seeing the guy who cut out my eye and ruined my life in person again and finding out he was not only on the same island as us but is now hunting down Luffy for the price on his head. Don't be fooled just because he acts like one, he's depraved and there's nothing he wouldn't do to get something that be believes is his Fate. Now the guy not only has a terrifying new Devil Fruit Power but he's gotten himself a crew of Fate fanatics and he's gotten it in his head that he wants my brother's bounty. Do you realize how much trouble we're in now that we've got someone like him after us? If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was going after Luffy's bounty just to spite me because of what I said to him before he clawed my eye out."

Nami smirked, "Feel better now that you've got that off your chest?" she asked, "I'd know better than anyone how therapeutic venting your frustrations can be."

Ricky sent her a small glare, "Just leave me alone."

**Fwump! **Nami plopped down across his lap. "No," she refused. "I'm not gonna let you just sit here and brood all by yourself. The rest of us are all having the time of our lives here. Not only did we leave the Marines behind down on the Blue Sea but we also left behind all our other problems. We're away from all that up here on this incredible island ten thousand meters above the Grand Line. The others are all up at the house so now it's just you… and me…" Nami pursed her lips and leaned in, Ricky closed his eye as she brought her lips to his… only to jerk back at the last second and add, "Oh, and Robin's ear."

They both craned their necks upward and glared at the ear that was growing out of the roof. The ear promptly disappeared in a puff of flower petals.

"I'm still not used to her doing that," Ricky admitted.

Nami slipped off of his lap and tugged on his arm, "Come on," she urged him, "You've wasted enough time sitting here brooding. Come with me and I'll give you a ride on the Waver." Nami knew full well that she would never be able to physically pull him out of the chair so she quickly added, "If you don't get up right now, you can forget about ever kissing me again."

And just like that he was out of the chair and she was tugging him towards the Waver.

"By the way," Ricky said, "The old man said he'd be able to fix our Waver and considering how good you are with one of these, it'd be silly not to let you have it."

Nami beamed and spun around and kissed him. "Good thing you got out of that chair," she remarked. "Come on…" She quickly stepped onto the Waver and grabbed the handlebars, "Get behind me and hold onto my waist." Ricky stepped onto the Waver and straddled the seat that Nami was pointedly ignoring and placed his hands on her hips.

Nami glanced down at his hands, "No, that won't do…" she said then she reached down and rearranged his arms so they were wrapped around her and he was basically hugging her from behind. "That's better. Hold on tight, I'm gonna give you the ride of your life!"

**VWHOOOOOOM! **The dial-powered Waver roared to life and they shot off of shore, raced past the Going Merry, and sped away from Angel Beach. **ZZOOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

"There they go!" Usopp called out from up on the balcony.

"That Waver is fun," Luffy stated.

"And dials don't just power Wavers," Conis continued her explanation, "There's also the skating kind and the board kind but I don't go for those! The Waver is about as crazy as I get."

"I wish I was out there on that thing instead of those guys!" Luffy complained, "And I could be if I could just fix the one we have."

"How did you ever find a Waver in your world?" Conis inquired.

"It was on a sunken ship that _I _bravely investigated using the diving gear that I made!" Usopp boasted, "But that thing's so old, it's hard to tell if it even _is_ a Waver. I doubt we could ever get that hunk of junk working again."

"You'd be surprised," Conis told him, "Dials are made from the remains of dead shellfish. They can last indefinitely. And my father said the dial that powers your Waver is still in working condition so he should be able to fix it for you."

"REALLY?" Luffy gushed, he turned and shouted off the railing, "WATCH OUT YOU GUYS! SOON I'LL HAVE A WAVER TOO!"

"I'd venture a guess that there are many types of dials," Robin commented. She pointed to a shell on the table in between the couches that she, Chopper, and the now sleeping Zoro were sitting on. "Is this one here?"

"Yes," Conis confirmed, "That's a Lamp Dial."

**Click! **Robin pushed down on the top causing the large dial on the table to glow brightly.

"NEAT!" Chopper exclaimed, "IT LIT UP FROM INSIDE!"

"There are also Heat Dials that store heat and fire," Conis continued, "Flavor Dials that store various tastes and aromas and Vision Dials that store everything the user sees which you can watch again and again!"

"I wanna live in the clouds for the rest of my life!" Chopper gushed, instantly forgetting all the scary things he'd come across in the face of the incredibly useful dials.

"To be honest," Conis confessed. "We couldn't really sustain life here in the clouds _without _these dials. Our culture has evolved with the dials, I suppose in the same way that they have evolved along with the White White Sea."

"Zzzzzz…" Zoro let out a snore as he continued to nap while sitting up on the couch.

**-x-**

**SHHOOOOOOMM!** Nami and Ricky sped along the clouds on the Waver.

"ISN'T THIS AMAZING?" Nami exclaimed.

"I'm enjoying myself," Ricky replied as Nami grinded against him when they banked to the side.

"Hey look!" Nami called out as she spotted some trees in a distance, "There's another island!"

**-x-**

"Dinner is served!" Sanji announced as he and Pagaya laid out a delicious-looking spread of Sky Island delicacies for the Straw Hats to enjoy. "We have for you sky lobster with special sauce and a side of island fruits that I can't pronounce!"

"THAT LOOKS SO GOOD!" Luffy gasped.

"LET'S DIG IN!" Chopper exclaimed.

As the Straw Hats began their very first Sky Island meal, Sanji wandered away from the table and stepped out onto the balcony to enjoy a cigarette. He stared off the balcony and frowned.

"Hey guys," he called back to the others, "Any of you know where Miss. Nami is?"

"She and Ricky went off on the Waver," Luffy answered.

"Oh, they did, did they?" Sanji growled as he glared out at the sea, "I don't see her."

"Maybe they went out too far," Usopp suggested, "Considering how much Nami enjoyed that Waver and now that she's got Ricky on it with her, she might not come back at all! Who cares! You should have some of this!"

Conis put down her fork and cast a worried glanced at her father. Pagaya's eyes were still closed but he looked worried too.

"I'm worried," Conis confided in her father, "Do you think they're okay?"

"I have my concerns," Pagaya admitted, "but I can't say one way or the other."

"What're you talking about?" Luffy asked with lobster dangling out of his mouth.

"In the clouds there's a place called the Upper Yard that no one is ever allowed to set foot on," Conis explained, "It's not too far away. It would only be a short trip by Waver from here. I'm afraid your friends might have set ashore there out of curiosity."

**-x-**

Ricky and Nami floated on the clouds and stared up at some of the largest trees they'd ever seen.

"They're huge!" Nami remarked.

"They're even bigger than the ones on Little Garden," Ricky stated, "I can't even see the top of these trees."

"What is this?" Nami wondered as they marveled at the island they'd found.

"Wait… do you see what I see?" Nami asked, "What're the trees growing out of?"

"Dirt obviously," Ricky answered, "What else do trees grow out of?"

Nami looked back at him, "And how much _dirt _have we seen in the _sky_ so far?"

"Oh," Ricky said, his eye widened as he caught on. "Then what's an island made of dirt doing up here in the clouds?"

**-x-**

"What's so bad about this island that no one can go on it?" Usopp asked, "Is it filled with monsters?"

"It's sacred ground," Conis answered, "and so much more than just that… it's the island… **where God lives**."

**-x-**

Ricky and Nami marveled at the giant trees and dirt of the massive island that made them and the Waver look like mere specks. They were both completely oblivious to the fact that they were staring at God's domain.

**-x-**

Phew, that was a big one. Forty-two pages on Word. Next chapter (which will hopefully come out a lot sooner than this one did) Ricky and Nami find themselves faced with sacred ground and the Straw Hats had to suffer the wrath of Heaven's Judgment.

Anyone interested in being my Beta, review this chapter and point out as many of my mistakes as you can. If you have a knack for spotting my mistakes I'll definitely be interested in having you as a regular beta.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	16. Sacred Ground

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**Sacred Ground:**

**-x-**

"THERE'S ACTUALLY A GOD?" Luffy exclaimed up in Conis and Pagaya's house located up above Angel Beach on a place called 'Godland Skypeia'. "And He lives up here on an island that no one's allowed to walk on?"

"Right," Conis confirmed.

"You mean _the_ God?" Chopper asked, "The same one from all the old stories? And He actually lives on the island next door to you?"

"He does," Conis answered, "I'm sure that everyone noticed the sign that said 'Godland Skypeia'. That means that this land is ruled by the almighty God Eneru."

"God's name is 'Eneru'?" Sanji questioned.

"He knows and sees everything," Conis explained, "He's truly omniscient."

"Everything?" Usopp repeated.

Conis nodded, "He keeps his all-seeing eyes focused on everyone. Always."

Usopp shot out of his seat, "FOR REAL?" he yelped.

"Like right now?" Luffy inquired.

"Oh yes," Conis replied.

"AAH!" Chopper squeaked, "I hate it when people stare at me when I can't see them!"

"Huh, God huh?" Zoro remarked casually.

"You mean you don't believe in God?" Chopper pressed the swordsman, "But why not?"

"Well for me, it's not a matter of belief," Zoro told him, "I don't see proof of it one way or the other. And to be honest, I don't really care to. But if you want to, go ahead. It's not up to me to deny anyone their little beliefs."

"So Conis," Sanji said, "if this guy Eneru lives in the Upper Yard and it's so close then you must have set eyes on him before."

"Absolutely not!" Conis protested with a firm wave of her hands, "It's forbidden to go there! The Upper Yard is sacred ground and a place only for our God to rest. I'm sorry."

**-x-**

"I still can't get over the size of these trees," Nami commented as she and Ricky stood on the Waver off the shore of the forbidden Upper Yard and gazed upon the enormous trees that were growing there as well as the dirt they were growing out of. "They've gotta be over a hundred years old! That, or things grow bigger up here in the sky. I can't even see where they top out!"

"They do make you feel kind of insignificant," Ricky admitted. The two of them and the Waver were just a mere speck compared to the gigantic trees they were faced with. "But I still can't get over the fact that there's actually some _earth_ up here in—" Ricky quickly jerked his head to the side before he let out a loud sneeze, "**ACHOOO!**"

"What's the matter?" Nami asked as she glanced back at him. But then her eyes flew wide opened when she remembered what it meant the last time Ricky sneezed. "You sense treasure?"

Ricky nodded as he clutched his hand over his nose. "There's a huge amount of it a lot further inland. And for some reason it feels like its high above ground… maybe even higher than those monster trees."

**KA-CHING!** Telltale Berri signs appeared in Nami's eyes. "Wanna go find it?"

**-x-**

"I see…" Luffy said back in Conis' house, there was a huge grin on his face. "A place we're not allowed to go to no matter what, huh?"

Luffy's eyes were practically sparkling causing Usopp to panic. "GAAAH!" Usopp shrieked as he grabbed Luffy by the collar and started shaking him, "I've seen that look in your eyes before Luffy! And it always gets us into trouble! When the lady says we can't go there because its sacred or whatever… THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE MEANS! WE CAN'T GO THERE! I'M NOT LETTING YOU DRAG ME DOWN WITH YOU THIS TIME!"

"No… hey… I understand we're not supposed to go there," Luffy reassured the sniper. Although the fact that he was still sporting his huge 'adventure-seeking' grin did nothing to relay Usopp's fears. "Shishishi! Come on, you really think I'm the kind of guy who would do that? Shishishi!"

"_Yes, absolutely," _Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and even Robin thought to themselves.

"Hey wait!" Luffy said, "If this guy is God then shouldn't He forgive you no matter what you do? Walking around on some forbidden island doesn't seem like a big deal to me."

"No," Conis replied, "Breaking any laws set by our Almighty is nothing short of sacrilege."

"So I guess it doesn't matter either way," Luffy remarked as he happy helped himself to the rest of the sky lobster.

"_He'd go even if it meant he'd die in the process," _Chopper thought to himself.

"Tell me," Robin said to Conis, "I assume there are some dramatic and vicious consequences for entering the Upper Yard. Do you know what they are?"

"Yes, I do…" Conis answered solemnly making it look like she really wished she didn't.

"What are they?" Zoro inquired when Conis didn't continue.

"It is our belief that if you go there you will not return alive," Pagaya stated.

"EVERYONE WHO GOES THERE DIES?" Usopp exclaimed.

Sanji gaped and his cigarette dropped from his mouth. "But that's where Miss. Nami and that other guy are!"

"Other guy?" Zoro repeated, sporting a tick mark from annoyance.

"I must admit," Pagaya said, "I'm just as worried about Nami and Ricky as all of you are. I hope they haven't sailed too close to the Upper Yard."

Sanji whirled around and dashed out onto the balcony and looked like he was thinking of throwing himself off it if it meant him getting Nami to safety faster. "MISS. NAMI! NAMI DEAR! PLEASE ANSWER ME!"

"Alright, let's go and find them!" Luffy announced to the others. Although it seemed more to his crew that he was using it as an excuse. "We're wasting time!"

**Whap! **Usopp grabbed Luffy by the collar and started shaking him, "You don't care about saving Ricky and Nami!" Usopp snapped, "You just want to satisfy your thirst for doing the exact opposite of what you've been told!"

"MIIIIISS. NAAAAAAHHHMIIIIIIIII!" Sanji shouted so loudly that his voice traveled all the way down to Angel Beach.

**-x-**

However, Sanji's cry failed to reach the ears of its intended target because she currently had one thing on her mind: Treasure.

"I don't know," Ricky said, "Something about this island makes me feel like it's unsafe."

"Unsafe?" Nami repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we know nothing about islands up here in the sky," Ricky reminded her, "All we know is that there's a huge treasure somewhere over that island. The place could be booby-trapped or there could be hostile natives. That's enough for me to know that it's no place for you." Nami glared at him. "_I _on the other hand am a Master Treasure Hunter that's used to dealing with booby-traps and hostile natives. So if either of us is going to risk their life searching for some huge treasure on that island, it's going to be me."

Nami gazed at him in awe, "I think I love—" **"ACHOO!" **She was cut off when Ricky sneezed.

"Sorry," Ricky apologized, "What was that?"

Nami blushed, "I said… uh… go and don't make me _shove_ you."

"Oh, okay," Ricky replied.

"_SHOVE YOU?" _Nami mentally berated herself, _"WHAT THE HELL WAS—" _Her thoughts were stopped instantly when Ricky cupped her chin and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Ricky gave her a sly grin that made her insides flutter and casually shrugged, "For luck," he said simply before he turned and leapt from the Waver onto one of the enormous tree roots that were poking out of the dirt. Ricky quickly started climbing the massive root leaving Nami behind with her massive blush.

"Um… I'll just stick around here and see if I can find anything!" Nami called after him in a voice that was an octave or two higher than normal. "You'll be able to find me… I'll be wearing this…" Nami fished into her pocket and pulled out her favorite piece of jewelry and quickly slipped the sapphire necklace on.

Ricky looked over his shoulder at her and smiled then launched himself the rest of the way up the root and onto the forbidden island of Upper Yard.

But as Ricky disappeared into the forest of giant trees, Nami was left alone on the Waver off the shore and she could've sworn she heard…

"**It's close! It has to be!" **a man's voice insisted.

"**But where?" **another man questioned the first.

"_There are people over there!" _Nami realized as she stared across the edge of the island where the voices were coming from.

"**We're getting warmer! Pick up the pace!"**

Nami slowly navigated her Waver along the side of the dirt island and followed the mysterious voices that she heard. "The voices came from over here…"

**-x-**

"Luffy, we've gotta get going!" Sanji said from the door. He was ready to rush over to the Upper Yard and save Nami. Luffy had been excited at going at first but there was something holding him back… the unfinished sky island cuisine.

**CHOMP! CHOMP! MUNCH! GULP! **Luffy ate frantically. He speared anything he could sink a fork into and quickly dropped it in his mouth. Let it be noted that on this day, Luffy's desire for food outweighed his desire for getting in trouble. "Yeah I know!" Luffy mumbled around the food in his mouth. "Just gimme a second!" **GULP! MUNCH! MUNCH!**

"Fine, don't listen to me," Sanji snapped, growing impatient. "But you're gonna feel awful if something bad happens to Nami while you're busy stuffing your face!"

"I know…" Luffy replied as he continued to shovel chunks of sky lobster into his already stuffed mouth. "Ricky's with her… so she won't be hurt… I don't want all this food to go to waste!"

"THE FOOD'LL BE HERE WHEN WE GET BACK!" Sanji yelled at him.

"Fine, I'm right behind ya," Luffy said but he still hadn't moved and continued to stuff his face.

"Conis, I know this guy and I could be here all day waiting on him," Sanji stated, "Could you tell me how to get to the Upper Yard? I've gotta go help Nami!"

"But… you don't know for sure…" Conis pointed out, although she looked terrified at the thought of _anyone _going to the Upper Yard. "About Nami and Ricky… they might just be out on the clouds and nowhere near the Upper Yard. I mean… I can't explain how devastating it would be to incur the wrath of our God Eneru." While Conis dragged her feet, Luffy kept on eating and the table was now two-thirds empty thanks almost entirely to the rubber pirate's fast eating.

"This Eneru doesn't sound like the nicest God you could've found," Chopper mumbled.

"He doesn't have to be," Zoro reminded him, "He's God."

**-x-**

Nami came around a bend on the Waver and spotted… a ship? It was a wreck and looked like it had been through a thunder storm. The body of the ship looked like a larger version of the body of the Waver she was riding and even had the same kind of engine like contraption on the back. But there were no people on the wreck that could've been the source of the voices she'd heard.

"What a wreck," Nami remarked, "Looks like there's no one on board."

Nami pulled the Waver up alongside the wreck and slipped onto it. Nami stared down at three parallel gashes that had been made in the railing "Claw marks… by something big from the looks of them…"

**Fwap! Fwap! **Behind her, a green-feathered bird fluttered down on top of a shell and unknowingly pushed down on the shell's apex. **Click! **

"_**The treasure has got to be here, I'm positive!" **_a familiar voice came from the Tone Dial. The bird was startled and quickly flew away and left the Dial to continue its recording.

"_**But where? I don't see anything?" **_the second voice from before questioned.

"_**Look harder! We didn't come here for nothing! It's close! It has to be!"**_

"_**But where?"**_

"There are voices coming out of that shell," Nami noted.

"_**We're getting warmer! Pick up the pace!" **_

"Crazy," Nami commented as she tapped on the top of the shell, "It sounds like there's a person trapped inside." The shell had gone silent. Nami picked it up and examined it then pushed down on the apex. **Click! **

"_**We have to keep a record of everything we find and do," **_a new recording began. _**"Who knows how valuable the information could be."**_

"I see," Nami said, quickly grasping the function of the Tone Dial she was holding, "So this shell can record voices."

"_**Forget this!" **_the second, now terrified voice exclaimed. _**"I'm outta here! I can't stop shaking! I'm so scared! Can you feel that? That's God's anger!" **_Nami could make out a strange sound in the background of the record. It sounded like some kind of massive blast of energy being built up.

"_**Wait! I hear something? What is it?"**_

"_**It's… IT'S GOD!"**_

"_**KROOOOM!"**_

"_**GAAAAAAAHHHH!"**_

Nami stared down at the shell in shock. "Were they killed… by God?" Nami's eyes widened as she looked up and stared in horror at the forest of giant trees that towered over her and now looked a whole lot more menacing. The same forest she'd just sent Ricky blindly wandering into.

**KA-BOOOM! **An explosion rang out from somewhere in the forest.

"RIIICKYY!" Nami screamed in horror.

**-x-**

"**AAA-CHOOO!" **Ricky sneezed and held a hand over his nose. "Was that an explosion?" Ricky glanced warily around him as he continued his trek through the forest of enormous trees. "There's something off about this island…"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Out of nowhere, a man came running towards him.

The man had wild red hair that was a similar shade to Ricky's. He wore a dirty white shirt, black pants that were rolled up into shorts, and sandals. He also wore an orange headband, gold earrings, and had a short sword sheathed at his waist but Ricky only really noticed his hair color and main articles of clothing.

"Well this is awkward," Ricky remarked as he took note of their similar outfits. "Here I was thinking wearing a color other than black and red would break away from my usual color scheme. But some other guy is wearing the same outfit."

While their outfits were indeed similar, the biggest difference between the two other than their respective accessories was that the strange man looked like he'd been through hell and was screaming like Usopp at his worst while Ricky looked as calm and composed as he always was.

"PLEASE! HELP ME!" the man screamed as he ran towards Ricky. "THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"What? Who's trying to kill you?" Ricky questioned.

"GOD'S PRIESTS!" the man wailed. "I came here in search of some stolen treasure but I don't care about that anymore! I JUST WANNA LIVE!"

"I guess dealing with some maniac High Priest wasn't enough," Ricky muttered, "Now I've got some guy claiming to be a God on my hands. Wonderful."

"WHY ARE YOU SO CALM?" the man yelled. "WE'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE! THEY'LL KILL US BOTH! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?"

"But I just got here," Ricky countered, "And I don't want to leave just yet. I'm here looking for the treasure too and I've got a very high strung girl waiting for me. **ACHOO! **She'll be very upset if I come back empty handed."

"THAT'LL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES IN ABOUT TWO SECONDS!" the strange man hollered.

"Hey," Ricky said, "just because you were too scared to keep looking for the treasure doesn't mean I'm going to give up on it. Where I'm from, I'm the best Treasure Hunter around. **ACHOO!**"

"THE HELL WITH YOU THEN!" the man snapped. He raced by Ricky and took off through the trees and headed for the shore.

"That was weird," Ricky commented before he continued on his way.

**TMP! **A man landed on a tree branch high up over head and stared down at Ricky through a pair of dark sunglasses. He took in Ricky's red hair, white shirt, dark shorts and sandals.

"There he is," the man stated.

**-x-**

The Straw Hats had made it all the way down to the Going Merry. Luffy still had a chunk of meat speared on a fork as he sat on top of the Going Merry figurehead's chicken plumage.

Luffy grinned as he shouted to his crew, "TIME TO SET SAIL FOR THE PLACE OF NO RETURN THAT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO GO TO ANYWAY!"

Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin and Conis had all boarded the ship along with him and were standing together on the front deck.

"Hmm…" Pagaya said as he held his finger up in the air. "Uh I'm so very sorry. There's no headwind blowing. If you were to set sail at this moment you'd spend an extraordinary amount of time getting to the Upper Yard."

"WHAT?" Luffy demanded.

"So… what's 'an extraordinary amount'?" Usopp questioned, he wondered if it would be _too fast _to reach the scary-sounding forbidden island where God lived.

"It's exponentially longer than it would take if your ship was powered using our Dial energy," Pagaya explained, "But it's not."

"That's nice but we need a number," Sanji said impatiently. Too bad Nami was the one they were going to save. She'd know for sure.

"Sorry," Pagaya apologized, "Only the wind knows your answer."

"Oh, of course, the wind," Usopp said, he started to list a bunch of other excuses why they couldn't go but Luffy talked right over him.

"Old man, you've gotta know a faster way for us to get there other than just sitting here and waiting for the wind to pick up."

"SEE LUFFY?" Usopp snapped at him, "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE DO! YOU'RE ALWAYS GONNA FIND A WAY TO PUT ME IN DANGER! I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS!"

"What's your problem?" Luffy wondered.

"I'm nervous," Usopp whimpered. .

**-x-**

"Prepare to die intruder!"" a man shouted from the tree tops, startling Ricky. "You have set foot on sacred ground that only God and His Priests are permitted to walk upon!"

"Who's there?" Ricky questioned, as he stared up at the dark tree tops. "Who're you?"

"I am Ohm," the man responded. He had dark skin and bald head but a dark beard on his chin. He sported a full pair of wings that went from his shoulder down to his waist and were much larger than the small wings of Conis and Pagaya. He wore a pair of sunglasses with point-like extensions on the side, loose gray pants with pockets and long white sash around his waist, dark boots with bandages around the soles, and a dark green tank top which exposed the dark blue tribal tattoo which was made up out of a series of lines that began on his chest and covered his shoulder, upper arm and went all the way down to his forearm. "And I am one of God's Priests."

"Oh," Ricky said. Ohm was perched high up on a branch in the canopy of one of the giant trees. With his limited depth perception Ricky had no hope of spotting him. "Well you're gonna talk down to me about ground you're allowed to walk on and I'm not, then why don't you come down here and do it to my face?" He certainly wasn't going to tell this strange man that was looking to kill him that he couldn't see him.

"No," Ohm replied, "I have better ways of dealing with fools like you that trespass where they shouldn't be. **SWEEEEE! **Come Holy!"

**KROOSH!** A giant yellow dog came barreling out of a giant bush nearby.

"Whoa!" Ricky yelped as he turned and ran while the enormous dog called Holy chased after him and quickly gained on him due to its superior stride. "Down boy!"

**CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! **Holy started to snap at Ricky from behind. The pirate was barely able to keep from being cleaved in half giant canine teeth that were half the size he was.

"**CAAAW!" **A large bird swooped down through an opening in the tree tops. It had a large body and wings that were covered in purple feathers. There were red feathers around its neck and its face was white with a sharp beak.

But more deadly than the large bird was the man riding on its back. He wore an aviators helmet with wings on the side and goggles on the front and had a thin pointed mustache that stretched out passed the sides of his face. He sported large white wings of a similar size to Ohm's that came out from the back of an orange jacket that was lined with fur around the collar and brown swollen sleeves decorated by beige spots. The man wore orange pants that matched the jacket as well as fur-lined gloves and boots and a purple scarf on his neck.

"Hmph," the new man grunted and tightened his grip on his lance. **SKISH! **The man leapt off of his bird's back and dove at Ricky and Holy, **KER-WHAM!** Then drove the point of his lance INTO HOLY! The dog let out a whine as it was knocked to the side.

"Wow, thanks," Ricky said.

"You're welcome," the man replied, "NOW DIE!" **SWISH!** The man jabbed his lance at Ricky who barely managed to avoid being pierced. Ricky turned and started running again. **SKISH! **The man jumped up onto his bird's back. "Let's go Fuza!"

"CAAW!" Fuza the bird crowed as it flew after Ricky.

"That bastard," Ohm growled from on his tree branch, "He took my prey."

**-x-**

"Something's going on in there," Nami realized from down on the shore. She jumped back onto her Waver and started to make her way back around the side of the island so she could get clear view of what was going on in the forest. "I hear voices… and sounds… Ricky, please be okay!"

**-x-**

"AAA-HAHAHAHA!"the bird-riding man laughed as he jabbed his lance down at Ricky.** SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!**

"_Wonderful Ricky," _Ricky berated himself as he struggled to dodge the sharp lance. It was only his even sharper instincts that kept him from being skewered alive. "G_reat time to forget your—_**ACHOO**_—sword and boots."_

"Who the heck are you?" Ricky demanded as he glared at the man that had swooped around him and was now flying beside him.

"There's been a change of plans," the man replied, "My name is Shura, I'm one of God's Priests. AND _I'LL _BE KILLING YOU TODAY!"

**SWISH! FWUP!** Shura lashed out at Ricky from the side but this time Ricky dove downward and rolled underneath Fuza. The bird had to swerve to the side to avoid a tree and Ricky quickly capitalized and sprang back up and ran in a different direction.

"**HOH HOH HOOOO!" **A round man blocked his path.

"Oh great," Ricky complained, "**ACHOO! **Not another one."

The new man had a round body like a ball and long red hair that hung to his shoulders. He wore a straw hat similar to Luffy's on his head but it was missing the stripe. He also wore a pair of yellow glasses, orange gloves and boots, and a white bodysuit with gold rings on the front.

"I'm Satori," the round man introduced himself. "I'm one of God's Priests and _I _will be the one to pass judgment on you."

"That sounds nice," Ricky replied, "but on the other hand…" **WHAP! **Ricky's eyes widening in surprise when Satori's hand flashed out and easily caught his knock-out punch.

"_No one ever sees that punch coming!"_ Ricky thought to himself.

"HOH HOH HOOOO!" Satori laughed. "Now take this!" Satori lashed out and slapped his gloved hand on Ricky's chest. **POW! **Whatever Ricky was expecting, that wasn't it. He went flying backwards as if he'd been hit by the punch he'd just aimed at Satori. **KRASH!**

Ricky landed in a heap but quickly pulled himself up only to find a _fourth man _behind him.

The new man was tall with dark skin and had his black hair braided into tufts that stuck outward and up and lined his head with six on each side and another on top. He wore a purple jacket over a pink shirt with a blue tie-like scarf around his neck. His purple pants matched his jacket and were accompanied by black boots that matched his gloves.

But despite the man's menacing appearance there was something _off_ about him.

"_Forget about those three, intruder! I'm Gedatsu and I will be the one to kill you!"_

"Uhh… hello?" Ricky called out, "**ACHOO! **If you're going to threaten to kill me like the other three then you should probably do it out loud."

Gedatsu's eyes bugged out in surprise, "How careless!" he exclaimed.

**SWOOOSH! **Fuza swooped down and landed on a branch to Ricky's right. "Forget about that fool, intruder!" Shura growled. "Like I said, I will be the one to kill you!"

"HOH HOH HOOO!" Satori laughed as he came up behind Ricky. "I think not! _I'm _the one who actually managed to hit him. You and your stupid bird completely missed!"

**TMP!** Ohm swung down off of a branch and landed on a lower one. "This intruder is _my _prey!" he growled at the other priests, "And _I'll _be the one to… Wait a minute… you're not the man I was chasing… you have similar hair and clothes but you're not him!"

"HOH HOH HOOO!" Satori crowed, "That means he's fair game!"

"NO YOU FOOL!" Shura snapped, "That means the original intruder escaped while we were chasing this one!"

**-x-**

Nami railed around the side of the when she suddenly saw a red-haired man wearing white shirt run out from the forest.

"RICKY!" she called out to him as she raced closer on the Waver. But when she got closer, she quickly realized her mistake, "Wait… you're not Ricky…"

The red-haired man spotted her. "You!" he exclaimed, "You have to get me out of here! They're trying to kill me?"

"What?" Nami questioned, "Who's trying to kill you!"

"GOD!" the man answered, "And his priests! Please, you have to get me out of here!"

Nami thought back to the recording she'd heard of the two men that were killed by 'God'. If there was a God and His priests on the island mysteriously killing people that was no place she could afford to leave Ricky.

"I… I can't leave," Nami told him, "I'm waiting for my… uh… my Ricky. He's somewhere in that forest and looks a bit like you. Have you seen him?"

"Yes I saw that fool!" the man hissed, "I tried to warn him to leave but he wouldn't listen! He decided to stay behind in that horrible forest! And with those priests in there with him then he's already dead!"

"Ricky… dead?" Nami repeated in horror.

**-x-**

**God's Wrath:**

**-x-**

"YEAAHH!" Luffy cheered as he ran along Angel Beach with the old Waver hoisted over his head, "FINALLY WE HAVE SOMEPLACE DANGEROUS TO GO! I can't sit around on this beach and wait for the wind to pick up any longer!"

"LUFFY! That's the broken Waver!" Usopp tried to warn him, "It won't work! YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF!"

"HEERE III COOOME!" Luffy hollered as he slammed the old Waver down into the Sea Clouds off the shore and jumped on it. **SPLOOSH!** The broken Waver flipped over and took Luffy under with it. **GRGLE! GULP!**

"What an idiot," Zoro muttered.

"How could he honestly not know that was going to happen?" Usopp demanded/

"So um… does anyone wanna save him?" Chopper asked as Luffy's last remaining hand disappeared below the Sea Clouds.

"Let him drown!" Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji snapped.

But despite that, they eventually did fish him out and Zoro was left with the unpleasant task of squishing the swallowed Sea Clouds out of Luffy's inflated belly.

"You are such a pain, you know that?" Zoro grumbled as he drove his foot down into Luffy's swelled belly. **SPLURT!** White liquid clouds sprayed out of Luffy's mouth and into the air.

"Hmm…." Pagaya said as he idly toyed with the lever on the Straw Hat's old salvaged Waver. "As I told your friend earlier, this Waver is still functional so that means its fixable. Would you like me to take a look at it?"

"How would you know how to fix it?" Luffy asked.

"I'm an engineer that specializes in dial-powered ships," Pagaya explained. "I should know."

"Yeah? Really?" Luffy questioned with a big smile, "Then what are you waiting for— BLURT!" Luffy was cut off when Zoro stomped his foot down onto his still swelled belly and caused him to spit out more clouds. But he managed to gurgle out a quick, "Ge' 'o work, old man!"

**-x-**

**VOOOOOOOOM! **A familiar masked man sped along the Sea Clouds towards the Upper Yard. He glared at the island he was approaching through his bull-horned mask.

"_Eneru!" _the guerrilla growled in his mind.

**-x-**

"For what it's worth, I'd like to be killed by this guy." Ricky chimed in while the three priests Ohm, Shura and Satori argued over who would get to 'pass judgment' on him. Ricky motioned behind him at the fourth priest Gedatsu who stood behind him… facing the opposition direction. "Hey buddy, I'm over here."

"How careless!" Gedatsu exclaimed. He whirled around to face Ricky then tried to glare at him. 'Tried' meaning 'failed spectacularly' due to the fact that he had unconsciously rolled his eyes back in his head leaving him glaring with the whites of his eyes.

"Is this guy for real?" Ricky wondered.

"HOLY! SICK 'EM!" Ohm ordered.

**KRASH!** The giant dog burst out of the brush and charged at Ricky. "WOOF! WOOF! ARF!"

**SKISH!** Ricky leapt up over the dog's head and avoided its snapping jaws.

"CAAAWW!" Fuza crowed before the bird caught Ricky completely off guard when it spat out a torrent of flames at him. **FWOOOSH!**

"ITS BREATHES FIRE?" Ricky yelped as he spun in the air in an attempt to avoid the brunt of the flames. **FWUMP! **He dropped to the ground and quickly threw off his burning white shirt. "Man, I hate birds…"

"Hoo hoo hoh!" Satori laughed as he dropped down out of nowhere and landed in front of Ricky.

Ricky shot up to his feet and lashed out his foot. "JAVELIN KICK!" Ricky aimed his sandal-clad foot at Satori's jaw. **WHAP! **But Satori brought up his gloved hand and caught Ricky's kick with ease.

"HoH hoh hoo!" Satori laughed, "So predictable!" He suddenly spun away from Ricky and bounced away from him.

"That guy's starting to get really annoying," Ricky muttered to himself.

"If you think that's annoying, you'll hate this!" Ohm growled from a nearby branch as he drew the long-hilted sword from his sash and raised it up over his head. "EISEN WHIP!" Ohm swung his sword down from over his head and the blade suddenly _grew_ and shot down at Ricky.

"GAH!" Ricky gasped as he lunged to the side but not in time to avoid the whip-like blade of Ohm's sword as it slashed his side. **SLISH!**

"Uugghhh…" Ricky groaned as he clutched his bleeding side and stumbled backwards.

"HOH HOH HOO!" Satori cackled as he landed behind Ricky. "Bless you."

"Wha—**ACHOO!**" Ricky's eye widened in surprise behind his sunglasses. _"How did he know I was going to sneeze? Even __**I **__didn't know it!" _

"TAKE THIS!" Satori called outas he slammed his hand into Ricky's chest. **Click!** **WHAM! **

Ricky was sent flying like he'd just kicked himself in the chest and slammed back-first into one of the giant trees and was embedded into it. **WHAM! **

**WOOOSH! **"CAAAAW!" Fuza crowed as the bird soared toward him.

"DIE INTRUDER!" Shura yelled as he lashed out with his lance.

"That's gonna hurt…" Ricky whispered as he pushed off of the tree. Ricky dropped down out of the Ricky-shaped hole he'd made in the tree just as Shura drove his lance into it. **SHUNK! FWOOOSH! **Flames shot out of the tip of the lance and burned straight through the trunk of the tree before they burst out the back.

"_I don't have my boots and I don't have my sword," _Ricky noted, _"_**ACHOO! **_These guys have all sorts of crazy weapons so it's about time I started using one of my own. Desperate times call for desperate measures." _Knowing that he'd be dead if he didn't start fighting back, Ricky reached up for his eye patch.

**-x-**

"THERE'S NO WAY RICKY'S DEAD!" Nami yelled at the strange man. "And there's no way I'm leaving when he's alone in there!"

"You're both nuts!" the man snapped, "I'm won't stay here to die! I'm not asking anymore…" The red haired man reached to his side and drew his short sword. "Give me that ship!"

Nami glared up at the man. She'd seen the look on his face before. It was an expression that she and Usopp had perfected over the course of their time in the Grand Line. The man was terrified and desperate. He really wasn't a killer he just really didn't want to be on the island any longer. But as scared as Nami was at having to face the prospect of a God smiting people, she was even more scared for Ricky who was somewhere on that island dealing with that smiting God and His killer priests. There was no way she was going to leave Ricky on that island alone.

The man's hand was shaking as he held out his sword. In fact, it wasn't even a sword, it was more like a long knife. Nami knew she could handle the desperate guy if she attacked her.

"Look buddy," Nami said, "I'm not gonna…"

"**YOU!" **Nami spun around and spotted the wild masked guerilla from before. He stood on a pair of skis that were no doubt dial-powered and he had his bazooka holstered on his shoulder. "Prepare to die, blue sea dweller!"

Nami paled. Now this guy she _was_ scared of.

**-x-**

"WOOF! WOOF!" Holy barked. The giant dog lunged at Ricky.

"_Dodge now," _he thought to himself while a red glow came out from behind the right side of his sunglasses. **SKISH!** Ricky jumped up into the air and drove his feet down into the top of the dog's giant head. "BLUDGEON STOMP!" **WHOMP! **Ricky's attack plus the added boost from the Devil's Eye caused Holy to face-plant into the ground. **THUMP!**

**WOOOSH! **Shura and Fuza swooped in for an attack. "CAAAW!"

"I've got you now," Shura growled as Fuza followed Ricky while he ran up Holy's prone body then leapt off and grabbed onto a large low-hanging branch. **WHING! **Ricky swung himself around the branch and caught Shura off guard when he drove his feet into his back. **THWHAM!**

Shura was knocked off of his stead and Ricky quickly landed on the bird's back and covered its eyes. Blinded, Fuza kept flying… **KRASH!** …and plowed straight into a tree.

"_That takes care of the dog and the bird,"_ Ricky thought to himself, _"Now I've gotta deal with the four priests."_

"Hoh hoh hoo!" Satori laughed as he landed behind Ricky.

Ricky spun around and lashed out his leg. _"He's going to catch it."_

**Whap!** Satori caught Ricky's kick with ease. But Ricky had seen it coming and intentionally reduced the power. Satori tossed Ricky's leg to the side and he quickly whipped it around, "SPINNING WHIP KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky's foot slammed into the side of Satori's face.

"_I should've seen that coming!" _Satori exclaimed as he went rolling away.

Ricky turned around and found Gedatsu standing behind him. His face was turning blue.

"You can't be serious," Ricky dead-panned as he stared at the shaky priest who looked like he was about to pass out. "DID YOU JUST FORGET TO BREATHE?"

"HOW CARELESS!" Gedatsu exclaimed. "You're one of the Blue Sea People that Old Woman Amazon warned us about. Not only did you enter this land illegally but now you've trespassed on sacred ground."

"I knew that woman was up to something," Ricky muttered, then he stared at Gedatsu in surprise, "Wait… did you just say something useful?"

"Hmph," Gedatsu grunted. He tried to cross his arms to look intimidating but failed and just ended up looking silly.

"Lemme help you with that," Ricky offered he grabbed onto the purple sleeves of Gedatsu's coat. **Whap-whap-whap! **"There you go!" Gedatsu looked down at his arms ONLY TO FIND THAT RICKY HAD TIED HIS SLEEVES TOGETHER!

"_HOW DARE YOU!"_

"Again, if you're gonna threaten me, do it out loud," Ricky corrected the incompetent priest.

"HOW CARELESS!"

"DIE INTRUDER!" Shura yelled as he lunged at Ricky from behind at lashed out with his lance.

Ricky spun around and swayed to the side. **SHUNK! **Shura's lance sunk into the empty ground and Ricky quickly grabbed the priest and threw him into Gedatsu. **KRASH! **The two priests toppled off of the large collection of roots they'd been standing on and fell out of sight.

"EISEN WHIP!" Ohm slashed his sword and the blade grew and flew at Ricky like a whip. **SWISH! **Ricky leaned to the side to avoid it. Ohm swung his sword sideways and Ricky jumped over it. **SWISH! **Ohm continued slashing his sword out at Ricky but he continued to dodge the attacks as if he could see them all coming.

"_This is impossible!" _Ohm thought to himself, _"How could a person from the Blue Sea have Mantra that surpasses ours?"_

**-x-**

"DAMN IT!" the strange red-haired man yelled at Nami. "GIVE ME THE BOAT OR I'LL SLICE YOU UP!"

Nami suddenly found herself trapped between the knife-wielding man and the cannon-wielding guerrilla. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.

A bright light suddenly appeared in the sky which attracted the attention of Nami, the red haired man and the guerrilla. **KROOOM! **The light shot downward and became an enormous column that enveloped the strange man. It was so bright that Nami flinched and had to look away.

The column of light was incredibly powerful and it completely vaporized anything it landed on. When the light finally faded THE MAN WAS GONE! The giant trees that had fallen victim to the light columns incredible power had completely disintegrated. All that remained of the trees and the man were rings of ash and the fire that was burning on the few remaining trees.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Nami shrieked.

"ENERU!" the strange guerrilla yelled which caused Nami to jolt to the side, "HOW DARE YOU DAMAGE VEARTH!" **BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! **The guerrilla changed his target and unleashed three cannon-blasts into the forest. Then he spun and sped off. **VOOOOOMM!**

**-x-**

**BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! **The cannon blasts flew into the forest and whizzed over Ricky's head. Two hit trees while the third hit the branch Ohm had been standing on which caught the Priest off guard.

"Well that was convenient," Ricky remarked, "Time to get the heck out of here. Speed Step!" **ZZZOOOOOM! **Ricky turned and sped out of the forest towards the necklace he sensed on Nami's neck.

He raced towards the shore and spotted Nami on the Waver. He didn't hesitate for a second and quickly leapt onto the back of it behind her.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Nami exclaimed.

"Yeah, but we won't be for long if we don't get outta here!" Ricky replied, "GO! GO! GO!"

Nami didn't need to be told twice. And they sped off of the Waver. **VROOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

Lovely Street was the main street that led from Angel Beach up to the top of Angel Island. The more popular areas were lined with different stores and houses. And currently there was some commotion going on in the middle of town.

"Form up! Salute!" a man called out.

"HESO!" a battalion of men chorused. These men were known as the White Berets. They acted as the police on Angel Island and followed orders passed down by God and H.s Priests.

All the White Berets wore the same uniform consisting of light blue pants decorated in a cloud designs, tight indigo shirts, and their namesake a white beret. The leader of the battalion had a scar running down the side of his face, black hair that was braided into a long ponytail and a pale blue coat that showed that he was Captain.

"GOOD DAY!" Captain McKinley of the White Berets Skypeia Police called out. "Heso!"

"What are the White Berets doing here?" a civilian man wondered.

"Oh no, something must have happened," a woman remarked.

"You are all warned to use extreme caution!" Captain McKinley addressed the civilians. "I've received word that illegal entrants have infiltrated Skypeia through Angel Beach today." The civilians gasped in surprise as the Captain held up a collection of pictures. "There are reportedly eight suspects. But don't worry! You can help with our search by reporting all suspicious activity! Leave it to the White Berets!" Captain McKinley snapped his heels together and did a strange salute where he put his hand behind his head with his index and pinky fingers raised.

"WHITE BERETS!" the other men chorused as they copied the Captain's salute.

**-x-**

Back on Upper Yard the four priests had recovered and put out the fire that had been set on the burnt trees and dirt.

"Looks like Eneru took care of the intruder that managed to give us the slip," Shura noted as he stared at the ring that was in the man's place.

"But why would he take out that intruder himself and not the other one?' Ohm wondered.

"Who was that guy anyway?" Satori asked.

"A group of illegal entrants HAVE infiltrated Skypeia," Gedatsu informed the others. "Old Lady Amazon informed us that it's a ship with eight Blue Sea dwellers on board."

"So that stranger was one of them then," Satori realized, "I never expected someone from the Blue Sea to have such formidable fighting abilities."

"Hmph," Shura grunted, "He only seemed to be good at running away to me. Eight Blue Sea dwellers should be a cake walk for us. That's two for each of us."

"More like eight for me while the rest of you watch," Ohm retorted.

**-x-**

"What the heck happened back there?" Nami asked as they sped along the clouds back towards Angel Beach.

"I was on the island for two minutes before I ran into some nut-rob," Ricky explained as he quickly tugged down his eye patch, "He ran off and I got attacked by these four priests that claimed I was trespassing on Sacred Ground and needed to be executed. I barely managed to escape using the Eye."

"I saw that same nut-job get_ obliterated_ by a beam of light!" Nami exclaimed, "I think God might've done it!"

"God?" Ricky asked skeptically, "You know I don't really believe that."

"I know you don't believe in God but I know what I saw!" Nami insisted, "A light came down from the sky and covered the guy and the next second he was gone. There was nothing left! I DON'T WANT THAT BRIGHT FLASH OF LIGHT COMING AFTER ME! WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING ON THIS ISLAND?"

"It's definitely something we need to warn the others about," Ricky answered.

"Right," Nami agreed, she increased their speed and they continued to race off for Angel Beach.

**-x-**

"Teeheehee!" Chopper laughed as he made a 'snowman' out of the sandy Island Cloud on Angel Beach. "Beat this one Usopp!" The cloudman was about the same size Chopper was but didn't showcase a large amount of artistic talent.

"Ahaha, I don't think that'll be a problem!" Usopp boasted. Usopp's cloud sculpture consisted of a cloud version of himself wearing a crown as he stood in a heroic pose. A mean looking cloud-Zoro stood at his right side with an excited-looking cloud-Luffy and cloud-Chopper in front of him. Cloud-Robin stood on cloud-Usopp's left side with a love-struck cloud-Sanji standing next to her. At cloud-Usopp's feet cloud-Ricky and cloud-Nami were fighting over a treasure chest. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"THAT'S AMAZING!" Chopper cheered.

"That's the worst looking art… I'VE EVER SEEN!" Sanji yelled. **THWAK! **Sanji kicked Usopp then attacked the cloud sculpture. "THIS IS WHAT I THINK OF YOUR UNINSPIRED WORK!" **SWISH! **Cloud-Zoro had his head kicked off followed by cloud-Sanji, cloud-Luffy and cloud-Usopp. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **All that remained were cloud-Robin, cloud-Chopper, cloud-Nami and cloud-Ricky because he was attached to cloud-Nami while fighting over the treasure chest and he didn't want to destroy her. "NAMI COULD BE IN DANGER RIGHT NOW AND YOU'RE PLAYING AROUND IN THE CLOUDS!"

Robin idly watched the commotion from back on the Going Merry while Zoro let out an occasional snore.

"So, can you fix it?" Luffy asked as he, Pagaya and Conis stood around the old Waver.

"I've never seen parts like these before," Pagaya admitted as he took a closer look at the Waver.

"Come on, just fix it already," Luffy urged him.

"I'm sorry," Pagaya apologized, "I know I said I could fix it but that's going to take some time."

"Can you at least try?" Luffy requested.

"Of course," Pagaya assured him.

Luffy grinned but his attention was suddenly drawn by a battalion of men marching their way down the cloud stairs to the beach.

"Looks like we have company," Luffy observed. Pagaya, Conis and the other Straw Hats all turned their attention to the White Berets as they got closer. Even Zoro woke up.

"YOU THERE ON THE BEACH!" Captain McKinley called out, "DON'T MOVE!"

"Does he mean us?" Luffy questioned.

The Straw Hats gaped in different degrees of shock as the White Berets reached the bottom of the stairs and _crawled _along the cloud beach towards them.

"Hey… uh… why are they crawling?" Sanji wondered.

"Who knows," Usopp replied, "I mean, they've obviously got issues."

"Because they're crawling around like crabs?" Chopper asked.

Zoro and Robin got off the ship and approach the others just as the White Berets reached them.

"WHITE BERETS, HALT!" Captain McKinley addressed his battalion. They finally stood back up and did their strange salute. "HESO!"

"Heso," Conis and Pagaya replied.

"SPEAK OUR LANGUAGE!" Luffy snapped, "WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU!"

"What are they?" Zoro questioned, "Soldiers?"

"Usopp said they have issues," Chopper supplied.

"Well look at what we have here!" McKinley commented, "You must be the Blue Sea dwellers that have illegally entered the Sovereign Land of Skypeia. PREPARE TO HAVE THE WEIGHT OF HEAVEN'S JUDGMENT BROUGHT DOWN UPON YOU!"

**-x-**

**Already Criminals:**

**-x-**

"You're saying they're criminals?" Conis questioned Captain McKinley.

"Illegal entry?" Luffy repeated. "What's that?"

"Let's just say it's not good," Pagaya answered uneasily.

"Don't waste your breath making excuses!" Captain McKinley snapped as he pulled as stacked of pictures out from a pocket inside his Captain's coat. The top one showed Luffy on the Going Merry. "Amazon the woman who stands at Heaven's Gate captured these very images using her Vision Dial."

"No wait," Pagaya protested, "That can't be. I think this is all a big misunderstanding, Captain McKinley. They're not the criminals you're making them out to be."

"What do you mean by illegal entry?" Sanji challenged while McKinley put the pictures away.

"Does this have anything to do about that ridiculous billion extol entrance fee?" Robin inquired, "Because we didn't pay her a thing."

"But didn't that old lady say we didn't have to pay it," Usopp reminded her. "It's not like she tried to stop us."

"Yeah that's true," Chopper chimed in.

"ENOUGH!" McKinley shouted. "There's no sense trying to deny it! Now 'fess up!" Conis and Pagaya stared at the White Berets with worry while the Straw Hats were just confused. "Don't worry, you need not become panicked just yet. According to Heaven's Judgment, entering illegally is only an Eleventh Degree Crime. Once you accept your punishment – which will be minimal – you will become legal tourists on the spot and may go about your business."

"Well you should've told us that sooner," Sanji said, "But before we accept what exactly do you have planned as far as punishment?"

"A mere slap on the wrist," Captain McKinley replied, "All you need to do is pay ten-times the entrance fee. Of course if you pay immediately we'll pretend this little episode never happened. So, ten billion per person times eight people makes your total eighty billion extol."

"WAIT, EIGHTY _BILLION _EXTOLS?" Usopp exclaimed. "That sounds like an awful lot of money! How much is that in berries?"

"That's the currency used in the Blue Sea World, right?" McKinley clarified, "Today's exchange rates are ten thousand extol per berri."

"Hmmm… then thousand and you've gotta carry the one…" Usopp mumbled to himself as he held out his hand and attempted to calculate how much they owed using his fingers. "Is there a decimal in there somewhere? Uh… five?"

"Eighty billion extols is eight million berries, genius," Robin corrected him.

"Eight million?" Zoro repeated. "That's pocket change to Ricky."

"BUT TO THE REST OF US THAT'S A FORTUNE!" Sanji snapped. "WE RISKED OUR LIVES GETTING TO THIS PLACE! WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO PAY A FEE JUST TO ENTER THEIR PERCIOUS CITY?"

"You brought this on yourselves," McKinley stated, "If you had just paid the eight hundred thousand berries in the first place we wouldn't be having this talk!"

"THAT'S STILL TOO EXPENSIVE!" Sanji insisted.

"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!" Usopp yelled as he clamped his hand over the cook's mouth. "Stop picking fights!"

"This is your first warning," Captain McKinley announced, "The White Berets serve under the vassals of Almighty Eneru. Arguing with us will only raise the level of your crime!" McKinley glared at the six pirates. Wait… six… "Hold on! The report said there were eight of you Blue Sea Dwellers! I'm only counting six of you! Where are the other two? Maybe I should add 'Suspicion of Fleeing the Island' to your list of crimes!"

"There's no need to go that far, Captain," Robin the calmest and most rational of the pirates attempted to placate McKinley. "The other two are off riding one of those Wavers. In fact, one of them is the crew's Financial Manager. I'm sure once he returns he'll be able to pay the fee without much hassle. If you wouldn't mind waiting, I'm sure he won't be much longer and we can put this big misunderstanding behind us."

"Does that mean you admit to your crime and accept your punishment?" McKinley questioned.

"Well as long as the punishment is just a slap on the wrist and a fine, then sure we'll accept it," Usopp quickly agreed.

"We didn't even do anything," Luffy pouted. "The old lady never said entering without paying was a crime."

"Hmph, very well," Captain McKinley grunted, "You are all currently Eleventh Degree Criminals and until your crewmate shows up to pay your fee none of you are permitted to leave this beach. If your crewmate doesn't show up soon then your punishment will be more severe."

**-x-**

"Nami, I think we're in trouble," Ricky said.

"I know that!" Nami snapped, "There an angry God somewhere around here that smites people using beams of light!"

"Not just that," Ricky told her. "One of the guys that I fought on that island noted that I was one of the Blue Sea Dwellers that entered Skypeia _illegally_. That old lady reported us when we didn't pay her stupid fee."

"Then that means Luffy and the others could already be in trouble," Nami realized, "We need to hurry back before those idiots end up getting themselves arrested!"

"Exactly," Rcky replied, "So step on it!"

Nami narrowed her eyes and pressed the Waver's pedal down as far as it would go. The Waver practically flew across the clouds at top speed as they raced back to Angel Beach.

**-x-**

"I hope Ricky and Nami get back soon," Chopper commented.

"As soon as the wind changes we can head out for another adventure!" Luffy exclaimed, "I mean… to look for Ricky and Nami."

Usopp twitched and scrambled over to him, "LISTEN TO ME!" Usopp shouted, "THE GUY TOLD US TO STAY HERE, SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO! I DON'T WANNA GET IN TROUBLE!"

"Who cares?" Luffy replied, "I wanna go on another adventure!"

"_Keep your cool Usopp," _Usopp thought to himself, _"Try and reason with him."_

"Luffy, if Ricky and Nami are just out taking a joyride then they'll be back any minute," Usopp tried to reason with the Captain, "If we leave now we could miss them. We don't want that now, do we?"

"You think so?" Luffy questioned.

"But they're taking way too long for that," Chopper point out.

Usopp twitched and ran over to Chopper. He grabbed the reindeer and pulled him so close that Usopp's long nose bent on Chopper's furry face. "Shut up!" he hissed, "The reason Luffy's here in the first place is to prove he can go where he was told he can't go! Not chase after Ricky and Nami, stupid!"

"Okay…" Chopper mumbled through Usopp's hand that was clutched over his mouth.

"He has a point," Robin admitted.

"Then let's just go when they get back," Zoro suggested.

"Guys, Conis warned us about that!" Usopp reminded them. "If we go we'll incur Eneru's wrath! Then who knows how much trouble we'll be in!"

"So… what now?" Chopper asked.

"Our best bet is to wait here until Ricky and Nami get back," Usopp answered, "And keep from getting in any more trouble after Ricky pays our fine. That means: No going to the forbidden island! No starting unnecessary fights! AND NO DEADLY ADVENTURES!"

"WHAT'RE YOU ALL BABBLING ABOUT?" Captain McKinley demanded. "WHAT'S TAKING THE OTHER TWO SO LONG?"

Usopp squeaked and scrambled over to the White Beret Captain to do some damage control. "Look sir, they're coming, alright?" Usopp assured him, "It's just eight million berries we owe you! We're good for it! Our First Mate probably has twice the amount in just his pocket alone! He's probably got _ten times_ that amount in his safe on our ship. And a thousand times the amount we owe you stashed in a turtle back on the Blue Sea! Trust me, Ricky's got plenty of money! If any of us could unlock his safe you'd already be paid and we'd be legal tourists. Just give us a little bit longer for him to come back, okay? They're just taking the Waver out for a little spin."

Captain McKinley stared hard at the high-strung pirate. The long nose didn't make him come off as the most trustworthy person from the Blue Sea but he decided to wait until the other two Blue Sea Dwellers came back to see if he was full of hot air.

"Very well," McKinley said, "But they'd better get back soon. The White Berets serve the Vassals of the Almighty Eneru, we can't be kept waiting by the whims of Blue Sea Dwellers."

Usopp ran back over to his crew, "Okay, I think I bought us some more time," he said. "Now Luffy, don't do anything stupid to make Nami angry! Ricky'll have no problem paying the fee if it'll keep us all out of trouble but if Nami hears how much it is she'll get mad, understand? You know how she can get when money's involved."

"Aaaww, alright," Luffy reluctantly agreed.

"Sanji, you too!" Usopp quickly added.

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji said.

Usopp turned and stared off the shore. _"Ricky, hurry up! I don't know how long I can keep these guys from getting in trouble!"_

It was then that the sniper's eagle-eyed eyes spotted a tiny speck on the horizon. "HEY! I THINK I SEE THEM!"

Captain McKinley folded his arms across his chest, "It's about time," he grumbled, "This had better be good."

**-x-**

"I think I can see Angel Beach!" Nami called back to Ricky. She squinted as tried to get a better look at the situation. "The others are all there! But there's a bunch of people there with them! They look like some kind of police force!"

"Hopefully they're only here about the illegal entry thing," Ricky replied.

"Hang on, I'm bringing us in!" Nami announced.

"I'm _already _hanging on, thank you," Ricky stated.

Nami's face pinked as she glanced down at Ricky's arms that were wrapped around her waist from behind. Since they were going so fast he was holding on rather tightly and she could feel his bare chest pressing against her mostly-bare back.

"Well whoever they are, I hope Luffy's not pulling any of his usual stunts!" Nami complained.

"If I left a bag of gold out on the galley table, would you take it?" Ricky countered. The questioned was rhetorical as they both already knew the answer and he kept going, "It's in your nature to steal money when you can get away with it. Just like its Luffy's nature to get in as much trouble as possible. For most of our lives it been my job to get him out of it, or at the very least help him through it. Since you're a rational member of this crew it's partially your job too."

"RICKY!" Luffy hollered from the shore. "WE GOT IN TROUBLE FOR ENTERING WITHOUT PAYING! NOW WE OWE THIS GUY EIGHT MILLION BERRIES!"

"EIGHT MILLION BERRIES?" Nami screeched completely forgetting what Ricky had just said. "THAT'S TOO MUCH!"

**FWUMP!** Usopp tackled Luffy and tried to stretch his rubber lips off of his face, "YOU HAVE THE BIGGEST MOUTH!" Usopp screamed, "I SAID _NOT TO _UPSET NAMI AND THAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU DO!"

**WHOOOSH! **The Waver surged up into the air and flew straight at Captain McKinley.

"Damn it Nami!" Ricky snapped, "What did I just say?" **SKISH! **Ricky dove off of the Waver passed Nami and lunged at the official Captain-looking guy they were about to crash into. "LOOK OUT!" **WHUMP! **Ricky tackled Captain McKinley to the ground and the Waver flew over them and crashed down onto the island clouds behind them and skidded to a stop. **KRASH!**

"YOU JUST ASSAULTED A MEMBER OF THE WHITE BERETS!" McKinley hollered at Ricky, "THAT'S A CLASS-FIVE CRIME!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ricky cut in, "I was just trying to keep you from getting creamed by that Waver-thing. Here, let me help you up there." Ricky stood up and pulled Captain McKinley back up to his feet and made a show of dusting him off. "I'm real sorry about that, y'see we're from the Blue Sea World and it was her first time driving one of those Waver-things. When she heard how much money we owe you it startled her and I think she lost control. I wasn't assaulting you, I was trying to _save_ _you_. I wouldn't want such a fine, upstanding protector of Sky Island justice like you getting hurt because of an accident made by a rookie Waver-driver."

"Hmph," McKinley grunted. "Maybe calling you Fifth Degree Criminals was going too far."

"Wow," Usopp gasped, "He makes it all seem so easy. It's the perfect combination of flattery, fast-talking and half-truths."

"What does he mean 'accident'?" Chopper questioned. "Nami was handling that Waver perfectly fine before!"

"SHUSH!" Nami hissed as she darted over and clamped her hand over Chopper's mouth. "He doesn't know that. I'll admit I got a little carried away but Ricky's already managed to smooth it over. Now keep quiet and let him do his thing."

"Now, what was this about eight million berries?" Ricky prompted.

"Yes, you eight are all Eleventh Degree Criminals for illegally entering Skypeia without paying the entrance fee," McKinley stated. "Your crew has accepted the crime and now you must by punished by paying a penalty fee of ten times the amount. Eighty billion extols which is eight million berries."

"I'll pay the fine but before I do I'd like to file a formal complaint against Amazon the Gate Keeper for causing this huge misunderstanding," Ricky replied. "We had just come from the Blue Sea when we reached Heaven's Gate and she told us we needed to pay an entrance fee of eight billion extols. We didn't even know what an extol was at that point. When I asked her about exchanging our berries for extol she offered no help at all. She just said we could pay the fee or that we could decide to not pay the fee and go on anyway. She never expressed that entering without paying was a crime."

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it," McKinley insisted.

"You're right, of course," Ricky agreed, "And you would be since you do such a fine job of upholding it. But how are we supposed to know the law when no one tells us what it is? We're from the Blue Sea World, that's a completely different place and things are done a lot differently. If you had a sign posted somewhere that explained the rules or if your gate keeper had actually done _her job_ and explained them properly I would have happily paid the eight hundred thousand berries there at the gate and this whole thing would've never happened."

McKinley opened his mouth to respond but Ricky kept going before he could get a word in.

"So you see, we can't avoid breaking your Sky Island Laws if we don't know what they are," Ricky continued, "Would you happen to have a book or something that I could read so my crew and I can avoid breaking anymore of yours laws in the future?"

McKinley turned to one of the other White Berets, "Present the Law Book," he ordered.

**Swif! **The other White Beret pulled out a thin book and handed it over to the Captain. McKinley held up the book. "This book lists the eleven classes of crimes, all the crimes that fall under them, and the punishment for committing them. But before I give this to you, I must insist that you pay the fine for the Class-Eleven Crime that you and your crew have committed."

"Of course," Ricky agreed. He fished into his bottom left pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. He skillfully flipped through it and handed Captain McKinley about half of the stack. "There you go, eight million berries."

"Very good, you are now legal tourists of Skypeia," McKinley announced as he slipped the money into a pocket inside his sky blue Captan's coat, "Since that matter is taken care of, I can now say 'Welcome to Sky Island' Heso!" McKinley did the strange salute where he put his hand behind his head and stuck his two fingers up.

"HESO!" the other White Berets chorused while also doing the salute.

"Uh… right… Heso," Ricky replied.

"Ricky! I didn't know you could speak their language!" Luffy exclaimed.

Ricky shook his head and took the Law Book from McKinley who then turned to his men.

"Return to your posts," McKinley ordered. "I'll remain here to conduct surveillance on the Blue Sea Dwellers."

Ricky's eye twitched when all the berets but Captain McKinley dropped to the ground and started crawling away.

"You really don't have to stay here," Ricky told McKinley as he held up the Law Book, "I'll keep my crew in line."

"Oh, but I think I do," Captain McKinley replied. "As a fine upholder of Sky Island Justice it is my duty to prevent people from breaking our laws. My men are returning to their posts but from where I'm standing you eight are the most likely to cause problems here so I'm exactly where I need to be." McKinley smirked at Ricky. "Let's see how well you can read."

Ricky grinned in response, "If that's your game then I'm up to the challenge."

**-x-**

**Skypeia Law:**

**-x-**

Still under the watchful eyes of Captain McKinley of the White Berets, Ricky opened the Law Book and started to read as he made his way back over to his crew.

"Robin, would you mind lending an eye so I'm not the only one keeping them out of trouble?" Ricky requested.

"Ojo Fleur," Robin said simply. Ricky raised his sunglasses to reveal his mismatched eyes with his normal hazel one on the left and a blue one on his eye patch on the right.

"For now, everyone stay on this beach until I can finish this," Ricky instructed, "There's a lot of criminal offenses in here so I don't want anyone leaving the area until I know everything we can do wrong here."

"But Ricky, I wanna go…" Luffy started to say.

"…to the one place that you're absolutely forbidden to go," Ricky finished for him, "That's a very bad idea."

"Ricky, we need to tell them…" Nami started.

"Not with the present company," Ricky pointed out as he motioned discretely to McKinley. "We don't want to get in trouble for going somewhere that we're not allowed to go." He had been looking at Luffy while he said this but Nami knew it was directed at her.

"Come on Chopper!" Usopp exclaimed, "Let's go fishing! Conis, do you know any good fishing spots around here?"

"I do," Conis replied, "There's one just over there." Conis led Usopp and Chopper off towards a fishing spot.

"Miss. Nami, Miss. Robin, would you care for a cup of tea?" Sanji offered.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Cook," Robin accepted, "Tea would be nice while I'm reading."

"Uh, no thanks Sanji," Nami refused.

"Nami, I think you should go and have some tea," Ricky told her, "In fact, bring Zoro with you. The four of you probably have a lot to _talk_ about."

Nami looked at Ricky who shot a quick glance at McKinley. Her eyes widened in realization. _"I get it. It's slight-of-hand. He's going to distract the Captain so his attention is on him and the other three and in the meantime I'll be free to tell the others what we discovered on the forbidden island."_

"Right, let's go have some tea," Nami announced.

"I get the feeling that I just missed something," Zoro stated.

"Come have some tea and I'm sure she'll be happy to explain it, Mr. Swordsman" Robin replied.

Zoro shrugged and followed after Nami, Sanji and Robin which left Luffy and Ricky alone with with Pagaya who had started to tinker with the Straw Hats' old broken Waver. It was then that Captain McKinley spotted it.

"AH-HA!" Captain McKinley exclaimed, "You're already slipping Blue Sea Dweller! Look at what you did to that Waver! Destruction of Sky Island property is a…"

"…class-Ten Crime," Ricky finished for him, "The punishment being a large fine to pay for the damage that's been caused. But here's the thing, this Waver was like that when wefound it on a ship back down in the Blue Sea World."

"Yeah, this is our Waver!" Luffy told him, "The old guy said he'd try and fix it for us."

"I was under the impression that you didn't have Wavers in the Blue Sea World," McKinley said as he stared down at the broken Waver. "Stealing Sky Island property is a Class-Eight Crime."

"We didn't steal it we found it!" Luffy insisted.

"That's true," Ricky said, "We found it on a ship that fell out of the sky almost on top of us. That's what got us started on coming here in the first place."

"Well considering the condition this Waver is in I suppose it would be alright to let you have it," Captain McKinley said as he jiggled the handle of the Waver. "Most people would throw out a Waver this old and broken. If you're going through all the trouble of fixing it I think you're entitled to it."

"There you go Luffy," Ricky said, "We have permission to keep the Waver. Now stop bugging Pagaya and let him fix it."

"Right, I'll go fishing then!" Luffy decided as he ran off after Usopp, Chopper, and Conis.

"Be careful what you catch," Ricky advised as he followed after him while he continued to read the Law Book.

Captain McKinley smirked as he followed after Luffy and Ricky. He completely missed Zoro, Nami, Sanji and Robin who were 'having tea' on the deck Ricky was on before.

**-x-**

"So what's this about?" Zoro asked.

"Ricky and I found this island filled with monsters," Nami answered. "Ricky sensed a lot of treasure on it so he went to explore it."

"Oh great," Zoro groaned, "You two did exactly what we hoped you didn't."

"The people here call that island Upper Yard, Miss. Nami," Sanji explained, "Everyone's forbidden from going there."

"Ricky found that out the hard way," Nami told him. "He got attacked by these four people who said they were 'God's Priests' and I saw a man get vaporized by a beam of light that came down from the sky! God is somewhere on that island and He killed that guy! There was nothing left! Ricky managed to escape the Priests but if God knew he was on the island then all of us could be in real big trouble."

"Oh, that's just great," Sanji said, "The rest of us were struggling to keep Luffy out of trouble while Ricky ends up getting in even bigger trouble. Now we've got some God after us."

"Listen to this," Robin spoke up, "According to the book Mr. One Eye and I are reading, anyone guilty of a Class-Five Crime like obstructing the White Berets gets sentenced to Cloud Drifting. That's where they'd place the criminal's ship on a small cloud and set them adrift in the White Sea. With no chance of escape or rescue they'd all die a slow and painful death."

**Gulp! **Nami looked terrified at the prospect, "That's terrible."

"No, it's _interesting_," Robin countered, "Think about it, that's probably why that exploration vessel the St. Briss nearly fell on us. That crew could have been sentenced to Cloud Drifting over two hundred years ago. Over time the cloud must have faded and caused the ship to fall from the sky right on top of us."

"Is that what they'll do to Ricky for going to the place he wasn't supposed to?" Zoro questioned.

"No, it gets worse apparently," Robin stated as she closed her eyes and focused on the Law Book that Ricky had opened to a very specific page. "'Evading Judgment from a Priest' is a Class-One Crime and the guilty party has to face God's Judgment."

"I don't know if there's a God on this island or not," Zoro admitted, "But if he's after Ricky then he's no friend of ours."

Sanji frowned, "But if God is after Ricky… why hasn't He gotten him yet?"

Zoro, Nami, Sanji stared at each other with a building feeling of dread as they suddenly realized the graze situation that they now faced.

Robin casually picked up her cup of tea and took a sip.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT THIS?" Nami demanded.

Zoro stood up and gripped the handle of his sword _Wado Ichimonji_.

"Where are you going?" Sanji asked.

"Ricky's keeping his eye on the other three," Zoro pointed out, "But if God's after him then someone needs to keep an eye on Ricky."

As the swordsman left, Robin of all people stared after him in surprise. _"He just learned that his crewmate is in trouble with a God… and he's going off to defend him… What's with these pirates?"_

**-x-**

"You guys need to be careful with what you catch," Ricky advised Luffy, Usopp and Chopper as they stood on a mound of cloud while he, Conis and Captain McKinley stood behind them. "Some species of fish are so rare that it's a Class-Nine Crime to catch them. And Luffy, eating them is a Class-Eight Crime. So make sure Conis and the Captain approve what you catch, otherwise you'll have to throw it back."

Despite the fact that Ricky had just warned the others about Class-Nine and Class-Eight Crimes the Law Book was opened to Class-One Crimes, more specifically, the punishments for being found a First Degree Criminal. Ricky glanced warily up in the air and around them. He spotted Zoro as the swordsman walked over.

Without a word, Zoro sat down under a nearby tree and gripped the handle of his sword. Suu the Cloud Fox left Conis' side and joined Zoro in the shade of the tree where she curled up in a ball and went to sleep.

"Uugghhhh…" Usopp suddenly groaned as his fishing pole nearly pulled him off of the cloud mound they were on. "I'M LOSING IT!"

"Don't let it get away Usopp!" Chopper encouraged him as he wrapped himself around Usopp's leg and tried to help him pull in his catch. "LUFFY HELP!"

"Hm… WAAH!" Luffy turned and spotted the other two struggling with their catch and quickly abandoned his own fishing pole so he could help them pull in their undoubtedly large catch.

The fishing line lurched back and forth and whatever was on the other side put up a valiant fight but Luffy's monstrous strength coupled with Usopp and Chopper's was too much for it. **SPLOOOSH! **An enormous fish easily fifty times the size of any of them came flying out of the water and launched up overhead. It was mostly yellow with the body of a huge carp but the wide mouth and whiskers of a catfight. The large fin on its back was purple and matched the fins on its tail and sides. The huge sky fish all featured a large collection of yellow bumps on its back that were a couple shades lighter than the yellow of its scales.

"WHOOOAA!" Luffy exclaimed at the sight of the huge fish.

"WAAAAHH!" Usopp screamed at the sight of the huge fish.

"It's a big one!" Chopper remarked.

**TWING!** The fishing line couldn't handle all the strain and snapped causing Luffy, Usopp and Chopper to tumble back down the cloud mound and the big fish to go flying free from the line.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Conis screamed in terror as the huge tooth-filled mouth of the big fish came flying down at her.

While not quite what he was waiting for, Zoro surged to his feet and prepared to spring into action… only he didn't need to.

"**EPAULE SHOOT!" **Since his attention had been on Ricky at the mention of a God being after him, Sanji had heard Conis' scream of terror and had crossed the beach in a mere .07 seconds and launched himself up overhead. **THWHAM!** Sanji drove his foot down into the sky fish from overhead and sent it crashing down onto the island clouds that made up the shore. **WHOMP!**

**Tmp! **Sanji landed next to Conis and smiled at her, "I heard your scream of distress and came to save you, my angel," Sanji swooned while Luffy, Usopp and Chopper ran up behind him.

"What did we catch?" Usopp wondered as they eyed the huge sky fish, "A fish or a monster?"

"Some kind of sky fish obviously," Sanji supplied.

"It tried to eat Conis," Chopper pointed out.

"Well I wanna eat it," Luffy insisted.

"You're heroes!" Pagaya chimed in. He had raced over after hearing all the commotion. Of course, he hadn't been as fast as Sanji. "Words cannot express how grateful I am that you saved my daughter!"

"Father look…" Conis said as she motioned to the huge yellow fish that had tried to eat her.

"Uh oh… we're in trouble…" Pagaya realized.

"AH-HA! CAUGHT YELLOW HANDED!" Captain McKinley crowed. "This species of Sky Fish is so rare that it's forbidden to catch it!"

"Oh come on!" Ricky protested, "The fish tried to eat the girl so he quickly saved her. We would've thrown it back right away if the line hadn't snapped."

"I didn't even kick it that hard," Sanji defended himself.

"And it's not even dead!" Usopp quickly added, he lashed out his foot and kicked the fish under the mouth. **Thawk! **While not nearly as powerful as Sanji's kick had been, Usopp kicked had done enough to wake the sky fish which flopped around helplessly as soon as it realized it was out of the Sea Clouds and on the Island Clouds.

"Luffy, don't even think about it!" Ricky quickly interrupted his brother who had his mouth opened as he approached the sky fish's flailing fin. "Just throw it back!"

"AAAAWW!" Luffy whined, "But it looks so tasty!"

"THROW IT BACK LUFFY!" Usopp yelled, "You'd better not get us in trouble again!"

"Oh, fine," Luffy grumbled. He grabbed the fish that was fifty times his size and easily threw it back into the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOOSH!**

"There," Ricky prompted, "No harm done. I'm sure as someone charged with protecting the peace on this island you can recognize that there was an extenuating circumstance involved here. It may be an endangered species but it was also a wild animal that was going to kill someone. You're a protector of this island but also its people so I'm sure you'll forgive the usage of non-lethal force on an endangered species in order to protect someone."

"Well when you put it that way, I suppose there's no harm done," McKinley reasoned.

"Phew!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper let out a sigh of relief.

"_Hm," _Zoro said to himself as he watched Rick deal with McKinley with a faint grin, _"If his sword was as quick as his mouth he'd actually be some competition."_

"Conis, my angel," Sanji addressed the blonde girl as he hook his arm around her back underneath her wings. "You've just been through a traumatic ordeal, I'd suggest that you have a seat and relax after what happened."

"**CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN!" **Before anyone could go anywhere, a loud shout drew everyone's attention to the top of the stairs where the rest of the White Berets were standing. "CAPTAIN MCKINLEY! BIG TROUBLE!"

"WHAT IS IT NOW?" Captain McKinley called back to his men. The Straw Hats watched as the White Berets reached the bottom of the stairs then dropped down and crawled towards their superior officer.

Once they reached McKinley the other White Berets popped back up and saluted him, "HESO!"

"Heso," McKinley replied, "What's this 'big trouble', men?"

"Captain, that man beside you," one of the White Berets said as he pointed to Ricky. "We received word from the Almighty Eneru himself that he is guilty of the Second Class Crime of illegally trespassing on the sacred ground of Upper Yard."

"_RICKY!" _Usopp screamed in his mind, _"You go through all the trouble of keeping Luffy out of trouble when you've already gotten into even more trouble on your own!"_

"As a Second Degree Criminal he is to be apprehended and sent to Upper Yard to face the Ordeals of the Priests," the White Beret concluded.

Zoro made his way out from under the tree and was ready to spring into action at a second's notice. Sanji slipped his hands in his pockets and turned to face the White Berets. He knew the situation and was ready to defend his Nakama. Luffy punched one fist into the other and glared at the weird and annoying guys that had been bugging them for a while now. He _didn't _know the situation but was still ready to defend his brother.

Captain McKinley glanced down at the cut on Ricky's side that he had gotten from Ohm's sword while on Upper Yard.

"I had wondered how you got that," the Captain of the White Berets admitted. "You must have set off one of the traps while you were there and got cut but still managed to escape alive. But you should know better. The Almighty Eneru knows and sees everything."

"_That's odd," _Ricky thought to himself, _"I already fought all four of God Priest's and since I managed to give them the slip that's supposed to make me a First Degree Criminal. I should have already faced God's Judgment. But for some reason this 'Eneru' wants me back on that 'Upper Yard' place so his Priests can deal with me."_

"Yes, I set off a trap," Ricky stated, he saw no reason to correct McKinley, "And that is all."

"God has said Himself that you are to be taken to Upper Yard to face the Ordeals of His Priests," Captain McKinley announced, "If you come quietly, your crew will be spared."

Ricky glanced over his shoulder at Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji who all looked ready to fight. Usopp and Chopper looked like they were ready to jump in too. Nami and Robin had left the deck and were warily eying the White Berets. Conis and Pagaya just looked scared.

"Don't even think about it," Zoro warned him, "We're in this together."

"I wouldn't want you guys to get in trouble with a God because of me," Ricky said, "But on the other hand…" **POW! **His fist flashed out and caught Captain McKinley completely off guard on the bridge of his nose and knocked him out cold. **TMP! **"You'd probably find some other excuse if it wasn't for this."

"_Good to know that attack still catches some people by surprise," _Ricky thought to himself.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" the White Berets screamed in terror and scrambled backwards and stared timidly up at the sky.

"What's with them?" Luffy wondered, "Are gonna fight or not?"

"Y-you're attempting to evade j-judgment by a P-Priest…" one of the White Berets stammered, "Th-that means y-you're a F-First Degree Cr-Criminal guily of d-declaring w-war on G-G-God Himself! Y-you must f-face his j-judgment!"

Ricky glanced up at the sky then back at the White Berets, "But didn't you say before that 'the Almighty Eneru himself' wanted me to be brought to Upper Yard to face Judgment from a Priest? Don't tell me you're going to go against your God's wishes?"

"_Let's see what kind of game this 'Eneru' character is playing," _Ricky decided.

The White Berets stared at each other and eventually reached at decision. "YOU'RE UNDER ARREST BY ORDER OF THE ALMIGHTY ENERU!" Seven of the White Berets drew bows and aimed their arrows at Ricky. "FIRE THE MILKY ARROWS!"

**WHOOOOSH!** The White Berets fired their arrows but it turned out it wasn't the arrows that the Straw Hats needed to worry about. Each of the arrows left a trail of spiraling gray cloud behind it as they flew through the air.

**SWISH! **Ricky spun to the side to avoid the volley of arrows but the arrows kept going and flew passed him towards the others. Sanji acted quick and pulled Conis out of the way while Usopp and Chopper quickly grabbed Pagaya and followed after him.

Luffy and Zoro weaved to the side to avoid the arrows when they reached them but Luffy lost his balance and fell on the cloud stream from one low-flying arrow. **FWUMP! **But Luffy didn't fall through it and instead landed _on it _as if the cloud was solid.

"WHAT THE HECK!" Luffy exclaimed, "CLOUDS?" Luffy sat up on the cloud he was on and grabbed hold of one of the ones above him and pulled himself onto it. "WAAAH!" Luffy yelped in surprise and ducked down to avoid a second volley of Milky Arrow. **WHOOOOSH!**

"WHITE BERETS! ATTACK!" **SKISH!** The White Berets jumped off of the ground and each of them landed on a different cloud stream.

**FWOOOSH!** The Dial-powered motors on the White Berets' feet came to life and the entire squad surfed along the clouds towards the pirates.

Ricky and Zoro dove to the side to avoid the White Berets as they charged them while Luffy was sent spinning when one White Berets sped by him on the same cloud. When Luffy managed to stop spinning he found himself standing on a cloud surrounded by White Berets who had all drawn weapons.

"Are those cloud-skates?" Luffy wondered, "SO COOL! I've gotta get a pair!" **WHIIING! **Luffy stretched his arm out and wrapped it around a tree that was within reach.

"HOW'D HE DO THAT?" a White Beret hollered.

"HE'S STETCHING!" Conis exclaimed.

"I hope he's okay…" Pagaya mumbled.

**SHOOOOM! **Luffy used his stretched arm to shoot himself up off of the cloud and into the air up above all the cloud streams.

"NO WAY!" one of the White Berets exclaimed, "HE'S GOT DEVIL FRUIT POWERS!"

Up in the air, Luffy started to spin but not just side-to-side, he also flipped end-over-end. "GUUUUM… GUUUUUM… FIIIIREEEWOOOORKS!" **SHOOOM! SHOOOM! **Luffy's fists and feet exploded out of the spinning ball his body had become and flew down into the faces and bodies of the White Berets. **BA-BA-BA-BA-BAM! **

The entire squad of White Berets was sent flying off of the clouds and into the air with the one Devil Fruit-powered attack from Luffy.

The streams of cloud also met Luffy's fists and feet and were broken up which caused Luffy to drop through them and land on the ground. **TMP!**

"Whooooaaaaa…" the dizzy pirate groaned as he spun around on the spot.

"Got you…" the one remained White Berets grinned to himself as he aimed an arrow at Luffy through all the fading clouds.

**SLA-SLISH! **Zoro wasted no time and sped through the clouds and cut the last White Beret down before he even had a chance to fire his arrow.

**Clak! **"Piece of cake," Zoro remarked as he sheathed his sword.

"What were those shoes?" Ricky wondered.

"WHEW!" Usopp exclaimed from where he, Sanji, and Chopper stood with Conis and Pagaya. "They did great! Just like I taught 'em!"

"REALLY?" the super-gullible Chopper asked with stars in his eyes.

"They defeated the White Berets…" Pagaya remarked.

"Unbelievable!" Conis gasped. "At this altitude the athletic ability of most Blue Sea Dwellers usually decreases."

"Conis my angel, if you were in danger I could've defeated them in half the time," Sanji vowed.

"Are you guys okay?" Nami asked as she and Robin came over.

"Hey, where'd the really annoying guy go?" Luffy wondered as he glanced around for any sign of Captain McKinley.

The Captain in question had woken up from Ricky's punch at some point during the battle and had slipped away in the nearby tress behind the Straw Hats. To most, it would appear that he was hiding but he wasn't. He knew that the situation was now out of his hands.

"YOU FOOLS!" Captain McKinley roared from the woods. "If you had allowed us to conduct our duty only one of you would have been apprehended as a Second Degree Criminal! BUT BECAUSE YOU FOUGHT US _ALL OF YOU_ ARE NOW SECOND DEGREE CRIMINALS! The White Berets are the most lenient of Almighty Eneru's enforcers! NOW YOU MUST FACE THE PRIESTS OF UPPER YARD! HESO!"

**-x-**

In canon Captain McKinley come across as a jerk but I feel it's not without due cause. He's a guy that takes his job really seriously. The Straw Hats start off with Sanji complaining about the money since without Ricky eight million berries seems like a fortune to them, Usopp the liar attempting to convince him that they're able to pay the fine when he really don't know if they are, and the others basically writing him off as a joke. I feel that the main motivation for McKinley cracking down on them was that the Straw Hats were rude and dismissive towards him and the laws he's in charge of upholding. He's just a guy trying to do his job and that's what I made him come across as in my version. He didn't cause any real problems for the Straw Hats until it was revealed that Ricky had already committed a very serious offense.

Next chapter the Straw Hats find that there's no escape from their punishment and have to face God's challenge.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	17. No Escape Possible

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**A/N:**** Posted this chapter on the three-year anniversary of Another Nakama so this chapter has not one, not two but THREE episodes crammed into it. This one's a whopper so find of comfy chair and enjoy.**

**No Escape Possible:**

**-x-**

God's four Priests Ohm, Shura, Satori, and Gedatsu stood outside the walls of a grand palace that was lying on a bed of clouds. This was the Almighty God Eneru's palace.

"I suppose it's no surprise that the Almighty Eneru summoned us here," Ohm stated.

"Indeed," Satori agreed, "It isn't very often that we let an intruder slip through our fingers."

"I just wonder why God took out that first intruder and let the other one escape?" Shura asked.

"_Fools, the only reason he escaped is because the Almighty Eneru allowed it,"_ Gedatus 'said'.

Satori looked at Gedatsu in annoyance, "If you have something to say then say it out loud."

Gedatsu's eyes went wide, "How careless!" he exclaimed.

"It's your fault he got away anyway Ohm," Shura snapped, "You couldn't even keep track of who you were supposed to be chasing!"

"My fault?" Ohm repeated, the challenge evident in his voice, "If you fools hadn't interfered and plagued the situation with your incompetence I would have eliminated both intruders!"

"Incompetence?" Satori questioned, "You and that giant mutt of yours just got in the way! I had him right where I wanted him!"

"So you _wanted him _to kick you in the face then?" Shura countered.

"That was a fluke!" Satori insisted. "And at least I hit him! You and that stupid bird were useless as always!"

"Why you…"

"We…" Gedatsu started to say but everything else was muffled.

"It must be hard to speak when you're biting your lip like that," Ohm noted.

Gedatsu's eyes went wide and he looked down and realized that he was indeed biting his bottom lip to prevent himself from speaking.

**-x-**

"God, the Priests have arrived," a large mountain of a man reported from inside.

"**Good," **the calm voice of God replied, **"Send them in."**

**-x-**

Ohm, Shura, Satori, and Gedatsu all glared at each other. Tensions were high between the group and it was clear that a fight would break out at any moment.

**Kreeeeek…** The fight was prevented when the large doors of the fortress gate swung opened and revealed a large obese man with a triple chin that was as big as all the priests _put together_. He was easily twice as tall as all of them and over five times as wide. The man had long black hair and wings on his back that were dwarfed due to the man's enormous bulk. He wore a white toga with three black vertical stripes decorating each side and a thick orange sash that went diagonally across his wide chest. This man was known as **Yama** and he was the leader of God's Enforcers.

"God wishes to discuss in important matter with the four of you," Yama interrupted the Priests. "Do not keep Him waiting."

The four priests made their way into the fortress and came across God's throne. It was a plush armchair with soft green and orange cushions that was not even fit for a King, only for a God. The only problem was… the throne was empty.

"If God summoned us here then where is He?" Shura wondered.

**FWASH-KREK-KREK! **Lightning flashed passed them to the throne and hovered there in the form of a bright light. The light faded to reveal a man sitting in the throne.

"I'm right here," God answered. **The Almighty God Eneru** was a tall, muscular, pale-skinned man. He had white-blond hair that was hidden under a white bandana. His nose had many horizontal lines that ran across it and his earlobes were so long that they hung down to his chest. He wore no shirt which displayed his muscular chest and toned abs. His pants were notably loose and were orange with a black pattern on them. He wore a blue sash around his waist which held up a light blue veil. His feet and hands were bare but were decorated by golden band on each of his wrists or ankles. He didn't sport the white angel wings that most people from the Sky Island did. Instead, he had a large ring on his back that went up over his head and held four drums each with an identical design made of three tomoe.

"Lord Eneru!" the four priests chorused before they dropped to their knees in front of God.

"Let's get right to the point," Eneru stated, "You four claim to be My strongest warriors and yet you were thwarted by a simple Blue Sea Dweller. Pathetic. You need more training."

"Lord Eneru," Ohm started to protest, "he wouldn't have gotten away if these fools hadn't…"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Eneru cut him off. "As My strongest warriors you have an important reputation to uphold: Mine. Your incompetence makes Me look incompetent."

The priests flinched.

"My L-Lord!" Satori stammered, clearly nervous to have God angry with him. "W-we had the Blue Sea Dweller right where we wanted him… b-but then he started using some kind of Blue-Sea M-mantra and managed to avoid everything we threw at him."

"And it is for that exact reason that I decided not to destroy the four of you along with him," Eneru stated. "I was bored and decided to watch your progress on Upper Yard. You can imagine My disappointment when I saw all of you floundering around and tripping over each other like incompetent fools. But then the Blue Sea Dweller decided to take you seriously and began to use his own Mantra. I sense that his Mantra is powerful… but it is untrained. He has caught My interest and that is why I decided to give you four another chance. I had the White Berets on Angel Beach extend an invitation for him to face the Ordeals of the Priests. I want you all to return to your territories and prepare to receive him. Do whatever you want with the others but I want this Blue Sea Dweller brought before me _alive_."

"The Survival Rate of my Ordeal of Balls is a mere ten percent," Satori pointed out, "Do you really expect someone as untrained as him to survive it?"

"Forget about your Ordeal!" Gedatsu snapped, "My Ordeal of Swamp is even worse!"

"Please, you'd let him tie your sleeves together again and he'd escape!" Shura snapped at him, "My Ordeal of String has a three percent survival rate there's no way he'd escape me!"

"My Ordeal of Iron is the worst of all," Ohm stated, "There's a zero percent chance of survival. A Blue Sea Dweller won't survive it."

"I told you I wanted him alive and I expect you to make that so," Eneru insisted but then a smile spread across his face. "I never said he had to be in one piece."

"Your will shall be done God Eneru," Ohm, Shura, Satori, and Gedatsu chorused before they rose and left the palace to return to their territories on Upper Yard and prepare their Ordeals.

Eneru smiled to himself as he watched his priests leave.

"You've managed to capture My interest Ricky of the Blue Sea," Eneru stated, "If you manage to survive My Priests' Ordeals than you may just be worthy of keeping it."

Ricky's trip to the sky just went from bad to worse. Now he'd unintentionally caught the interest of a God and had to content with four deadly ordeals hosted by four vengeful priests.

**-x-**

"What's wrong with those guys?" Luffy wondered following the Straw Hats' victory over the White Berets.

"They were just following orders," Ricky defended the men that had been trying to arrest him. "Thanks for stepping up for me back there."

"Of course, you didn't do anything wrong," Luffy insisted.

"Actually I did," Ricky stated, "I _was_ on Upper Yard. And now that you've fought the White Berets you're a Second-Degree Criminal too. God wants me back on Upper Yard to face judgment for my crimes." Ricky rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about all this, usually I'm the one getting us out of trouble but it looks like this time I've gotten us into it."

"Eh, you were due," Zoro stated.

"I don't even see what the big deal is," Luffy admitted, "I'm surprised everyone's not used to this by now. Shishishi!"

"In any case," Pagaya said, "you're in a great deal of trouble. You're all now Second-Degree Criminals and as such I'm afraid Conis and I are unable to assist you any longer." Pagaya said all this while he and Conis stood a good twenty feet away from the Straw Hats.

"Why're you talking to us from why over there?" Nami snapped.

"So… how was it on the place that you weren't supposed to go to?" Luffy inquired.

"Dangerous," Ricky answered, "Which means you'll love it."

"Why'd you guys even come back?" Luffy asked, "We were about to set sail and head out on an amazing adventure until you… I mean… we were about to come looking for you! We were getting worried… Shishishi…"

Nami glared at him, "I think you and I need to have a talk," she growled. Nami held her hand out in front of her then jabbed her hand out and smacked it into Luffy's face. **POW! **"FORGET ABOUT YOUR BIG ADVENTURE!"

Chopper ran over to Sanji and hid behind his legs while Nami started on another tantrum.

"ITS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!" Nami yelled before she jabbed Luffy with her hand again. **POW! **Nami followed up with a series of jabs while she continued to berate the Captain. **POW! POW! POW! **"YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WHAT I'VE SEEN!" **POW! POW!"** "THAT ISLAND IS FILLED WITH THE TYPE OF PEOPLE YOU DON'T WANNA MESS WITH!" **POW! POW! **"I DON'T CARE WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE!"** POW! POW! **"GRANTED, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS GUY IS BUT HIS POWERS ARE REAL!" **POW! POW! POW! **"AND THERE'S NO WAY I'M EVER GOING BACK THERE AGAIN!" **POW! POW! POW! FWUMP! **The last series of attacks knocked Luffy onto his back. "SO FORGET IT! GOT ME?"

"How 'bout you just relax here while the rest of us go?" Luffy suggested. Despite Nami's pounding, he was still determined to go on an adventure to the place he wasn't supposed to.

"WE'RE WANTED CRIMINALS!" Nami shouted. "I'M NOT STAYING HERE A MINUTE LONGER EITHER!"

Luffy stood back up and stretched his neck so his face was right in front of Nami's. "ARE YOU NUTS?" he demanded. "GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT! THE ADVENTURE IS ALWAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!"

Nami reached up and grabbed Luffy by his extended neck, "MY PRIORITIES ARE LIFE FIRST THEN MONEY!" she hollered before she threw Luffy's head downward and caused it to be buried in the island clouds at her feet. **SHWUP! **The rest of Luffy's body snapped forward to rejoin his head and Luffy was left stuck upside-down in the clouds.

Sanji left Chopper behind him and sprang towards Nami with hearts in his eyes, "Please tell me I'm third on that list!" he swooned.

**BONK! **Nami lashed out her hand and sent him flying away from her. "DON'T PUSH ME!"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Ricky who calmed Nami down this time. Instead, it was her fellow partner in cowardice Usopp.

"You raise a good point," Usopp admitted, "We've exerted all our energy into just trying to get up here but we never really thought about how we were gonna get back." Usopp glanced over at Conis and Pagaya, "Is there a safe way back to the Blue Sea World? Can we ever even go home again?"

"There is a way," Conis admitted, "But at this juncture I'm afraid that it's no longer safe. You're only way to escape is to make your way to Cloud End. From there you can travel home."

"What's Cloud End?" Usopp inquired. "And how're we supposed to get there?"

"It's a region that lies far to the east," Conis explained, "The only way for you to get there is to travel across the White White Sea."

"Okay," Usopp realized, "So we sail east and we eventually get home!"

"But I don't wanna go home!" Luffy protested. He'd managed to pull his head out of the clouds.

"Your other option is to stay and get sentenced to death," Usopp pointed out.

"Listen to me," Nami said, "I don't want you causing any more trouble for Conis and her dad."

"No, don't worry about us," Conis attempted to reassure her.

"Even if we leave right now there's no guarantee that we'll make a clean escape," Nami stated. "We don't have any time to lose so just get on the ship! You'll have your big adventure, I promise, but for now we need to get going."

"Luffy…" Ricky spoke up, "You can't become King of the Pirates from up here. Maybe it'll be for the best if we all just leave."

"Wait… you wanna leave too?" Luffy questioned.

"I know running away isn't our usual style," Ricky admitted, "But I'm trying to think of everyone's safety here. I saw some scary stuff on that island and I don't want the others to have to suffer through it. If we return to the Blue Sea we'll be out of Eneru's range and we can return to our regular lives and the people here can return to theirs. We made it here… that's something. But now I think we should forget about having a big adventure on the Sky Island and just go back where we belong."

Luffy didn't say anything but Nami quickly jumped in.

"There, it's settled," she decided as she headed for the Going Merry with Ricky behind her, "Come on everybody, let's set sail."

"Yes ma'am," the others chorused. Luffy silently went along with them.

Nami waved back at Conis and Pagaya, "Thanks for all your help! We really appreciate it!"

But before they could reach the ship, Luffy was struck by a sudden thought.

"Ooh!" he exclaimed.

"Come on, now what?" Nami groaned.

Luffy turned back around, "HEY OLD MAN!" he called out.

"What is it Luffy?" Pagaya asked.

Luffy ran back up to him, "Can I ask a favor?" he requested. "Do you mind we take the leftovers from earlier?"

"Of course not," Pagaya replied. "They're all yours."

"WOO-HOO!" Luffy cheered, "C'MON SANJI! MAKE US LUNCH!"

"Glad you've got priorities," Sanji remarked. Luffy quickly darted back towards Pagaya's house and the yummy food that awaited him. Sanji followed after Luffy and slipped his arm around Conis' waist to get her to walk with him.

"In that case," Usopp said, "Could I ask for a teensy little favor too? You're an engineer right? I don't suppose you could spare any parts or tools to fix our ship?"

"What's mine is yours, Usopp," Pagaya replied. "Feel free to take anything you need." They turned and followed after Luffy, Sanji, and Conis.

"Uh, guys?" Nami called after them while Ricky, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin continued towards the ship, "Where are you going?"

"HELLOOOO! They've got food!" Luffy exclaimed, "Tell ya what, you go and ready the ship for departure and we'll be back before you know it!"

A tick mark appeared on the back of Nami's head, "He's dead set on going to that island."

"Yup," Ricky agreed, "And looking for every excuse not to get on the ship."

"DOESN'T HE GET IT?" Nami yelled.

"Don't take it out on us," Zoro complained. "You know how he is. Seriously, try to relax."

Ricky continued to the ship while Robin silently followed after him. Despite the archeologist's short time on the ship she appeared to have gotten used to going with the flow and being subjected to Luffy's whims before Nami had.

"Chopper!" Nami called out which caused the reindeer to go wide-eyed and stop in his tracks, "You're still on my side aren't you? AREN'T YOU?"

"Don't answer that," Zoro advised.

Ricky and Robin had wasted no time in boarding the ship and Chopper quickly jumped onto the anchor and transformed into his huge Heavy Point form. With his new height he was easily able to jump up and grab the railing. Chopper shrunk back down to his Brain Point form and dropped down onto the deck.

Robin smiled as she walked passed holding the rope ladder, "I was about to drop the ladder for you, you know," she informed him. Chopper sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You know there's no persuading Luffy of anything," Zoro said as he and Nami climbed up the ladder onto the Going Merry. "He won't listen… even if we all gang up on him." Zoro reached the front deck and headed down the steps to the main deck just as Nami reached the top of the rope ladder.

"Fine, then I guess I'll just stay put," Nami reasoned.

"You're free to do whatever you want," Zoro told her.

"I know that!" Nami snapped, "But if I stay here I'LL BE KILLED!"

"Yup," Zoro agreed as he removed his swords from his sash and casually sat down against the main mast. "Quite a predicament." With that he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

"JERK!" Nami yelled at him. She turned back to Ricky and Robin. "Ricky, Robin, let's go beat some sense into Luffy."

"It won't work," Robin stated.

"We could argue with him until we're all blue in the face," Ricky said, "It won't accomplish anything. He's stubborn like that."

"I guess we'd have a better chance against the White Berets," Nami muttered. She glanced towards the brush where they'd last seen Captain McKinley. "And you know they've already gotta be gathering reinforcements to follow us."

**-x-**

The brush rustled and swayed as Captain McKinley peered out and watched the Straw Hats on the Going Merry.

"Hahaha," McKinley laughed, "Follow you, idiots? Eneru and His Priests aren't going anywhere. Why should I bother when your true judgment awaits? Once you weigh anchor your challenge will begin. There's no escape! Your ship will set its own course to the forbidden sacred grounds! The Upper Yard!"

**-x-**

Back at the Going Merry, Robin was just beginning to pull up the rope ladder when Conis approached the ship.

"I… I feel that I need to tell you something," she addressed the Straw Hats.

**Sploosh! **Robin dropped the ladder back down into the Sea Clouds so Conis could join them on deck.

While Zoro continued to sleep, Conis talked to Ricky, Nami, Chopper and Robin.

"There's a Cloud Current that'll take us down to the White Sea?" Nami repeated.

"Yes," Conis answered, "By entering the currant you can cross the vast expanse of the White White Sea. Then it will take you all the way to Cloud End and you won't have to worry about getting lost."

"Really?" Nami questioned as a smile lit up her face.

"As long as you ride the current, nobody will be able to catch you," Conis explained.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Nami eyes lit up with sudden inspiration, "We won't tell Luffy! We'll just sail the Going Merry into the current!"

"And what?" Chopper asked, "We just hope he doesn't notice until it's too late?"

"Even so, I seriously doubt he'll give up his quest," Robin pointed out.

"If we let him eat the leftovers he's bringing back it'll distract him for a bit," Ricky reasoned. "Although, setting sail without the Captain's consent is considered mutinous."

"Don't think of it as mutiny!" Nami countered, "Think of it as keeping all of us alive! If we follow Luffy back to that island we'll all be killed."

"If you'd like I'd be happy to guide you to the entrance of the current to be sure you set off for home safely," Conis offered.

"Great," Nami said, "Now we just have to make sure that Luffy doesn't catch wind of what's going on. But don't worry, we'll take care of that."

"Then ready your ship," Conis told her, "And I'll be back with the others as soon as I can."

"You've got it," Nami agreed, "We really appreciate it Conis."

Conis smiled. "You're welcome." Nami so relieved that they were finally going to escape that she missed the single tear that slid down Conis' face and Chopper was too scared about going against the Captain to notice anything. But Ricky and Robin saw it.

**-x-**

"It's a trap," Robin stated as she joined Ricky down in the men's quarters and watched as he slid his sword onto a belt and fastened it around his waist. "I've seen that look before. She plans to betray us but she has a guilty conscience."

"I know," Ricky replied as he began to pull on his boots. "She's scared of Eneru. Considering what Nami and I have seen of his power I don't blame her. She doesn't want to be killed by her God but even though we just met her she considers us her friends and feels guilty about it."

"I trust you have a plan then," Robin inquired as she watched Ricky pull on a black t-shirt.

"Well my original plan was to get us all out of here before we had to face an angry God," Ricky explained, "But I suppose now we'll just have to spring the trap and when the Priest shows up I'll agree to turn myself in so he doesn't hurt the rest of you."

Robin blinked. "You'd sacrifice yourself to save the others?" she questioned.

"Yes," Ricky answered, "When you truly care about someone you think about their safety above your own. I care about all of my Nakama and if keeping them safe means turning myself in to an egomaniac that calls himself a God then that's what I'll do." Ricky headed for the ladder up to the main deck but stopped next to Robin. He reached up and she stiffened when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Robin, you're my Nakama now. That means I care about you too." Ricky removed his hand from her shoulder and started the climb out of the men's quarters and left Robin alone with her thoughts. "Don't stay down here too long."

**-x-**

"Mmmm! This is really good!" Luffy remarked up at Pagaya and Conis' house as he ate some of the leftovers he was supposed to be bringing back.

"Save some for the trip," Sanji instructed him, "And for the rest of us." Sanji was seated on a couch across from Luffy as he prepared Nami and Robin's box lunches with the upmost care. His male Nakama would get what was left over.

"There's plenty here," Luffy pointed out, "So why hold back?"

"This does have to feed all of us," Sanji reminded him sternly.

"COOONIIIS! REFILL!" Luffy called out as he held up an empty glass.

Why don't you get it yourself," Sanji scolded him. "Speaking of, where is Miss. Conis?"

"I think she went to bid farewell to the others," Pagaya answered as he walked into the room with Luffy's 'refill', "I brought you some more tea, Luffy."

**WOING! **Luffy stretched his arm out and snatched the tea pot right off of the platter and wasted no time in pouring himself another cup.

Meanwhile, Usopp sat off to the side with Suu next to him as he dug through Pagaya's tool kid and plucked out spare nails and tools that he could use to repair the Going Merry.

"So you must be the Shipwright for your crew," Pagaya commented as he watched Usopp go through his tools.

"Not really," Usopp answered, "Actually I'm a Sniper."

"Wow, that sounds exciting," Pagaya said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Usopp replied, "But it means we don't have a regular Shipwright in our Nakama. Let's see, how can I put this delicately? I AM CURSED WITH SUPREME SKILL ON EVERY SUBJECT AND THE WHOLE CREW RELIES ON ME! AHAHAHAHAHA! It's a lot for work but without me the ship just wouldn't function. My official title is Sharpshooter but I'm also… the Co-Captain. And that's why everyone calls me CAAPTAAIIN UUUSOOOPP!"

Usopp was so caught up in his boasting that he didn't notice that Pagaya had moved to Sanji.

"Oh, your color arrangements clearly denote the work of a professional," Pagaya said as he gazed down at the masterfully prepared box lunches that Sanji was still only half-way through making for Nami and Robin.

"Of course," Sanji replied, "I consider the plating of food an art form."

**-x-**

"Bye Conis!" Nami called down to Conis from the deck of the ship while Conis bowed in return. "See ya in a bit!"

"Be right back," Conis replied.

"Hehe! Finally a light at the end of the tunnel!" Nami exclaimed. "For a while there I was really getting worried."

"I'm still a bit skeptical that the currant will actually take us home," Robin stated.

"Why's that?" Nami questioned.

"If what she says is true and this currant really exists wouldn't it stand to reason that we'd here more stories of people returning safely from Sky Island?" Robin asked.

"But you have to remember that very few people ever managed to find their way up here in the first place," Nami countered. "So of course you're not going to hear many stories about people coming back."

"And even if they did find the currant there's no guarantee their ship could withstand the high speeds it requires," Chopper chimed in.

"Good point," Nami admitted, "A lot of Captain's don't know when to call it quits. Let's hurry and weigh anchor. Get ready to set sail."

"Nami…" Ricky spoke up from where he was casually sitting against the railing. "Why don't you, Chopper and Robin go hurry the others along? I can get the ship ready to sail."

Robin turned and stared at him. _"He's trying to send us away so we won't be here when the trap is sprung," _she realized.

"They'll come along eventually," Nami reassured him, "Do you really think that you and the sleeping bum over there can get the ship ready alone?" Ricky frowned. "Come on Chopper, use your Weight Bonus and help with the heavy lifting."

"I keep telling you," Chopper told her, "Its 'Weight Boost' and 'Heavy Point'."

"And someone wake Zoro up," Nami instructed.

"But how?" Robin questioned.

"Don't worry, I don't need his help," Chopper insisted.

"We'd better hurry," Nami said, "Conis gave us this chance and we can't waste it."

Another tear slowly streaked down the girl in question's face as she made her way back up the steps to her house.

"HEAVY POINT!" Chopper called out as he transformed into his big human form and used his muscles to raise the heavy anchor.

None of them noticed the bubbles that were rose up to the surface of the Sea Clouds below them or the glowing eyes that currently lurked beneath their ship.

**-x-**

"Maybe I'll put this here," Sanji muttered to himself as he eyed the bean he had clutched in a pair of chopsticks and searched for a place to put it in the box lunch he was working on. "No, if I put it there it throws off the whole arrangement. If I put the red one here and the emerald green broad beans across the back… ah this looks delicious."

Conis nervously peeked into the room and watched as Sanji worked.

"I sure hope Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin appreciate the hard work," Sanji said.

"Wow!" Conis exclaimed as she walked over and eyed the dishes that Sanji had prepared. "It doesn't even look like food! I've never seen such a beautifully prepared lunch before."

Sanji smiled and held up a third masterfully prepared box lunch, "I made one for you as well," the cook announced.

"Really?" Conis questioned. "Custom made, just for me?"

**SWISH! **Sanji shot to his feet and slipped one arm around Conis' waist while he held out her box lunch with his other hand. "I've prepared all the food today according to a theme I've chosen, I call it 'Love is a Cruel Mistress, Feast for a Fallen Angel'."

"I see…" Conis said.

"I don't get what all the fuss is," Luffy stated, "It's just a box lunch."

"HOW DARE YOU TRASH MY WORK!" Sanji hollered at him. "YOU'D BETTER WATCH YOUR MOUTH! A GREAT MEAL STARTS WITH GREAT PRESENTATION!"

"Why bother?" Luffy questioned, "It all comes out the same! Shishishi!"

"Heehee," Conis laughed at the silly argument.

"YOU'RE STUFFING YOUR FACE WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING!" Sanji snapped.

"Yeah," Luffy admitted, "And? Why're you so mad? It still tastes good."

While they argued, Usopp got up and walked out onto the balcony and stared off it at the Going Merry that was waiting off the shore.

"FOOD SHOULD PLEASE YOUR EYES AS WELL AS YOUR PALATE!" Sanji yelled.

"That's just stupid!" Luffy argued, "Even I can't eat with my eyes!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU INFANT!" Sanji shouted.

**-x-**

"Now we just wait 'till Luffy and the others get back," Nami said. She'd taken the time to slip on a loose yellow t-shirt. "All set?"

"All set," Chopper replied.

**SHOOOM! **The Going Merry suddenly shoot as something huge moved beneath it.

"And so it begins…" Ricky stated.

**FWUMP! **Chopper was so surprised by the sudden lurch of the ship that he fell off of the railing he'd been perched on.

"CHOPPER!" Nami exclaimed, "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Robin frowned as she glanced over at Ricky who was still sitting calmly against the railing having resigned himself to what was about to happen to them.

**-x-**

"Ha ha!" Captain McKinley chuckled as he watched the Going Merry from the brush.

**-x-**

**God's Challenge is Set in Motion:**

**-x-**

**SHOOOM! SHOOOOM! **The Going Merry continued to rock as the massive creature underneath them started moving.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Zoro was woken by the sudden commotion.

"I think we might already be caught in the currant," Chopper said as he clung to a piece of railing next to Ricky.

**-x-**

"WAAAH!" Usopp yelped in alarm as he sharp eyes instantly noticed his ship's distress. "HEY! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE SHIP!"

Luffy and Sanji were instantly out of their seats, their argument forgotten as the raced out onto the balcony.

"What is it?" Sanji asked as he stared off the balcony next to Usopp.

"Take a look," Usopp instructed as he pointed towards the rocking Going Merry. "She just started rocking all of a sudden!"

"Really?" Luffy questioned, "I hope they're not having a party without us!"

"Hey look, its Miss. Nami!" Sanji called out as he peered through a spyglass. His face went pale and he suddenly looked utterly horrified. "SHE PUT ON A T-SHIRT!"

"I'M PRETTY SURE WE HAVE MORE PRESSING CONCERNS RIGHT NOW!" Usopp snapped as Sanji started sobbing at the loss of Nami's bikini top.

"Guys look!" Luffy pointed out, "THE SHIP STARTED MOVING!"

True to his word the Going Merry was sailing away from them and the shore of Angel Beech.

"BUT WHY?" Luffy wondered as he jumped up onto the railing. "THEY WOULDN'T JUST LEAVE US HERE, WOULD THEY?"

"THIS IS ALL THAT BASTARD RICKY'S FAULT!" Sanji snarled. "HE WANTS MISS. NAMI AND MISS. ROBIN ALL TO HIMSELF! HE'S PROBABLY BEHIND THAT HORRID T-SHIRT TOO!"

But then they realized that the Going Merry was going _backwards_.

"I don't think I've ever seen a ship sail backwards before," Luffy admitted.

"They haven't even set the sails yet!" Usopp pointed out. "THERE'S SOMETHING UNDERNEATH!" He could barely make out the silhouette of the enormous lobster that was underneath the Going Merry.

Luffy glanced back into the room and saw Conis with her head hung and trembling lips.

**-x-**

"I think we're being dragged away!" Nami realized as she stared off the railing and tried to make out the creature that was underneath them, "But by _what_?'

Chopper had abandoned the railing and was clinging to Ricky instead.

"Maybe it's another lobster." Ricky suggested, "Like the one that brought us here."

Zoro raced up the steps onto the front deck. "You sure we're not stuck in that currant that Conis mentioned?" he asked in alarm.

"I thought you were asleep when she mentioned that," Ricky stated.

"It's hard to sleep when people are discussing _mutiny_," Zoro replied.

"Either way I think we have a bigger issue here," Robin observed.

**-x-**

"Okay… what is that?" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji chorused.

"Oh no…" Pagaya whimpered, "It must be… THE LEGENDARY WHITE WHITE SEA SUPER EXPRESS LOBSTER!"

"WHAT?" Luffy, Usopp and Sanji all asked at once.

**SPLOOOSH! **They had the perfect view as an enormous lobster that was easily twice the side of the Express Lobster surged out of the water. It had a thick purple shell, the word 'God' on its forehead, and had the Going Merry clutched in its massive claws as it rocketed through the Sea Clouds away from Angel Beach.

**-x-**

"GUYS WE'RE BEING HIJACKED!" Zoro shouted as he drew _Wado Ichimonji_. "WE'LL HAVE TO ABANDON SHIP! COME ON! WE'VE GOTTA MOVE RIGHT NOW WHILE WE STILL HAVE TIME!"

"Did you forget that Chopper and Robin can't swim," Ricky pointed out.

"THEN WE'LL CARRY THEM!" Zoro snapped.

"We can't leave the ship!" Chopper cried. "Without it we won't be able to get back home!"

"How 'bout I stay with the ship and you guys can get out of here," Ricky suggested.

"NO WAY!" Zoro yelled, "YOU'VE STILL GOT A HUGE TARGET ON YOUR HEAD!"

"That's the point… you idiot," Ricky whispered.

I'LL STAY BEHIND!" Zoro decided. "JUST GO NOW!"

"FORGET IT!" Nami hollered, "NEITHER OF YOU CAN DEFEND THE WHOLE SHIP BY YOURSELF!"

**SKISH! **"I'LL MANAGE!" Zoro barked at her as he leapt off of the ship and onto the hard purple shell of the Super Express Lobster. **TMP!**

Zoro drew his other two swords _Kitetsu III _and _Yubashiri _and slashed at the lobster with all his strength. **SLISH! SLISH! SLASH!**

But even thought he could now cut steel Zoro's attacks hadn't even made a dent in the enormous crustacean's thick purple shell.

"Oh, come on," Zoro complained as she sheathed his sword and stared down at the unblemished purple shell.

**Krek… krek… krek… **The faintest sound of a crack could be heard as tiny fissures appeared in the purple shell but they were shallow. At this rate it would take hours for Zoro to slice through the lobster's shell and that was time they didn't have.

"Alright, making progress," Zoro noted.

"I don't think that will get you anywhere," Robin pointed out. She once again dropped the rope ladder. "Come back on board."

"Why should I?" Zoro challenged her.

"You'll never be able to significantly damage that creature and we've got bigger problems now," Robin answered, "Look…"

Robin pointed off of the front of the ship at the White White Sea behind them and Zoro spotted numerous dark shapes as they jumped out of the water and swam after their lobster.

**ROOOAAAARRR! **A school of massive, sharp-toothed eel-like monsters were in hot pursuit of the Going Merry.

"A school of man-eating sky fish are following us, ready to attack," Robin pointed out, "We can't jump ship and escape now. And even if we manage to defeat those sky fish I'm sure that more will arrive to take their place. Our punishment has already begun. And there's no way to stop it."

"Heaven's Judgment," Zoro realized, "They must be taking us to the forbidden island. I guess they got tired of waiting. Eneru's really got it in for us."

"Us?" Ricky repeated, "You weren't the one who made his four priests look like idiots. Although… the one guy pretty much did that himself. The point is, I'm a First-Degree Criminal and now the rest of you are all coming along for the ride."

Nami dropped down to the deck, "I don't want to go back there," she whimpered. "LUUUFFY! HEEEEELP UUUUUUS! SAAAANJIIIII! UUUUUSOOOOPP!"

And so the Super Express Lobster carried the Going Merry and the five pirates on board towards Upper Yard while the school of hungry sky fish chased after it.

**-x-**

"Aahhaahaahaa!" Captain McKinley laughed as he watched the Going Merry and the Super Express Lobster disappear off of the horizon. "There's no escaping God's judgment!"

**-x-**

Up on the balcony, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji and Pagaya stared after the Going Merry in shock while Conis hung her head and hugged Suu to her.

"Why Miss. Nami…" Sanji lamented, "Why a t-shirt?"

"YOU'RE STILL THINKING OF THAT?" Usopp yelled at him. He turned and started to shake Luffy. "THIS IS AWFUL LUFFY! WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO? WE HAVE TO RESCUE THE OTHERS!"

"Hmm…" Luffy said, "I wonder… where are they going?"

"Where are they going? Yes, right!" Usopp encouraged him.

"I've got nothing," Luffy dead-panned.

"Um… well…" Pagaya spoke up, "The Super Express Lobster is a messenger of Eneru. He must be taking your friends as a sacrificial offering. If that's the case, they are being taken to the North-East upper yard… to the Sacrificial Altar!"

"They what?" Sanji asked, "You don't mean that Miss. Nami, Miss. Robin and the rest…"

"The rest?" Usopp repeated.

"…are gonna be sacrificed?" Sanji continued as if Usopp hadn't even said anything, "TO THAT WANNABE GOD? THAT BASTARD!" Suu jumped from Conis is arms at the sound of the cook's anger. "HE'D BETTER NOT HARM A SINGLE HAIR ON MY PRETTY MISS. NAMI'S HEAD!"

"But listen carefully," Pagaya said, "Because I haven't yet told you what else will happen!"

"What? There's more?" Sanji growled.

"You see…" Pagaya explained, "In Heaven's Judgment there are actually two different types of criminal punishment. And I've only told you about the first. The second punishment is a challenge. Your friends are currently hostages in Eneru's hands and they are being taken to Him even as we speak."

"Eek!" Usopp squeaked, "Hostages?"

"I'm afraid I must tell you," Pagaya told them, "The criminals who are to receive the judgment… are the three of you standing before me."

"Wait… what're you trying to say?" Sanji inquired.

"If only we had a map…" Pagaya said.

"Ricky and Nami have ours," Usopp recalled.

"Well… try to picture this…" Pagaya instructed, "The Sacrificial Altar is located a great deal north-east in the northern part of Upper Yard. But the only way to get there is the Milky Road that goes from this island to Upper Yard and connects to the south-western shore of Upper Yard. You'll need to cross the entire island to get to the Sacrificial Altar on the other side. But while you're there the Milky Raod will take you through a great forest where Eneru's four priests will be awaiting your arrival."

"Well there's gotta be a better way for us to get there unnoticed," Usopp reasoned, "If we just march right up to the front gate we won't stand a chance. Couldn't we sneak around the side?"

"Usopp's right," Luffy realized, "If we take the main road they'll see us coming and set a trap."

"That may be," Pagaya replied, "But even if you do find your way ashore there's no way that you'll ever make it to the Altar on foot. You see, the Milky Roads crisscross over the entire island. There are hundreds of them of all sizes running every which way. I don't think anyone really knows where they all lead."

"I see," Luffy said.

"That's why your only course of action is as I said," Pagaya concluded, "You must follow the main Milky Road to the island and from there continue until you reach the Altar."

"Is that so?" Sanji questioned. "And even if we do find a way ashore the canals will block us from continuing inland."

"That's right," Pagaya confirmed, "Did I mention the man-eating fish that prowl the canals?"

"MAN-EATING FISH?" Usopp repeated in alarm.

"Sounds like they've covered all their bases," Sanji noted. "So you're saying if we want our Nakama back… we have to walk right up to their front door and march on it."

"This is part of the challenge you mentioned?" Usopp asked, "Part of Heaven's Judgment?"

"Yes," Pagaya answered, "In Upper Yard there are four powerful priests of unimaginable strength who await you."

"What's the matter Conis?" Luffy inquired as he glanced at the girl who looked depressed.

"I'm just… worried about the others," Conis answered.

"Don't worry!" Luffy reassured her, "We'll save them! This sounds like a piece of cake! All we have to do to get our Nakama back is beat up these priests, right?"

"You make it sound easy," Usopp muttered.

"SHISHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed, "FINALLY A LITTLE ACTION!"

**-x-**

Meanwhile, the Super Express Lobster carried the Going Merry along the Milky Road to Upper Yard and surged straight onto the island. The canal made of Sea Cloud floated above the dirt island and weaved over it through the gigantic trees in a pattern that was impossible to follow.

Ricky stood up and slipped his hands in his pockets, "Well… here we go… time for round two."

**-x-**

**A Trap of Lovely Street:**

**-x-**

After the discussion with Pagaya and Conis and the decision to go to face God's challenge and to Upper Yard and rescue the others, Luffy left the house headed down the stairs back towards Angel Beach. He had a big orange backpack on his back that was no doubt crammed full of food.

"HEY LUFFY!" Usopp called after him as he and Sanji followed behind the Captain. Usopp wore a red backpack, a brown t-shirt under his usual overalls and had substituted his usual bandana for a white one. Sanji had tan backpack that looked like a sack and had changed out of his usual outfit into a short-sleeved pink button up shirt decorated with darker pink flowers lined in white and black pants that ended at his knees.

"Wait up a minute, will ya," Sanji requested.

"Yeah, what is it?" Luffy asked his two remaining crew.

"What's the big idea?" Sanji complained, "Why'd you just up and leave all of a sudden?"

"You heard Nami," Luffy reminded him, "If we stay we'll just cause more trouble for Conis and her dad."

"Well alright, so where are we going then?" Sanji inquired.

"What do you think?" Luffy replied, "The Sacrificial Altar."

"And how are you planning to get there?" Sanji questioned.

"Hmm…" Luffy said and was then silent for a moment as he attempted to think it over. The truth was he _didn't _know how to get to the Sacrificial Altar.

"YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT?" Sanji snapped at him.

Luffy turned and pointed down the stairs towards the shore of Angel Beach. "There you go," he prompted, "We can just swipe one of those boats out there and head up the Milky Road. Easy."

"Easy, huh?" Sanji repeated, "Do you _see _any boats out there?"

"Hmm…" Luffy mumbled as he stared at the shore. His 'brilliant' plan had been thwarted from the start. There were no boats.

"OH JUST STOP TRYING TO THINK!" Sanji yelled at him.

"A boat wouldn't do us much good anyway," Usopp admitted, "Ricky and Nami have that old map so we don't even have that to go by."

"Man, what a pain," Luffy complained but then he spotted someone behind his crew. "Huh?"

Conis stood a few dozen steps above them. "Excuse me," she called down to the pirates.

"Miss. Conis, sweetheart!" Sanji happily greeted her. "You came all this way to give me a 'goodbye' kiss!"

"Well actually I'm here because of my father," Conis corrected him. "He asked me to help you find your way to the Sacrificial Altar."

"Oh, that's sweet," Usopp remarked.

"I can accompany you as far as the Angel Island Docks," Conis explained, "We should be able to find you a suitable boat there."

"You've got a definite plan," Usopp noted, "Unlike a certain little scatterbrain I know."

"Yeah," Luffy happily agreed.

"I MEANT YOU!" Usopp yelled at him.

"You're going to be our escort, Conis?" Sanji exclaimed with bulging hearts in his eyes. "Great! We'd be delighted to have you! Right Luffy?"

"…" Luffy stared silently up at Conis. For some reason he felt like something was off about her. Conis flinched when she found herself under Luffy's scrutiny. "Of course we would! Lead on lady!"

"Great," Conis replied as she turned and began leading the trio of pirates back up the steps.

None of them noticed Captain McKinley hiding the brush beside the stairs.

"Hmph," McKinley grunted, "There's no way I'll let you escape! I'm going to send all of you to Upper Yard to receive Heaven's Judgment!"

**-x-**

"…" Pagaya sat in silence in his house. The lights were off and his head was hung. Suu made soft cooing noises towards him while thought about what was about to happen.

**-x-**

"What's that?" Luffy asked. They'd continued up the stairs passed Conis' house and could see the center of town in a distance.

"Oh, that's Lovely Street," Conis informed him. "If you want a closer you're in luck. We actually have to head through it to reach the docks."

In a distance they could see the street lined with different stores and up above it was a big puffy white cloud that had the words 'Lovely Street' carved into the side of it.

As Conis led Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji towards Lovely Street they failed to notice Captain McKinley as he watched them while hiding on top of nearby cloud.

Two other White Berets crawled up to him.

"Captain, aren't they already headed for Upper Yard?" one of the White Berets questioned.

"Yeah, what're we sneaking around for?" the other White Beret wondered.

"Idiots!" McKinley scolded his men, "You both know how these Blue Sea People are. They're all the same. Oh sure, they talk about excitement and adventure but when they actually face danger they cry and run for their lives."

Of course, the only Straw Hat present that looked like he'd cry and run for his life was Usopp. But at the moment he seemed alright.

"This is exciting, huh?" Luffy asked his reluctant crew of two. "Upper Yard, here we come!"

"You realize there's a chance you'll all be killed up there," Conis pointed out.

"Well everyone's gotta go sometime," Luffy replied dismissively.

"So you're not worried at all?" Conis questioned.

"Are you serious?" Luffy inquired, "Why would I be worried?"

Conis looked back over her shoulder in time to see the 'confident Captain' getting a thorough beat down from his two Nakama.

"YOU IDIOT!" Usopp yelled at him as he and Sanji stomped on Luffy's rubber body.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Sanji demanded, "HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE!"

"WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!" Usopp snapped. "THINK ABOUT SOMEBODY OTHER THAN YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE! AND STOP LAUGHING YOU FOOL!"

"Okay… I'm sorry…" Luffy apologized.

**-x-**

And before long, the four of them reached Lovely Street. The three pirates from the Blue Sea marveled at the sight of the Sky Island town center.

"Whoa!" Luffy gasped. "This place is great!"

"Lovely Street is the center of commerce on the island," Conis explained, "It has everything."

"Woooow!" Luffy exclaimed as he stared up at buildings that were built on top of small clouds that were floating over the street. The only way up to them was to climb a ladder. "Check it out! Floating stores!"

"It takes a special kind of Island Cloud to build those," Conis informed him.

"So… where are all the floating restaurants?" Luffy inquired.

But despite their chipper mood it wasn't hard for even the incredibly dense Luffy to notice the glares the people were giving them. Everyone had small white wings on their shoulders and two round antenna coming out of the top of their head that matched their hair color. And they all seemed to be very wary of the three pirates as they walked by.

"It's them…" one man whispered as he watched the three Straw Hats go by through a window.

While the looks were completely hostile they were very unnerving. Usopp broke first.

"Hey guys," Usopp spoke up, "I notice everyone's avoiding us. Again."

"I can't say I blame 'em," Sanji stated, "Word's probably already gotten out that we're criminals. So what else is new?"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Aw, let 'em be that way! That means we've got down town all to ourselves!"

"Uuuhh…" Sanji moped, "All these gorgeous angels and they're avoiding me."

Conis and the three Straw Hats walked right by an alley without even a glance down it so they never noticed Captian McKinley as he crawled towards the main street then peered out and watched as they continued through town.

"Heh heh heh heh," McKinley chuckled.

**-x-**

"Wow, sure is a lot of weird stuff for sale here," Luffy commented as he stopped to eye a food stall. There were numerous funny-looking sky fruits and sky vegetable on display. "There sure is a lot of weird stuff for sale here." **Poke! **He prodded a large bulb that was set on a pedestal and was the same size as his head. Luffy's prodding finger caused the bulb to pop opened and reveal the pink flower inside it. "WHOA! Aw man, too bad I don't have any money."

Luffy glanced at the timid-looking merchant. "Hey mister, do you take treasure?" he asked.

The terrified merchant frantically shook his head in the negative and Luffy reluctantly continued onward after the others.

But before he could fully catch up with the others he found a rope hanging in front of his face. And being Luffy, he gave the rope a tug. **Whup! SHOOOOM! **"WHOOOOAA!" Luffy exclaimed as the rope pulled him up through the floor of one of the floating shops.

Luffy glanced around the shop he now found himself inside and noted all the large Dial shells that were on display.

"Oooo! This must be a Dial Shop!" Luffy realized. He ran up to big spiral shell that he could probably fit inside. "WHOA! These Breath Dials are huge! I should put a couple on the Going Merry! We'd be as fast as a Waver!"

**Click! **Luffy pushed down on the button on the side of the large shell and prompted breeze to blow out from the hold. **FWOOOOSH! **Due the large size of the dial Luffy was blown backwards through the door and out of the shop.

"WAAAAH!" Luffy yelled as he plummeted off of the cloud and dropped down on the street below. **FWUMP! **Luffy landed in a heap right in front of Conis, Usopp, and Sanji.

"Hey Luffy," Sanji scolded the Captain, "If you're done fooling around there's still the matter of saving Miss. Nami, Miss. Robin and the others! If you don't get serious, and soon, they're going to be sacrificed, you know that?"

Luffy popped back up and waved him off, "You worry too much," Luffy reassured him, "They're fine! Don't forget Ricky and Zoro are with 'em!"

"Yeah, like we could really count on Mossball," Sanji complained, "And considering everything that's happened lately, Ricky'll probably end up being more of a hazard than a help!"

"I just hope the ship hasn't sustained any more damage," Usopp said, "I mean, she's had more than her fair share of abuse lately."

"Huh, there's something in the middle of the street!" Luffy pointed out to the others. Luffy walked up to a strange statue in a black case. If he didn't know any better he'd say the statue had been made out of dirt. "What a weird face. What's it supposed to be, a seal?"

"It looks like a figure made out of mud," Sanji remarked, "Knowing this place, I bet its some kind of religious statue."

"Oh you're both morons!" Usopp scolded them, "This is art! I can tell."

"This is Vearth," Conis informed them. "You might say it represents the eternal yearnings of the people of the sky."

"Vearth, huh?" Sanji questioned.

"Really?" Luffy asked, "So what? Do you guys pray to this thing? That's pretty crazy."

"Heeheehee," Conis laughed softly, "Well, I guess it would be difficult for someone from the Blue Sea to understand." She glanced to the side and quickly changed the subject. "Oh! We're almost to the docks! Right this way!"

"Oooh, we're leaving town already?" Luffy whined.

"Already?" Usopp repeated, "We were never planned on stopping here in the first place."

"I know…" Luffy grumped as he stomped after Conis, "But I don't see why we couldn't stick around for a little bit longer." Usopp and Sanji turned and followed after him.

Once Conis and the Straw Hats were gone, the people came back out and gathered around the Vearth statue.

"Phew," one man sighed in relief, "Looks like it worked."

"Yeah," another man agreed, "They're headed straight for the docks. We're saved."

No one noticed Captain McKinley as he crawled by. Or at least they all pretended not to notice. McKinley peered around a corner and watched as Conis, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji headed off of Lovely Street and towards the Angel Island docks that were up ahead.

"Heh heh heh," McKinley chuckled.

**-x-**

The first sign that they had reached the Angel Island Docks was an actual sign that read 'gondola port'. Beyond the sign was an opened harbor of Sea Clouds. Conis led the three Straw Hats along a wooden dock that lined the side of the harbor and had a large assortment of colorful gondola-style boats tied to it.

"Look at all these boats!" Luffy called out.

"Yes, you'll notice that there are boats of all different shape and sizes anchored in this harbor," Conis pointed out. "From luxurious hotel ships where you can spend the night to sleeker models that are made for speed and loaded up with giant Dials. If you look over there, you can see even more types."

"Whoa…" Luffy gasped, "That one! It's perfect!"

Luffy had his eyes set on a huge gondola with a bull figurehead. The gondola looked like one of the luxurious hotel ships that Conis had mentioned and was half the size of the Going Merry. "I ALWAYS WANTED A GONDOLA! WE'LL TAKE IT! OOO! Look back there! I bet those dials make this baby move as fast a lightning! This is gonna be a whole lot of fun! C'mon, let's go for a spin!"

"Did you forget that Ricky has all the money?" Usopp reminded him, "You know,_ Ricky_, you're brother, that guy we're heading to Upper Yard to save."

"Forget him," Sanji snapped, "our priority is to rescue Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin! Be serious you two."

"Actually, your boat is right over here," Conis informed them as she continued down the dock.

"Great!" Sanji replied.

"Ooooo!" Luffy cheered, excited to see Conis' boat, "Is it even awesome-r than the gondola? Oh man, I can't wait to see it!"

Conis and the Straw Hats headed for the end of the dock and still failed to notice Captain McKinley as he crawled along the dock after them. He quickly ducked behind a large boat for cover.

"Presenting, the Crow!" Conis announced.

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji stared passed Conis… in disappointment. 'The Crow' was a small black boat with a silly-looking bird for a figurehead. It had a steering wheel and two seats up front as well as opened space in the back and pole that stuck up out of the middle of the boat and had a small round red and white striped umbrella on it. It had a large rudder that was fashioned to look like a bird's tail and two round shells attached to the sides of it. Compared to the fancy gondola that Luffy had been admiring before, the Crow was a major let-down.

"You're kidding me, right?" Luffy asked.

"Wait, crows done even swim," Sanji pointed out.

"I only learned to ride a Waver recently," Conis explained, "Before then I used the Crow to get around. It's not as fast as a Waver of course but it has two Breath Dials and is quite reliable. Please, feel free to use it."

"That's it, I'm not going," Luffy announced.

That simple statement caused Conis, Captain McKinley and all of the eavesdropping civilians to gasp and stare at him in shock.

**-x-**

**The Almighty Eneru:**

**-x-**

"Ah-ha," McKinley said as he peered around one of the gondolas at Luffy. "I knew he'd finally show his true colors! No one in their right mind doesn't value their own life!" **SWIPE! **He quickly ducked back behind his cover before anyone could spot him.

"I'm not going… unless I can take that," Luffy insisted as he pointed at the fancy bull-themed gondola he was looking at before.

"He's not scared!" McKinley realized, "He's selfish!"

Conis let out a sigh of relief then pouted at Luffy, "That one huh?" she asked, "You don't like the Crow? I'm sorry."

Naturally, Sanji took offense to Luffy offending Conis and dished out a vivious pounding on the rubber Captain right there on the dock.

"The only thing sorry is this guy!" Sanji snapped, "Apologize you ingrate! She goes through all the trouble of getting us a boat and all you do is complain? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Sanji finished his beating and turned to Conis. "I'm sorry he doesn't appreciate your help like I do Miss. Conis."

After Sanji had 'restructured' his face, Luffy was left with swollen lips, puffy cheeks, and large lump on the top of his head.

"I'm fworry…" Luffy mumbled.

"It's okay," Conis waved him off.

She led them to the end of the dock then turned and smiled at them. Luffy stared at her. There was something off about her.

"Your exit is Gate Number Two," Conis told them, "It leads righto the Milky Road and that will take you all the way to Upper Yard. Just… just follow it and you'll be fine."

"Hey, Conis…" Luffy said.

"Yes?" Conis asked.

"You've been trembling ever since we left," Luffy stated, "Is everything okay?"

Conis' eyes went wide in horror while all the on-lookers looked worried.

"Ugghh…" McKinley groaned, "Can't hear… What're they talking about?'

"Is… is it that noticeable?" Conis inquired.

"Yeah," Luffy replied, "It's like you're scared of something."

"No wait…" McKinley growled, "She wouldn't…"

"Oh, don't you get it, she's worried about us!" Sanji gushed, "Miss. Conis that is so sweet of you, my dear!"

"Speaking of being worried," Usopp chimed in, "Are you and Pagaya going to be alright? I mean everyone in town is avoiding us like the plague but you're leading us around, lending us your boat, giving us directions… is helping us going to get you in trouble? Doesn't that make you… our accomplice?"

"Conis, don't cry," Luffy tried to reassured her when he noticed the tear making its way down her cheek "You're gonna be fine, okay? You should've told us you were scared. Really. We could've just come here on our own."

"No it's… it's… not…" Conis stammered. "It's not what you think…"

"She wouldn't dare…" one of the on-lookers whispered gravely.

"Don't say anything you'll regret," Captain McKinley growled.

"Don't you get it?" Conis asked as more tears leaked out of her eyes. "Even after I told you how terrifying Upper Yard is I still led you here. I even got you a boat and told you which route to take. Don't you find that odd? Isn't it obvious what's going on here?"

"Grr…" McKinley growled, he couldn't hold his tongue and longer and stood up from behind his cover, "WATCH YOUR TONGUE LITTLE GIRL! DON'T SAY ANYTHING FOOLISH!" Then he quickly ducked back down before anyone could see him.

"Huh, you hear something?" Usopp wondered.

The civilians stared at Coins in horror and started to back away from her and the Straw Hats. This didn't go unnoticed by Usopp and Sanji.

"_Don't tell me they're all in on this," _Sanji thought to himself.

Conis bit her lip and looked conflicted as she thought of the conversation that had brought her to this situation.

"_But why?" Conis had asked her father after Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji had left. We shouldn't do this. They're not like the others. Besides, there's no need for me to guide them. They're already headed for Upper Yard."_

"_Conis, if that were truly so I wouldn't have to burden you with this task," Pagaya had replied, "But we must face facts. You've seen how other Blue Sea Dwellers act when they come here. These three are probably no different. Once the initial excitement wears off the reality of their situation sets in. They get scared and begin to value their lives over their dreams of adventure. That's why we must lead them to the Milky Road's end. All the way to Upper Yard."_

_After that, Conis had to go fast to catch up with the three Straw Hats before they made it all the way down the stairs to Angel Beach._

**-x-**

"Oh Conis," Pagaya lamented as he sat in his dark house with his head hung, "Please forgive me. But it's every citizen's duty. You know what will happen if we don't follow Almighty Eneru's will." Pagaya sobbed as the thought of the ordeal his daughter was going through.

**-x-**

Conis dropped to her knees and was now openly crying.

"Just run away, please," she pleaded, "I'm so sorry you guys…"

"…" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji stared in silence while the sky island citizens started to panic.

"NO! NO! STOP!" one frantic man hollered.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" another man yelled.

"I called the Super Express Lobster," Conis confessed as tears streamed down her face. "It was all my fault."

"You mean that thing that took Miss. Nami and the others away?" Sanji demanded. "YOU CALLED IT, CONIS?"

"While you three were inside talking to my father," Conis continued her confession, "I went aboard and lied to your friends about a current that leads to Cloud End. They believed me. And I had them raise anchor. That was the signal that summoned Almighty Eneru's Super Express Lobster."

"What?" McKinley hissed from his hiding place, "Do you _want _to die? You stupid girl!"

"Once we know someone's a criminal we must lead them to Upper Yard," Conis told them. "If we don't… then the penalty is death!"

Luffy glared at her.

"You idiot!" an onlooker hissed. "You're gonna bring his wrath down upon us all!"

"Somebody stop her!" another man called out.

"It's our duty," Conis concluded, "The duty of every citizen."

"That's crazy!" Usopp exclaimed.

"I know…" Conis whimpered. "I'm sorry… I should've told you sooner…

"Wait a sec," Luffy said, "you're saying… they forced you to lead us all here?" Conis nodded. "If that's true…"

"THEN WHY EVEN TELL US AT ALL?" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji all shouted at her.

Conis stared at them in shock. They weren't angry at her for doing her duty. They were angry at her for revealing it and endangering herself.

"ARE YOU NUTS!" Luffy exclaimed, "NOW YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER!"

"It's all over…" an on-looker claimed. "We're too late…"

"Get away from the girl," another man warned the others, "The Judgment is coming!"

The sky island citizens quickly fled as fast as possible.

**FWASH! **A bright light appeared in the clouds overhead and grew in size until everything was bathed in the light. **SHOOOOOM! **An enormous column of bright light the size of a galleon shot down from the clouds.

Luffy grabbed Conis and ran as fast as he could.

**SHOOOOOOM!**

The light rushed downward as Luffy struggled to avoid the column over powerful light which was undoubtedly the result of God Eneru's wrath.

"WAAAAAAAH!" Luffy shouted as he desperately dove to the side. "ITS TOO BIG!"

**KROOOOOOOM! **The column of light slammed down into the ground and nearly blinded everyone that was brave enough to look. The Island Clouds all shook and swayed in midair from the sheer power and force of the column striking land.

Almost as quickly as it had appeared, the light vanished and everyone stared in awe at the massive crater it had left behind in its wake.

The ominous dark hole seemingly went down forever and was the result of the column of light vaporizing every that it had come in contact with.

"What in the world was that thing?" Sanji wondered. Then he caught sight of the enormous crater. "IT DID _THAT_?"

"Luffy!" Usopp called out in alarm.

"MISS. CONIS WHERE ARE YOU?" Sanji shouted, "MISS. CONIS!"

"LUUUFFYYY!" Usopp hollered. "COONIIS!"

"That's what happens to those who defy Almighty Eneru," one of the sky island citizens stated.

Usopp and Sanji turned and glared at them.

"**DO NOT FEAR!" **a familiar voice called out. **"THEY ARE BOTH SAFE!"**

"**PPIIIIEEE!" SHOOOOM! **Gan Fall the Sky Knight flew out of the dusty residue on the back of Pierre his bird who was currently in his Pegasus-form. Both Luffy and Conis were on Pierre's back along with Gan Fall.

"IT'S HIM! GAN FALL!" someone called out.

"Wha…" Captain McKinley gasped in shock.

"Oh, the weird old man!" Usopp realized.

"Me, weird?" Gan Fall repeated. "No, I am the Sky Knight, friend. And this one's on the house." Gan Fall tossed Luffy off of Pierre and he landed in front of Usopp and Sanji. **FWUMP!**

"Miss. Cons!" Sanji called out, "Look she's safe."

"And she will remain so under my watch," Gan Fall assured him, "You have my word. I shan't allow Eneru to harm her!"

Luffy stood up and stared up at the Sky Knight, "Thanks," he said simply.

"Now that you've seen the scope of Eneru's power, and anger, what are you going to do next?" Gan Fall inquired.

"The same thing we were gonna do from the start," Luffy answered, "Go to Upper Yard and rescue our Nakama."

Gan Fall nodded, "I see," he replied, "May luck be with you!"

"PIIIIEEE!" Pierre crowed as he flew off.

**-x-**

"What about them?" Conis asked as she held onto Gan Fall from behind while Pierre flew them away from Lovely Street.

"They have chosen their own course," the Sky Knight replied, "Do not blame yourself, child."

"I… I know who you really are…" Conis told him.

"Of course," Gan Fall said, "it's not secret. I am the Sky Knight."

"No its… we all know," Conis insisted, "Please come back to us… **God**."

**-x-**

The sky island citizens that still remained at the Angel Island dock stared in shock as Luffy and Sanji boarded the Crow without a hint of hesitation.

"Good luck guys!" Usopp said, "Hop aboard, get comfy! I'll give ya a good shove off!"

"Get on the boat," Sanji ordered as he yanked Usopp on board.

"I DON'T WANNA!" Usopp cried like a baby.

**VRRRRRR! **Luffy pushed his foot down on the pedal of the Crow and the Breath Dials revved to life. For once Luffy managed to drive something without crashing it and the Crow pulled away from the dock and headed for Gate Number Two.

"Alright Upper Yard here we come!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Waaah-haaaa-haaaaa…" Usopp sobbed as he clung to the rudder. "NOOOO!"

Captain McKinley crawled to the edge of the dock and stared at the three pirates in shock.

"They… they went…" he stammered, "Without any fear or hesitation!" Obviously he was marveling at Luffy and Sanji's bravery.

**VROOOOOM! **The Crow sailed through Gate Number Two and just like that Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji were on the Milky Road and were one step closer to Upper Yard.

Usopp cowered in terror while Luffy stood up on his seat and laughed, "SHISHISHISHISHI!" This was what he'd wanted to do all along. Saving the others was merely a side-quest in his eyes.

The three of them were headed for Upper Yard… and the four Priests.

**-x-**

**Onward Crow:**

**-x-**

"I really hope Conis is alright," Usopp said as he, Luffy and Sanji made their way along the white man-made canal of Sea Cloud known as the Milky Road and headed towards Upper Yard on Conis' boat the Crow. "You know she's going to have hell to pay when the White Berets catch up to her and it's our own stupid fault. She'd be okay if she hadn't helped us. And I'm not sure she can trust that Sky Knight. He pretty much gives me the creeps."

"He's kind of old and weird but he doesn't seem like that bad of a guy," Luffy defended the man that had saved him and Conis from Eneru's wrath.

"There was no other choice," Sanji reasoned, "I wanna protect her but it's not like we could've brought her along with us."

"Well then she probably is in less danger without us," Usopp admitted. "Sacrificial Altars… Ordeals… From the sound of it, I wish _I _was the one flying off with the old geezer."

"Man this piece of junk is slow," Luffy complained.

"Of course it is," Sanji pointed out, "it's gotta be several times heavier than a normal Waver. What did you expect?"

The Crow left the first portion of the Milky Road that had been lined with brick walls but that portion was left behind as they dropped down into a much wider and more opened canal.

Usopp's eyes widened in alarm when saw what was ahead of them.

"GUYS!" Usopp exclaimed, "WHERE DID THAT HUGE FOREST COME FROM?"

Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji all marveled in the gigantic trees that Ricky and Nami had discovered during their previous journey to Upper Yard.

"Is that the Upper Yard?" Sanji wondered.

"The old man mentioned a forest," Luffy recalled, "But he never said it'd be _this _big!"

"It makes me feel really puny," Usopp confessed.

"All I know is that I've gotta climb one of those trees!" Luffy insisted, "Shishishi! They're enormous!"

The Crow brought the three Straw Hats to right up to the forest of Upper Yard and they found the new portion of the canal lined with statues. But at the forefront of the rows of statues were two markers topped with bull skulls that had burning chalices perched on top of them.

"Looks it's the entrance!" Luffy realized.

"Well this is it, Usopp," Sanji stated, "If you're gonna chicken out, now's the time."

"Actually, if you don't mind I was kind of thinking that I'd like to go back," Usopp answered.

"TOO LATE!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THEN WHY DID YOU ASK ME?" Usopp shrieked.

They floated through the entrance past the rows of statues that all closely resembled the one they'd seen on Lovely Street. The only major differences were that these statues were notably bigger and were made of stone instead of dirt like the other one.

This of course made the statues a lot more terrifying to Usopp who looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than on that the Crow at the moment.

**SKUSH! **Leaves rustled as a creature moved. **CAAAAAAAAWWW! **A loud bird cried.

Each new sound made Usopp flinch and whimper. The statues fell behind them and the Crow sailed by something even more terrifying. There were numerous broken and wrecked ships that lined the Milky Road.

"What was that?" Usopp whined.

"Calm down," Luffy snapped.

"Yeah," Sanji added, "Take it easy."

"OPEN YOUR EYES!" Usopp shouted at them. "DON'T YOU NOTICE ANYTHING STRANGE? LOOK AT ALL THESE SHIPWRECKS!"

"It _is_ a forest," Luffy pointed out. Ships didn't belong in a forest.

"He's right," Sanji agreed.

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" Usopp yelled. "Besides, they didn't run aground! THEY WERE SLICED IN HALF!"

**SKUSH! **Another tree branch rustled.

"Did you hear that?" Usopp whimpered.

"The woods are full of noises!" Luffy replied, "Relax."

"I heard that," Sanji said.

"AAAAAH!" Usopp shrieked, "FULL SPEED AHEAD! ALL AHEAD FULL! STROKE! STROKE! STROKE!" Luffy was surprised when Usopp and Sanji grabbed oars and started to frantically paddle and put on another burst of speed.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked.

**WHOOOOSH!** All three of the Straw Hats yelped as a large blade that was easily ten times the size of the Crow and was decorated with a scary monster face above the edge of the blade swung down out of the huge trees. **SWISH!** Thanks to Usopp and Sanji's frantic paddling the Straw Hats managed to avoid the blade. **SLISH! **But the blade kept going and easily cleaved in half one of the wrecked ships that was washed up on the side of the Milky Road.

"WAAAH! A SICKLE MONSTER!" Luffy yelped in alarm.

"HANG ON TIGHT!" Usopp warned him, "HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE!"

**Krek-krek-clank-clank-krek… **Up in the trees above them gears turned and levers moved as other traps were set to be sprung on the Straw Hats.

"No… not just one…" Sanji realized.

"PADDLE LIKE CRAZY!" Luffy hollered.

**WOOOSH! WOOOOSH! **Two more monster blades swung down and the Crow was barely able to avoid them.

"AAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed as a blade swung by right in front of them. **SWIISH! **They kept going as blade-after-blade swung down at them.** WOOOSH! WOOOOSH! SWISH! SWISH! **"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! FASTER LUFFY! NO WAIT—SLOW DOWN!

"This isn't working!" Luffy decided, "USOPP TAKE THE WHEEL!" Luffy sprang out of his seat and rushed to the back of the Crow while Usopp scrambled to reclaim the driver's seat.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?" Usopp yelled after Luffy while the latest monster blade that was swinging down ahead of them, "IT'S IN FRONT OF US!"

"I know!" Luffy told him, "GUUUM… GUUUUM… BAAAZOOOOKAAAAA!" **SHOOOM! **Luffy slammed his hands down into the Sea Clouds behind them and the Crow took flight and shot up off of the Milky Road and whizzed by the huge blade. "SHISHI! WE DODGED IT!"

"THAT WAS WAY TOO CLOSE!" Usopp exclaimed.

**SPLOOSH!** The Crow touched back down on the Milky Road and continued onward.

**Krek-krek-clang-clang… **Sanji could still hear the gears and levers that ran all of the traps.

"Great there's more!" Sanji complained.

**SHOOM! SHOOM! **Large wooden spears that were each as long as the Crow was wide flew down out of the trees. **SHUNK! **One of the spears sank into the floor of the Crow.

"SPEARS?" Usopp questioned as he peeked behind him, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

**SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! **A huge volley of large spears rained down out of the trees on the Going Merry from both sides.

"USOPP RIGHT!" Luffy ordered

"NO LEFT!" Sanji argued.

"WHICH ONE?" Usopp wailed as he worked the wheel and weaved the Crow side-to-side in a desperate attempt to avoid being skewered.

**THWAK! THWAK! THWAK! **Sanji lashed out and kicked at the spears that got close and even managed to snap some of them. But the spears just kept coming. There was no telling how many there were. The hail of sharp wooden spears seemed unending.

"THEY WON'T STOP!" Sanji exclaimed.

"ONE OF THEM'S BOUND TO HIT US EVENTUALLY!" Usopp screamed.

**Woing… woing! **Luffy twisted his rubber body around as he held a spear in each hand. "Alright guys… get ready," he prompted, "GUUUUM… GUUUUM… PIIINWHEEEEL!" **SHOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOOM! **Luffy's body whipped around as he hurled the spears he'd caught at the oncoming volley and continued to spin in an attempt to deflect the rest of them.

Luffy only stopped when the spears stopped coming after them which allowed Sanji and Usopp to let out sighs of relief.

"Phew, that was close," Sanji remarked.

"I hope that's all over with," Usopp whimpered, "I can't take anymore scares!"

**Twinkle! **Usopp was the first to spot the light from in between the massive trees ahead of them. It looked like something was sparking. **SHUUU-WHIIISH! **That sparkle was the light that was coming off of a flying buzzsaw that was twice the size of the Crow.

**WOOOOOSH! **The buzzsaw swung down and flew right by the Crow.

"Phew, it's gone!" Luffy sighed in relief.

"Not yet," Sanji replied as he glanced behind them after the blade.

"IT'S COOOMIIING BAAAACK!" Usopp screamed.

**WOOOOOSH! **The buzzsaw swung around and flew right towards the Crow.

"MOVE IT!" Sanji yelled.

"DOOOODGE!" Luffy hollered.

**-x-**

While Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji dealt with their perilous situation, Ricky, Zoro, Nami, Chopper and Robin were attempting to come to grips with a perilous situation of their own.

"Grr…" Zoro growled in annoyance, "I can't believe that overgrown crustacean just dropped us out in the middle of nowhere."

The Going Merry had somehow ended up on top of a large Altar that was in the middle of a lake of white Sea Clouds. The Altar was made of stone and had face carved into the sides and back of it. The faces all looked very similar to the ones on the statues that Luffy's group had seen. The front side of the Alter was a long flight of steep stairs that led down to the Sea Clouds below. There were familiar gigantic trees growing out of the dirt surrounding the lake but in order to reach any of the surrounding shores the Straw Hats would have to take a long swim.

"Does anybody know where we are?" Chopper asked.

**AA-CHOO! **Ricky let out a loud sneeze, "I think I sense the same big treasure from before."

"Don't start on that again!" Nami warned him, "That's what got you in trouble in the first place. One thing's for certain. We're somewhere in the middle of Upper Yard."

"But considering how long that lobster carried us for we could be on the opposite end of the island," Ricky noted as he eyed a pair of markers that were decorated with bull skulls and burning chalices that were nearly identical to the ones that marked the entrance of Upper Yard. Each of the markers held a sign that simply said 'God'. "I doubt we're anywhere good."

"Hm, this seems to be some kind of Altar for sacrifices," Robin noted.

"An Altar?" Nami repeated, "WAIT! _SACRIFICES_?"

"Nami… what's a sacrifice?" Chopper asked.

"You know, like an offering to the Gods," Nami explained.

"Oh is that all?" Chopper replied, "I thought it meant being boiled alive in a big stew or something." For the strangest reason, Chopper pictured himself surrounded by a group of big fat bearded men wearing loincloths that had him in a boiling cauldron for a Reindeer Hot-Pot.

"Actually… that's about right," Robin informed him which caused Chopper to stiffen. "Regardless of the method the thing being offered is generally someone's life."

"AAAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed in terror, "ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE HERE? WAAAAH!" Chopper was so scared that he fell backwards off of the railing he'd been perched on. **FWUMP! **Chopper bounced and rolled down the long flight of stone steps toward the Sea Clouds below.

"CHOPPER!" Nami screamed.

"I've got him!" Zoro called out as he leap-frogged Ricky who'd been about to hop the railing.

Chopper was getting dangerously close to the bottom of the stairs when a pair of hands sprouted out of the bottom step and caught him. **Whap!**

But Chopper safety was short-lived. **SPLOOSH! **A giant tooth-filled mouth erupted out of the Sea Clouds and was quickly followed by a long blue and black scaled body, flippers, a dorsal fin and a tail. **ROOAAAAHHHHHRRR!**

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed as the shark-like monster dove at him.

**KLANG! **Zoro had already launched himself down the stairs so with all three swords drawn he kept going and slammed into the large opened mouth of the monster.

"OH NO!" Nami exclaimed, "WHAT'S THAT?"

"A shark?" Robin suggested, "In the sky… a Sky Shark?"

"WAAAAH-HAA-HAAAAA!" Chopper practically flew up the stairs to the Going Merry and latched onto Ricky's side. "ZORO! ZOOOROOO!"

They watched as Zoro dropped out of the Sky Shark's mouth into the Sea Clouds. **SPLASH! **The Sky Shark flipped and dove in after him. **SPLOOSH!**

"So…" Ricky said as he, Nami, Chopper and Robin stared at the unmoving Sea Clouds and searched for any sign of Zoro. "Any chance one of you want to go in after him?"

"ARE YOU NUTS?" Nami shrieked.

"Right, didn't think so," Ricky realized.

**-x-**

Zoro swam through the Sea Clouds with all of his swords drawn and scanned the white water-like clouds for any signs of the Sky Shark.

"_I can't see anything down here," _Zoro thought to himself. _"Where the hell is it?"_

A large dark silhouette appeared in the clouds behind him. **SPLOOSH! **The Sky Shark dove at Zoro who slashed his swords and managed to dodge it. **SLISH!**

**SPLISH! **The Sky Shark kept going and swam passed him then spun around and slammed its long snout into Zoro. **WHAM! **Zoro was launched upward and attempted to recover from the Sky Shark's attack while the monster swam after him.

"_I'm way out of my element!" _Zoro complained, _"I can't maneuver like I can on land!"_

The Sky Shark lunged at Zoro.

**SHOOOM! **A white torrent of Sea Cloud slammed down on the top of the Sky Shark's head and knocked it off course and down into the white depths of the Sea Clouds.

Zoro looked up and saw Ricky as he swam down to him with his own sword drawn. Ricky motioned to his eyes – or eye – then pointed behind Zoro. Zoro nodded and the two of them turned and floated back-to-back knowing full well that the Sky Shark was still lurking somewhere around them in the cloudy white depths.

**-x-**

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Usopp cursed to himself as the spinning buzzsaw came around for another pass. **SWISH! **Usopp drove like a maniac and the Crow veered all over the Milky Road and was guided by Usopp's fear and terror of being sliced into tiny pieces.

"It missed us," Usopp noted as the buzzsaw flew by them… only for it to spin around for another attack. "OH NO! NOT AGAIN!"

**SWISH! **Usopp managed to dodge the buzzsaw again but it kept going and sliced right through one of the giant trees that lined the Milky Road. **SLISH! KRASH! **The massive tree toppled over. After seeing the buzzsaw make short work of the giant tree, the Straw Hats knew that they'd be goners if it so much as touched them.

"I'M SICK OF THIS PLACE!" Usopp shouted, "WE'RE NEVER GONNA MAKE IT OUT OF HERE! I'M GOING BACK! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" Luffy argued as he and Usopp started to wrestle over the wheel which caused the Crow to move even more wildly.

"SHUT UP!" Usopp yelled, "I'M CAPTAIN OF THE CROW!"

"SINCE WHEN?" Luffy demanded.

"SINCE NOW!" Usopp insisted. Luffy and Usopp's fight turned out to be a good thing because the Crow's spastic jerking caused the buzzsaw to whiz right passed them as it came by for another attack. **SWISH!**

"Even if we do turn around there's no guarantee we'll survive the trip back," Sanji pointed out. "Damn."

"AAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed as the buzzsaw flew at them again. "DOESN'T THAT THING EVER QUIT?"

"Let's see how it likes a little Gum-Gum!" Luffy announced as he stepped up onto the back of the Crow and pulled back his arm.

"YEAH!" Usopp cheered.

"Get it Luffy!" Sanji encouraged him. The Captains Gum Gum Fruit Powers had been very helpful in keeping them alive so far.

"GUUUM… GUUUUMM…" Luffy trailed off as the buzzsaw closed in, "I've got nothing."

"WAAAH!" Usopp face-faulted in shock which caused the Crow to jerk to the side and the buzzsaw to fly right by them. **WOOOSH!**

"That only leaves us with one choice," Sanji resolved, "TRY AND OUTRUN IT!" Sanji and Luffy started to frantically paddle and the Crow put on another burst of speed as the three Straw Hats struggled to stay ahead of the spinning blade of death.

"UUUUGGH!" Usopp groaned as he jerked the wheel to the side. **WOOOSH! **The buzzsaw flew passed them and cut down another tree. **SLISH! **Then it vanished into the giant forest.

"Aaaahh…" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji all let out a sigh of relief.

"I think we finally outran it," Usopp noted. "Aw, but this is bad! Now it's too late to go back! We can't even see the entrance anymore! Uuuuggghhh…"

"Then stay here," Luffy happily suggested.

"I'D DIE YOU IDIOT!" Usopp yelled at him.

"That's more than likely," Sanji dead-panned.

Usopp turned away from the other two and squeaked in terror. "EEEP!" A massive worm-monster with a mouth full of sharp teeth had come out of the Milky Road ahead of them. "AAAAAAAH!"

**SKISH! **Sanji leapt off of the Crow and lashed out at the worm monster.** THWAK! **His foot connected at about neck/shoulder height and knocked the monster back down into the Sea Clouds below them. **SPLOOSH!**

"Was that a big snake?' Luffy wondered. The whole incident had only taken a few second and he hadn't even gotten a good look at the latest terror.

"It looked like a giant lamprey," Sanji replied. "Sky Lamprey, I guess. one that big will do more than just suck a little blood."

"Neatest forest ever, huh?" Luffy asked the others with an excited smile. It seemed that he was actually enjoying himself so far. But considering how dead-set he was on going on an adventure in Upper Yard that wasn't much of a surprise.

"NEAT FOREST MY BUTT!" Usopp snapped. Who had never been more scared in his life. "IF THIS IS OUR SO-CALLED ORDEAL THEN I QUIT!" Little did he know that they hadn't even started one of the Priests' Ordeals yet.

"You can't quit." Luffy told him, "We just got here."

"We've got to keep moving," Sanji said, "We can't spend any more time on this Milky Road than necessary. Otherwise we're asking for certain death."

**-x-**

**The Sacrificial Altar:**

**-x-**

Nami, Chopper and Robin stood on the Going Merry and stared down at the calm Sea Clouds below the Alter that Zoro, Ricky and the Sky Shark had all disappeared below.

"What happened to them?" Chopper wondered. "No… IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

"You don't think… they got eaten do you?" Nami asked.

"AAAAAH!" Chopper screamed. "RICKY AND ZORO ARE FISH FOOD!"

"If they had gotten eaten the clouds would have turned red by now," Robin calmly pointed out.

"HOW CAN YOU STAY SO CALM AT A TIME LIKE THIS?" Nami demanded.

**-x-**

**SHWOOOM! **Underwater Ricky raced by Zoro with the Sky Shark hot on his tail.

Zoro grinned, all according to plan. _"DRAGON TWISTER!" _**SHOOOOOM! **Zoro lashed out with all three of his swords and sent Ricky and the Sky Shark flying up into the air in a white tornado of Sea Clouds.

**SPLOOOOSH! **Ricky, the Sky Shark and the white tornado broke the surface of the lake and startled Nami and Chopper. Ricky used the added momentum of Zoro's attack and launched himself at the Sky Shark that was now out of _its _element now that it was in midair.

"Flying… ARROW KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky's feet slammed into the Sky Shark's head and it dropped down out of the air and slammed down onto the steps of the Sacrificial Altar. **KRASH! **Some of the stone smashed when the dazed Sky Shark slammed down onto it. Ricky quickly followed up and dove at the Sky Shark and slashed his sword, "Red Blade… AVALANCHE!" **SLISH! **One good cut was all it took for the monster fish to go limp. **TMP! **Ricky landed lightly a couple steps below the Sky Shark and sheathed his bloody red blade.

**SPLASH! **Zoro launched himself out of the Sea Clouds and landed on the stairs next to Ricky.** TMP! **"Not bad," the swordsman remarked.

**ACHOO! **"You know, I just realized that I haven't eaten anything since that party with Cricket and the monkeys," Ricky stated, "And right now this thing is looking _really _appetizing."

"What're you a cook now?" Zoro questioned.

"Aw come on," Ricky protested, "I don't need to be Sanji to know how to fry a giant fish."

Ricky and Zoro grabbed the Sky Shark's tail and started to drag it up the steps to the ship.

"I can tell you one thing," Zoro announced to the others when they drew near, "We are not gonna make it across by swimming."

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Chopper gushed.

"Looks like there are more where that one came from," Nami pointed out as she stared down at the numerous dorsal fins that were going in circles around the Alter. She noted their wet clothes and disappeared below deck.

"I'm glad we only had to deal with the one then," Ricky reasoned.

"And if that one's any indication then we're not gonna have much luck fighting the rest of them off," Zoro realized.

"We've got to do something," Robin stated, "We can't stay here forever."

"I know I'm at least staying here for lunch," Ricky insisted.

"If leaving us here was that lobster's idea of a joke it's not funny," Zoro said as he pulled off his Sea Cloud-soaked shirt and rang it out.

"Perhaps this is the Heaven's Judgment we've been hearing so much about," Robin suggested.

"Except you'd think this 'God' would try something a little flashier, ya know," Zoro pointed out as Nami came back and threw two new shirts at them.

"I couldn't say, I've never met the guy," Robin stated while giving Ricky a pointed glance.

"I don't know what the solution is," Zoro admitted, he noted the damage the Going Merry had taken coming up to the Sky Island. "We definitely can't set sail with the hull looking like this."

"Well if you want to try and find a way across to the forest and maybe a way out of here, I'll stay here with the ship and try to make some repairs," Ricky offered. **ACHOO!**

"Luffy and the others are probably heading here now," Zoro reasoned, "And you know what they say, if you get lost you should stay where you are, right."

"_Shouldn't that apply to him too?" _Nami said to herself.

Robin walked around the Going Merry and took a moment to study the Alter. Symbols had been carved into the stone and the archeologist quickly set to work on deciphering them.

"Zoro, if you want to go explore the forest that's okay with me," Chopper said, "But you haven't told us what for."

"There's supposed to be a God on this island," Zoro replied, "I wanna meet him."

"Wait, that's a terrible idea!" Nami protested. "I mean, what're you gonna do when you actually find Him?

Zoro smirked, "I don't know, I depends on if he behaves himself or not."

"Zoro, you're the bravest person I know!" Chopper remarked.

"And what about the Priests?" Nami asked. "Are you gonna beat them up too? Ask Ricky, they're no joke. The last thing we need is you pissing off a God! It's kinda not smart."

"By the time I'm done with him… this God's gonna bow before me," Zoro boasted.

"WHOOOOAAA!" Chopper cheered with stars in his eyes. "GO ZORO!"

"Cocky much?" Ricky asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I don't believe in him," Zoro stated, "What do I care about pissing him off?"

"That doesn't mean he's not powerful," Ricky pointed out. "He wouldn't have such a huge hold on this place if he didn't have something impressive to build a reputation off of."

Nami had turned away from the atheist swordsmen and was currently on her knees praying. "Oh Powerful One, I just want you to know that I don't agree with my idiot Nakama. I don't even like him that much."

"Don't listen to her Zoro!" Chopper encouraged the cool swordsman. "You're awesome!"

"Hm…" Robin said to herself as her eyes scanned the symbols.

**-x-**

"Come on…" Usopp groaned as the Crow continued along the Milky Road, "Can't this little ride be over already?"

"Are you kidding?" Luffy replied, "That was probably just a warm-up for later! Supposedly we're gonna have to go up against a boat-load of super-deadly priests that're already waiting for us on the island."

"So you're telling me none of what we've just gone through has anything to do with our actual ordeal?" Usopp questioned.

"I don't know, I kind of doubt it," Sanji said, "Especially considering the magnitude of that attack back at the docks. I couldn't tell ya how it all works but its serious power. Take even one hit and you're a goner." Usopp tensed. "And this Eneru shouldn't be taken lightly, that's for sure. And I get the distinct feeling He's watching us even now."

"That's weird," Luffy remarked, "So you think he was in that town?"

"I'm guessing He must have been to attack as accurately as He did," Sanji reasoned.

"Not necessarily," Usopp countered, "This is a God we're talking about. I bet He could see us from a thousand miles away. Heck, you're right, he's probably watching us right now."

"And since when did you become such a devoted follower?" Sanji wondered, "You're not even from around here."

"You're missing the point completely," Usopp told him. "People say God is great, right? I was taught to show respect to those with power. You don't have to mean it, its self-preservation."

"Fine," Sanji said, "But you do realize that not every God in the world is great. Like the God of Poverty, or the God of Pestilence…"

"OH, WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" Luffy and Usopp snapped at him.

"We can continue that debate later," Sanji decided, "That is if we live through being eaten by that thing."

**RAAAHHH! **Another massive Sky Lamprey was sticking out of the Milky Road ahead of them.

"YAAAAH!" Usopp screamed in terror. "NOT ANOTHER ONE! WAAAAAAHHH!"

**-x-**

"That vine looks pretty sturdy," Zoro observed as he stared up at a vine that was wrapped around a thick branch that hung high above the Sacrificial Altar.

"Ah, excellent idea," Robin noted as she came back around the Going Merry, "Mind if I tag along, Mr. Swordsman?"

"Sure," Zoro answered, "As long as you promise not to slow me down."

"Wait a minute!" Nami protested, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Look at this," Robin instructed as she turned to look back at the symbols she'd been reading. "At least a thousand years have passed since this Altar was built."

"A thousand years?" Nami and Chopper repeated.

"The sense of history here is amazing," Robin commented, "It gives me chills. You feel it?"

**ACHOOO! **"I know what I feel," Ricky said, "And I'm staying away from it for now."

"A place as ancient as this is sure to be filled with all kinds of old relics," Robin explained, "Imagined all the valuables we could discover, just think, the possibilities are endless!"

Nami immediately perked up, "In that case I'll join you!" she decided.

"NAMI!" Chopper exclaimed, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE TOO SCARED!"

Berri signs shined in Nami's eyes. Her sense of greed outweighed her sense of self-preservation. "It's for history!" Nami replied.

"_Yeah, sure it is," _Chopper thought to himself.

"Come on Ricky!" Nami encouraged the Treasure Hunter, "There's treasure!"

"BIG BROTHER NO!" Chopper wailed, "I don't wanna stay here all alone!"

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving," Ricky reassured him. **ACHOOO! **He turned to Nami. **"**I'm well aware of the treasure that's here. But if it's been here for a thousand years then it'll still be there after I have lunch. You're welcome to go, though."

Zoro and Robin both frowned.

"Don't think I won't!" Nami told him, "And when I find the treasure, you're not getting a cut!"

"That's fair," he agreed.

Now Nami frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ricky smiled and waved her off. "Get going. Chopper and I can do some repairs and I'll have lunch ready when you get back. I won't be anything that Sanji would cook but I promise it'll be edible."

An arm sprouted out of the massive tree branch that was hanging above the Altar and pulled the vine off of the branch and dropped it down to the Going Merry.

"That good enough for you?" Robin asked as she, Zoro and Nami stood up in the crow's nest..

"That's perfect," Zoro said as he caught the vine. He stepped up onto the edge and cleared his throat. He pushed off and let out a loud Tarzan yell, "AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAH-OOOOO!" **WHING! **Zoro swung across and landed safely on the other side. **TMP! **

"Its official," Nami muttered, "He's lost his mind."

Zoro let go of the vine and it swung back to the Going Merry. Robin caught it and pushed off of the crow's nest all in one motion. Of course, she was way too dignified to do a Tarzan-yell.

**Tmp! **Robin landed gracefully on the shore and the vine swung back to the ship.

"She made it!" Chopper cheered.

"Looks easy enough," Nami said as she caught the vine and climbed up onto the edge of the crow's nest. But the made the mistake of looking down. All the way down… over a hundred feet to the Sky Shark infested Sea Clouds below. "Th-this is… h-higher up than I th-thought…"

"Be careful!" Robin called out in warning. "if you fall you'll most certainly die!"

"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR IDEA OF HELPING?" Nami shouted.

She looked down again and saw the hungry swarm of Sky Sharks.

"She's right," Nami whimpered, "I'm dead if I fall… I can't do this…"

"Sure you can," Ricky encouraged her as he climbed up into the crow's nest and came up behind her. He reached up around her and covered her eyes with his hands. "Imagine you're inside Sheldon. I've decided that the zip-line isn't fun enough so I installed a wire to swing across that turtle's stomach just like this one. You can picture it right? You just have to swing across and you'll land on a ship filled with treasure. Billions of berries worth of gold and jewels are waiting for you on the other side. More than you could ever hope to count." **Ka-Ching! **Ricky's words had the desired effect as Nami imagined the treasure horde waiting in the belly of the giant sea turtle back down on the Grand Line. Ricky took his hands off of her eyes and held her waist. "All you have to do to get to that treasure is hold on tight… and swing."

He gave her a gentle push. **WHING! **With the vision of all the treasure planted firmly in her mind, Nami ignored the Sky Sharks and swung straight over the Sea Clouds and let go of the vine when she reached the other side. **TMP! **Nami landed a little less gracefully than Robin and stumbled a couple steps but had made it across unharmed.

She opened her eyes and turned back to the ship, "THANKS RICKY!" she called back to him, "When I find all the treasure I'll be sure to come back and rub it in your face!"

Ricky waved to them from up in the crow's nest, "Bye guys, take care."

Zoro scowled as his eyes darted from Ricky to Nami to Robin who was frowning.

"_He's sending us off so he can deal with Heaven's Judgment on his own," _Robin realized. She quickly turned away from him, _"Noble fool."_

"Chopper, are you sure you don't want to go with them?" Ricky inquired, "I promise I won't be upset if you want to go and explore too. That's what pirates do after-all."

"That's okay, I'll stay with you, Big Brother," Chopper told him.

"Alright, I guess it's just you and me then," Ricky resolved as he climbed back down the mast. "Let's cut up that shark so we can cook it then we'll get started on the repairs. I'm tired of Usopp complaining that I never do anything to fix the ship."

"Right," Chopper agreed.

"This forest is even bigger than I thought," Robin observed as she stared up towards the tops of the massive trees. It was one thing to see them as you whiz by on a lobster it was another entirely to be standing below one.

"Okay, Chopper, listen to Ricky and take care of the ship!" Zoro called back to the Going Merry.

"We're counting on you," Robin chimed in.

"We'll be back soon!" Nami added as she waved at them.

"BYE!" Chopper replied as he waved back. "Everyone be careful! Don't take too long!"

"And there they go," Ricky noted as he walked up behind Chopper.

"Nami'll be alright since she's with Zoro and Robin," Chopper said then he turned and smiled at Ricky, "And I'll be fine because I'm with you, Big Brother!"

"Of course," Ricky agreed with a small smile. "I promise I'll keep you safe, Little Brother."

**-x-**

"WAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed as the Crow continued towards the massive Lamprey that in their path. "SKY LAMPREY!"

"Hey, what do you think?" Luffy asked his cook, "Would that thing taste good with some salt and pepper?"

"I never thought I'd say it," Sanji said, "But I don't think now's the time for trading recipes."

"Damn," Luffy cursed, "Then in that case… GUUUUM… GUUUUM… PIIIISTOOOOL!" **POW! **Luffy lashed out his fist and punched the Sky Lamprey just as it was about to lunge at their ship. It was knocked up into the air and slammed into a hanging branch. **WHAM! **Then it dropped back down and landed in the Sea Clouds behind them. **SPLOOSH!**

"Aaaaaahhhh…" Usopp whimpered, still scared after everything they'd gone through on this short little boat-trip so far. "I hate Sky Islands… they're scary!"

"Wanna get out here?" Sanji offered.

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?" Usopp snapped as he shot out of his seat. "DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE? I'M ALLOWED TO BE SCARED! CUT ME SOME SLACK!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, then he spotted something ahead of them. "Hey look! There's a giant head blocking our way!"

"Not quite," Sanji corrected him, "It's a statue."

"Oh, right," Luffy said, "But it looks like a dead end."

"No, look," Usopp pointed out, "There's four entrances."

"Of course," Sanji stated, "And how much do you want to bet that all four of 'em lead to different places."

The large stone statue was big enough that it completely blocked the Milky Road. The only way to get by it was to go through one of the four tunnels that were in the mouth of the statue.

Usopp read the writing above the tunnels for the other two, "Ordeal of Swamp, Ordeal of Iron, Ordeal of String, and Ordeal of Spheres."

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Does this mean we get to take our pick?"

"Is it just me or do none of these things sound much like an ordeal?" Sanji asked.

"Uh… I don't know guys," Usopp mumbled, "Which one should we chose?"

So while Zoro, Nami, and Robin explored the forest of Upper Yard and Ricky and Chopper kept watch over the Going Merry at the Alter, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji found themselves faced with four potentially deadly ordeals. Each one was hosted by one of Eneru's Priests.

**-x-**

I now have a new record for my longest chapter ever. Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji embark on the Ordeal of Spheres and meet Satori the Mantra Master.

It's been three years since I've started this story. I'd like to thank everyone that's read, reviewed, and supported me over this time. It's been a great run and there's still more to come!

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	18. Ordeal of Balls

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**Ordeal of Balls:**

**-x-**

Zoro, Nami, and Robin walked through the forest of Upper Yard each with a different purpose. Robin was there to explore the island in the sky's vast history. Nami had come along at the mention of valuable treasure. And Zoro wanted to have a face-to-face encounter with God.

"Enough is enough," Zoro complained, "Where is this God?"

"It may not matter," Robin replied, "If He really is a God, chances are He already knows exactly where we are."

"Well if he would just come to us I could get this thing over with," Zoro remarked.

"You say that because you haven't seen the things I have," Nami insisted, "There is somebody or something on this island with the ability to destroy us." She thought back to the red-haired man she'd seen when she came to Upper Yard with Ricky. And how that bright light had descended from the sky and completely vaporized the man. There was nothing left where the man once stood except a ring of dirt and the notable destruction that had been inflicted on the forest.

Nami quickly dropped to her knees and prayed in the hope that God would spare her. "Oh Powerful One, we are but simple sailors. Please leave us in peace. Oh! And also please help us find lots and lots of treasure."

"Nice prayer Nami," Zoro dead-panned. He once again wondered which was stronger, her sense of fear and self-preservation or her greed. What he could remember from Bonsatsu Island put her firmly in the 'greed' category.

Zoro walked along one of the roots of the enormous trees and stared out at the river of Sea Cloud that they'd reached the bank of. "Look, you can sit on your knees and pray all day," Zoro said, "but it's not gonna get us out of here. I say we cross the river and see what's on the other side."

"Yes, I agree," Robin stated.

"And how do you plan to get across this time?" Nami inquired, "I don't see any vines handy. Hey Zoro, maybe you could throw Robin across and she—" Nami was cut off when the dirt under her feet started to crumble and caused her to tumble towards the river.

**Splish! **A Sky Shark popped out of the Sea Clouds with its mouth wide open and ready for Nami to fall right into it.

**THWAK! **Zoro rushed in and shoved Nami backwards while he lashed out and kicked the Sky Shark in the neck and it flew across the river and slammed into the bank on the other side. Meanwhile, Nami fell backwards when Zoro shoved her but was caught by a cluster of arms that quickly grew out of the huge tree root she was about to slam into. **WHUP!**

"Aaahh…" Nami gasped as she slid back down to her knees.

"Grr… those things are everywhere!" Zoro growled.

"If you think I'm crossing that now, you're out of your mind!" Nami told him. "I may as well just hop in and give the sharks a free snack!"

"Calm down!" Zoro scolded her, "It'll be fine. We'll just keep walking upstream and hope we find a safe place to cross over."

"Give up, I'm not going!" Nami insisted. "I knew I should've stayed behind with Ricky..."

"Maybe you should've!" Zoro snapped, "If you're so scared then why'd you even come in the first place!" Zoro and Nami glared at each other and were about to dissolve into an all-out shouting match when Robin slid down the nearest root and interrupted them.

"Hey guys," she called out as she knelt down and rubbed her hand on the dirt at her feet. "Look at this…"

"Look at what exactly?" Nami asked.

"It's dirt," Robin pointed out as she rubbed bits of the soil between her fingers.

"Yeah I know," Nami said, "It was one of the first things Ricky and I noticed the last time we came here."

"But don't you think it's odd that there's dirt on a _sky _island?" Robin questioned.

"You're right," Zoro realized, "The ground's not fluffy."

"Most Sky Islands are made of cloud," Nami reasoned, "So why do you think this island is different from the others?"

"Not sure," Robin admitted, "but the fact that it is different might be the fact that makes this place so special… at any rate, its reason enough to start exploring."

**-x-**

Back on the Milky Road on the other side of Upper Yard, Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were faced with a choice between four potential ordeals: the Ordeal of Swamp, Ordeal of Iron, Ordeal of String and the Ordeal of Balls.

Eneru's four priests anxiously awaited their decision to see whose ordeal the three pirates would have to face.

"Prepare for judgment criminals," Gedatsu said as he waited in his Ordeal of Swamp. "You have no choice but to receive it."

"Select a gate, select from four Ordeals," Shura stated as he stood in his Ordeal of String.

"For you there can be no turning back," Satori added as he prepared his Ordeal of Spheres.

"You may choose your own trial," Ohm announced from his Ordeal of Iron, "But _we _will decide your Fate."

"Swamp!"

"Iron!"

"String!"

"Balls!"

"Choose your path criminals!" the four priests chorused.

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji sailed to up the gate with the four marked entrances on the Crow.

"So what do we do?" Usopp looked back and asked the Captain.

"Um… let's go with Balls!" Luffy decided.

"Why do you like that one?" Usopp questioned.

"Balls sound like fun," Luffy answered.

"That's your only reason?" Usopp inquired, "They're Ordeals! They're not supposed to be fun! Not that I'm disagreeing with you… 'Balls' is definitely the one that doesn't sound too violent… at least to me. I mean… all swamp makes me think is…" Usopp pictured himself sinking in a murky puddle of swamp. "That's the type of sinking you don't come up from!"

"Okay, so what about Iron?" Luffy suggested.

Usopp thought about it and mentally screamed as he pictured giant iron anvils being dropped on their tiny boat from above.

"AAAAAH!" Usopp shrieked in terror and shook his head. "No thank you! Way too scary!"

"Fine, string then," Luffy said.

Usopp imagined himself climbing hand-over-hand along a long line of string. But then he looked down and realized that there was no longer an island underneath him. He suddenly found himself deathly afraid of heights.

"No way!" Usopp insisted, "It sounds so harmless it's probably the worst!"

That left the Ordeal of Balls. Usopp pictured them sailing down a cloud canal and being chased by a giant red ball that would easily squish them.

"Come to think of it…" Usopp whimpered, "Balls doesn't sound all that safe either… Maybe we should think this over…"

"We don't have time for a debate here," Sanji finally spoke up, "We're right on top of it."

"Alright, Balls it is!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Okay…" Usopp reluctantly agreed. "I guess we'll have to trust Luffy's instincts on this one."

"Then it's decided," Sanji resolved, "Just don't let your guard down guys. Remember, these are God's islands. Anything can happen."

"READY! LET'S DO THIS!" Luffy cheered.

Usopp steered the Crow towards the gateway on the far right and they sailed right through the circular opening marked 'Ordeal of Balls' and found themselves going through a long tunnel. Usopp tensed and closed his eyes, as he prepared for the worst.

"Driver!" Sanji called out to Usopp, "Would you mind _not _shutting your eyes?"

Usopp reluctantly cracked his eyes opened despite the terror he felt inside. "Noo!" he whined, "It's just as dark with them opened!"

"Hey guys what if this is like one of those games?" Luffy asked.

"Like a what?" Usopp questioned.

"You know, if you pick the right door you get a prize," Luffy explained, "But if you pick the wrong one…"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Usopp shrilly demanded. "WHAT IF WE PICKED WRONG? WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE MENTIONED THIS BEFORE LUFFY?"

Well, let's see here…" Luffy thought to himself. "If you pick the wrong one… then you fall off this island!"

"HOW COULD YOU SAY SOMETHING SO STUPID?" Usopp shouted. "WE'RE _THOUSANDS _OF METERS IN THE AIR! I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES YOUR LIFE CAN FLASH BEFORE YOUR EYES DURING A FALL LIKE THAT! AND I DON'T WANNA KNOW!"

"You guys are both being idiots," Sanji reprimanded them as a light appeared ahead of them. They had reached the end of the tunnel. "Nothing like that's gonna…"

Sanji trailed off when they sailed out of the tunnel and kept going while the Sea Cloud canal plummeted downwards in a seemingly infinite cloud waterfall. The Crow kept going for a bit but then gravity finally kicked in and they fell.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Luffy, Usopp and Sanji all screamed in terror as they fell downward right through small clouds on the way.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Usopp hollered.

**SPLOOOSH! **The Crow splashed down onto a lower canal. Much to their relief they _hadn't _dropped through the clouds back down to the Blue Sea. The cloud water fall was only a few hundred feet high. Compared the ten thousand meters they _could have _fallen that was actually a huge relief.

"Pheeww…" Sanji sighed, "We're alive!"

"I seriously thought we were falling all the way back to the Blue Sea…" Usopp whimpered. Dried tears and snot completely covered his face.

"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed.

**THWAK! **Sanji lashed out and kicked him on the side of the head. "That's because _somebody _had to make up a lame story to scare us!" Sanji snapped as he continued to pound his foot into the side of the laughing Luffy's head. **THWAK! THWAP!**

"I was scared!" Luffy assured them, "I thought I was a goner too! Shishishishi!"

Sanji lit up a new cigarette as he claimed the driver's seat due to the sniper being too scared to drive anymore. Luffy and Sanji stared around the forest they now found themselves in.

"Alright… now what is this place?" Sanji wondered.

"A forest," Luffy pointed out the obviously, "…with balls."

The forest on both sides of the cloud canal were filled with white balls that floated mysteriously in midair and appeared to be made out of fluffy white Island Cloud. The canal weaved back and forth and up and down through the forest for as far as they could see and all of it had the white spheres floating around and over it.

"They're balls made of Island Cloud," Sanji realized.

"Shishi! Awesome!" Luffy chuckled, "They look like really big snowflakes! Now what's scary about that? See Usopp? It's okay!"

Usopp was still in the same place where Sanji had dumped him after he claimed his seat. The sniper appeared to have gone catatonic after surviving their terrifying fall.

"Heads up," Sanji warned Luffy since Usopp was unresponsive. "The Milky Road is leading us up into the trees."

"I just don't see how this is an ordeal," Luffy said, "Do you?"

"Not yet," Sanji answered, "It'd be great if there was nothing ahead. But somehow I doubt it."

"What if it was like one of those games?" Luffy suggested, "And we picked the right door and now all we have to do is float around in this giant snow looking for the others!"

"Y-y-y-yeah…" Usopp stammered, the pleasant thought of going through a non-fatal ordeal had brought him out of his catatonic state. "Maybe that's it!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed.

"You're still being idiots," Sanji scolded them. "They think we're criminals. I doubt they'll let us off that easy. Use your brains for once. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more traps like the ones earlier. We have to stay sharp. Let's just keep moving."

"What? Are you the Captain now?" Luffy challenged him. "Can't we at least have a snack?"

"Oooh, yeah!" Usopp agreed. "Whatcha got in the bag Sanji?"

"C'mon! Gimme!" Luffy urged him.

"No!" Sanji refused. "No snacks!"

"But Sanji!" Luffy protested, "We need to keep our strength up!"

"Just a little something?" Usopp pleaded.

"I said 'no'!" Sanji growled, "Now listen, it's really simple, I'm going to keep steering, you two keep watch out the sides."

Despite their new instructions, Luffy and Usopp missed the round man that floated over them on top of one of the large white balls.

"Wow, I didn't realize how high up we were getting!" Usopp remarked as he and Luffy stared off the side of the Crow as well as the canal which was floating in midair as it snaked its way through the forest.

"_Something's not right," _Sanji thought to himself, _"It's too quiet._ _There are four Priests so I assume each tunnel would lead to one. Why haven't we seen any of them yet?" _Sanji was caught up in his thoughts and Luffy and Usopp weren't paying enough attention so they all failed to notice that shadow of a round man on a ball as it drifted alongside them. _"I've got a bad feeling about this."_

"Hey Usopp, catch!" Luffy called out as he and Usopp sat in the back of the boat behind Sanji and tossed one of the white spheres back and forth and ate a snack despite what Sanji said.

"I got it, I got it!" Usopp mumbled around the food in his mouth as he bumped the fluffy white ball of Island Cloud and knocked it back to Luffy.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO KEEP WATCH!" Sanji snapped at them.

**POP! **The game ended when a large snake popped out of the side of the ball Luffy and Usopp were playing with and snapped at Usopp's long nose.

"SNAAAAKEEE!" Usopp wailed as he lunged away from the scary animal that had appeared out of nowhere.

"STUPID SNAKE-BALL!" Luffy yelled as he lashed out and kicked the snaked-filled ball. **THWAK! **The ball and the snake were sent flying off and were instantly lost in the forest. "Okay… I didn't see that coming…"

Unnoticed by all of them, Satori grinned as he watched his Ordeal get underway.

"AAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed when he noticed a ball that was in front of the Crow. "SAANJII! CLOOUUD-BAALL! KICK IT AAWAAYY!"

"I don't like the idea of being surrounded by snake eggs," Sanji growled. **Thawk! **Sanji kicked the sphere but the power of his kick was seemingly absorbed into the sphere. And then it exploded. **KA-BOOOOOOM!**

"This can't be good…" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji chorused all three of them had been blasted when the ball exploded.

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Usopp shouted. "WHAT'S WITH THESE THINGS?"

"**HOH-HOH-HOO!" **a loud laugh rang through the forest. **"Silly children! These are surprise clouds! You never know what's going to come out of them!"**

A large ball spiraled down in front of them and revealed Satori as he sat casually on the large ball as it spun.

"Hoh-hoh-hoo!" Satori laughed, "Heso! I'm so glad you picked my challenge the Ordeal of Balls! Although… I was hoping to see your red-haired friend again. Oh well! Hoh-hoh-hoo!"

"Is that a talking dumpling?" Sanji wondered as he, Luffy and Usopp stared up at the round-bodied priest in surprise.

**-x-**

**Satori of the Forest:**

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOOOOO!"

The three Straw Hats stared up at the priest in surprise as he danced on his ball.

"This guy is one of Eneru's Priests?" Sanji questioned.

"THAT'S THE ORDEAL?" Luffy demanded, "BALL-GUY?"

"STOP WITH THE DANCING!" Sanji yelled, "AND TELL US WHO YOU ARE!"

"HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" Satori just continued to laugh and dance without a care in the world.

"Gotta say, he's not as bright as I expected," Usopp admitted.

"Didn't the old guy say these priests were strong?" Luffy asked, "'Cause I'm not seeing it."

"HEY! DUMPLING!" Sanji shouted at Satori. "MISS. NAMI, MISS. ROBIN AND THE OTHERS HAD BETTER BE SAFE!"

"You mean the sacrifices?" Satori inquired, "They'll escape or they won't, doesn't really matter much! If they escape, they'll die! And if they're sacrificed, well then they'll die too! All except for your red-haired friend, he is to be brought before the Almighty Eneru… it's a pity he isn't here with you. I would've liked to take him myself. OH WELL! If you three want to go any further, you'll have to beat me! And I really don't see that happening! Hoh-hoh-hooo!"

**WOING!** Satori bounced off of his cloud ball and launched himself at the Crow.

"HE'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!" Usopp shouted as he hid behind the umbrella pole. "LUFFY, GET HIM!"

"I hope you're ready for this!" Luffy called out as he pulled his arm back and swung it around beside him. "GUUUUM… GUUUUM…"

"Ooo! You're going to stretch!" Satori announced. He started to spin to avoid the attack he knew was coming.

"PIIIISTOOOOL!" **SHOOOM! **Luffy shot his fist out at Satori but the round man spun out of the way as he dropped down closer then reached out and brought his gloved hand to Luffy's face.

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" Satori laughed. **BING! WHAAM! **As the impact from Satori's hand blasted Luffy in the face.

"WAAAAAH!" Luffy yelled as he flew backwards off of the Crow and slammed into a tree. **WHAM! **He hit the tree so hard that he ended up embedded in the side of it before he dropped down to the ground below. **FWUMP!**

"No way!" Usopp gasped.

"LUFFY!" Sanji cried out in alarm.

"Luffy!" Usopp called out to the Captain, "You're okay, aren't you? A hit like that couldn't have hurt you that much!"

"Well you see…" Satori said as he stood perched on the side of the Crow with is gloved hand extended, "…it's not what you would call a 'normal hit'!"

"I'LL SHOW YOU NOT NORMAL!" Sanji snarled as he shot up and charged at the Priest.

"_Right foot, high kick," _Satori thought to himself.

"COLLIER…" Sanji started to shout only to trail off when Satori spun out of the way of his attack as if he knew it was coming from the start.

"Only the most well-trained are granted the power of Mantra," Satori told him.

"_Impossible, how could he have predicted my attack?" _Sanji only had a second to wonder to himself before Satori took advantage of Sanji being off-balance from his missed kick and drove his hand into his back. **BING! WHAAM! **Sanji soared right passed Usopp as he flew off of the boat and crashed to the ground on the shore next to Luffy. **THUD!**

"GAAH!" Usopp yelped as he stared off the side of the Crow after Luffy and Sanji. Satori had dispatched two of the Straw Hats' three top fighters with ease. "NOOOO! SAAANJIIIII!"

"I warned you, didn't I?" Satori said from behind Usopp which caused the sniper to break out in a cold sweat. Satori extended his opened hand. "IMPACT!" **BING! WHAAM! **Usopp was blasted in the back of the head and was knocked off of the boat and slammed down next to Luffy and Sanji on the shore. **THUD! **"The shock destroys the body from the inside out!"

"Sanji! Usopp!" Luffy called out as he finally started to push himself up off of the ground and noticed his two Nakama on the ground nearby. He picked up his hat that had fallen off and put it back on.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Sanji reported as he staggered sat up. "What did that bastard do to us?"

"I got no idea," Luffy admitted, "Who is this guy anyway?"

"Hoh-hoh-hoo!" Satori laughed, "My name is Satori and I am one of the Four Priests of the Almighty Eneru who watch over Upper Yard and see to the judgment of criminals like you. I own the Vearth in this lost forest."

"Lost forest?" Luffy repeated.

"Why yes!" Satori replied, "My forest, in all its glory!" With Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp down on the shore, no one could stop Satori as he pressed his foot down on the Crow's accelerator pedal. **VRRRRRR! **The Crow's dial-powered engine roared to life and the boat sped off along the canal. **Skish!** Satori quickly leapt from the boat to the shore. "And now your boat will be lost in my forest's illusions!"

"WAAAH!" Luffy wailed, "WE'RE USING THAT!"

"She will now speed along the Milky Road which will eventually lead to this forest's only exit!" Satori explained, "I'm sure I don't need to tell you this… but if you lose a dial boat in here, it's the same as losing your way to the Sacrificial Altar! That means you will have to find the boat and board her before that happens! Of course, my hundreds of Surprise Clouds and I will never allow you that chance! Does that seem unfair to you boys? Welcome to the Upper Yard! HOH-HOH-HOOO! HOH-HOH-HOOO! The Ordeal of Spheres! There's a ten-percent survival rate!"

"Survival rate?" Usopp repeated, "Just ten percent?" Those weren't good odds.

Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji stared up at Satori.

"HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" Satori laughed. He might seem stupid but there was no underestimating how dangerous their latest opponent was.

**-x-**

Back on the other side of Upper Yard at the Sacrificial Altar, Ricky and Chopper stood over the Sky Shark that Ricky had caught with Zoro.

"Okay, I'm going to cut this thing up so we can cook it," Ricky told Chopper, "How 'bout you get started on repairing the ship and I'll join you once I finish."

"Okay," Chopper agreed as he quickly hopped back on the Going Merry went to get Usopp's toolbox. _"I'm glad Big Brother's here. I'd be terrified if the others left me here all alone." _Chopper peered over his shoulder at Ricky and watched as he started to use his sword to cut up the Sky Shark. Chopper remembered how Ricky had caught the Sky Shark. He bravely dived into the shark-infested Sea Clouds to help Zoro when he went under. _"He's so brave. And he's not scared at all." _"Big Brother… how come you're not scared? We're on a scary Altar in a scary forest with a scary God and His scary Priests. Doesn't that worry you?"

"_More than you know,"_ Ricky silently replied but he knew he needed to relay Chopper's fears. "I'm not worried because I know we're all going to be okay. Zoro can handle anything, and Nami's with him and Robin so I know she'll be okay. Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji are all probably on their way here as we speak. So really, all we have to do is stay alive until the others get back."

"Right, then I'm not scared either!" Chopper announced, "I've got you with me so we'll be fine! Then once the others get back we can get out of here and leave this scary island behind us."

"That's the spirit," Ricky encouraged him as he went back to his work on the sky shark.

Chopper got out a wooden board and transformed into his Heavy Point form and began to hammer it in on top of one of the broken boards. **KONK! KONK! KONK! WHUMP! **Chopper's clumsiness came back to bite him as he drove the hammer down onto his thumb.

"YAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed and waved his swollen thumb around, he accidently threw the hammer away in the process.

"Chopper, are you alright?" Ricky asked as he looked up from his shark.

Chopper immediately stopped sucking on his thumb and quickly puffed out his chest, "Of course I'm fine," he boasted in an attempt to sound tough, "I just missed the nail… I'm not hurt at all."

"Be more careful," Ricky warned him, "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Right," Chopper agreed, "Where'd it go?" He glanced around for his lost hammer and stared in wide-eyed terror when he saw where it landed.

The hammer was on the bottom step of the Sacrificial Alter. Inches away from the sky shark infested Sea Clouds.

"Uh oh…" Chopper whimpered.

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" Satori crowed as the Crow sailed away on the Milky Road while he danced on top of one of his floating surprise clouds. "You boys had better catch her! She's getting away!"

"He's right, guys," Usopp realized, "We need to get moving now before we lose sight of her. Ugghh… if we lose her in this forest, finding her again will be impossible!" He ran off to catch up with their wayward boat.

"Usopp wait!" Sanji called after him, "finding each other again won't be easy either!" The cook glanced over at the Captain, "Luffy, you coming?"

"You two go on ahead without me," Luffy replied as he cracked his knuckles and prepared to fight. He never took his eyes off of Satori. "I'm gonna take care of ball-guy!"

"Hoh-hoh-hooo!" Satori laughed, "This should be amusing! Do you really think you can beat me, boy? Hoh-hoh-hooo!"

"_I guess someone needs to deal with this pot-bellied freak," _Sanji thought to himself. "Don't do anything reckless. He's got weird powers. I'll be back as soon as we get the boat." Sanji turned and ran off after Usopp and left Luffy alone to fight Satori.

"Great," Luffy said as he swung his arm and locked his eyes on his opponent. "It's just you and me now, fat-so!" **SHOOOM! **Luffy stretched his arm out.

"He'll grab that branch," Satori whispered as he used his Mantra to predict Luffy's movements.

**SHOOOM! **Luffy's arm retracted and he shot up into the air then pulled his arm back and aimed a punch at Satori. "GUUUUM… GUUUUM…"

"Same move as before," Satori noted as he prepared for the attack.

"PIIIISTOOOOOL!" **SWISH! **Satori spun to the side and Luffy's arm extended and whizzed right by him. The Priest quickly took advantage and grabbed onto Luffy's arm. **Whap!**

"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori laughed. **SHU-WHUP! **He used his hold on Luffy's arm to yank the rubber pirate towards him then started to swing him around the clearing. **WHING! WHING! WHING! WHING!**

"WAAAAAHHH!" Luffy screamed as Satori swung him around by his arm over and over again before Satori spun and smashed him into the side of a tree. **KRASH!**

Luffy dropped from the tree but stretched his legs out and wrapped them around the branch above him to stop himself from falling down to the forest floor.

"HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" Satori laughed, "WHAT'S THE MATTER? I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO 'TAKE CARE OF ME'!"

"I am!" Luffy growled as he hung from the huge tree branch. "I said I would, didn't I?" **SHOOOM! **Luffy stretched his arm out passed Satori and grabbed onto a vine that was wrapped around a tree behind the Priest. **FWUP! **Luffy yanked himself through the air and used his hold on the tree to launch himself at Satori. "AND THIS TIME I WON'T MISS! GUUUM… GUUUM…"

"You'll feign a punch but follow with a kick," Satori stated.

**SWISH! **Luffy's feint went right by Satori unheeded then he lashed out his leg, "WHIIIIP!" **SKISH! **Satori jumped over Luffy's extended leg and landed safely on his surprise cloud. Luffy flew by Satori but spun in midair and lashed out his leg again, "AND AGAIN!" **SHWING! **Luffy whipped his leg at Satori but the Priest caught Luffy's foot with ease. **WHAP! **

"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori laughed then he used his hold on Luffy's foot to pull the rubber pirate towards him. **SHOOOM!**

As he was yanked towards Satori, Luffy drew back his fist for another punch. "GUUUM… GUUUMM…"

But before Luffy could connect with his attack, Satori extended his arm with the opened palm aimed at Luffy's face. **BING! WHAAAAM! **Luffy went limp from the attack and Satori quickly took advantage and grabbed Luffy by the ankle and hoisted him up over his head and once again started to swing him around the clearing. **WHING! WHING! WHING! **Satori finally let go and Luffy smashed head-first into a tree. **KRASH!**

**SKISH! **Satori leapt off of his surprise cloud and dove -hand-first at Luffy. **BING! WHAM! BING! WHAAM! **Satori's attacks connected and drilled Luffy deeper and deeper into the tree until he was embedded into it. All the while, the Priest cackled madly, "HOH-HOH-HOOOO!"

**-x-**

Usopp raced through the forest and through the surprise clouds in an attempt to find the Crow.

"Where is she?" Usopp wondered as he frantically scanned the Milky Road as it weaved through the trees over his head. "Where's the Crow? If we don't get her back we'll be stuck here forever!" Usopp stopped running at the base of a huge tree. "I can't see anything from down here." He turned to the tree and began to climb it. "Up I go."

Seconds later, Sanji ran into the same area. _"Watch yourself Luffy,"_ Sanji thought to his Captain, _"These Priests are far from ordinary… now to find the boat and get out of here. Fast." _Sanji raced through the clearing and ran right by the tree Usopp had started to climb.

**-x-**

"Damn it my head's stuck!" Luffy complained as he tried to wrench his head out of the tree trunk it was still embedded inside.

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" Satori laughed on one of his surprise clouds. "Aren't you stubborn!"

The Straw Hats were in a bad situation. The three pirates had been split up, their ship the Crow had disappeared along the Milky Road, and Luffy had yet to land a hit on his strange opponent.

**-x-**

**Surprise Balls:**

**-x-**

"Hoh-hoh-hoo!" Satori laughed as he watched Luffy attempt to pull his head out from the tree it was stuck inside. "Oh good, it looks like this one will be sticking around for a while!" Satori did a pirouette on top of his ball and spun around in search of Usopp and Sanji. "Now, where did those others scamper off to? I'll be oh so disappointed if they got away!" Satori grinned when he turned and spotted Sanji as he raced through the huge trees. "Ah, there we are!"

**-x-**

"Hey! Usopp!" Sanji called out as he ran through the giant trees still in search of the Crow. "You see it yet?"

"Hmm…" Usopp mumbled from on top of a large branch while he stared through his sniper goggles in search of their lost boat. Usopp scanned the Milky Road as it weaved through the trees and eventually gasped when he saw the Crow as it sailed away from them. "AH! THERE SHE IS!"

"WANNA TELL ME WHERE?" Sanji questioned.

"STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Usopp shouted back, "CLIMB UP THE – one… two – THIRD TREEE ON THE RIGHT! YOU CAN JUMP ON WHEN SHE PASSES BENEATH YOU!"

"Gotcha," Sanji replied as he ran up to the indicated tree and started to climb up it so he could jump down onto the Milky Road that currently floated over his head.

"**HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" **Satori crowed as he popped up on a ball a full tree behind Usopp.

"Oh crap!" Usopp cursed, "It's that priest! What's he doing?"

**THWAK! **Satori lashed out his foot and kicked the surprise cloud closest to him. **WOOOSH! **The big white ball whizzed through the air and flew right by Usopp.

"HEADS UP SANJI!" Usopp cried out in warning as the surprise cloud flew towards the cook. "KILLER BALL COMING YOUR WAY!"

"What?" Sanji asked as he stopped climbing and looked over his shoulder and saw the ball as it flew right at him. "WHAT'S LUFFY DOING BACK THERE?"

Sanji tensed and prepared himself for the worst. There was no telling what could pop out of the surprise ball. **KONK! **Sanji's eyes widened in surprise as the ball slammed into the side of the surprise ball that was behind him. Like billiard ball in a game of pool the first surprise cloud bounced off of the second one at a different angle and then slammed into another surprise cloud. **KONK! **The surprise ball flew back the way it came.

"SURPRISE CLOUD BILLIARDS!" Satori cheered.

Sanji gasped in alarm. The surprise ball had bounced off of the two balls near him and was now headed right towards… Usopp. "UUSOOOPP!" Sanji shouted.

The sniper stared wide-eyed at the surprise ball as it flew at him. "WAAAAH-HAAA-HAAA!" Usopp lunged backwards in an attempt to dodge the ball. _"THAT FAT FREAK WAS AIMING FOR ME!" _But Usopp wasn't fast enough and the ball sank onto his long nose. **Shunk!** _"At least I'll die like a man…"_

**POP!** A flower sprang out of the top of the surprise ball. "WHAT? A FLOWER?"

"Aw… it was a dud…" Satori pouted.

"YAAAAAHHHH!" Usopp screamed as he continued to fall down from the branch. He'd been completely fooled by the harmless surprise ball and had dove off the branch for nothing. **FWUMP! **Usopp landed in an undignified heap nearly a hundred feet down.

"BASTARD!" Sanji yelled.

"HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" Satori laughed happily as he danced on top of his ball.

**-x-**

Meanwhile, Luffy continued to yank backwards in an attempt to free his head from the large tree trunk it was wedged inside. "UUUUGGGHHH!" Luffy groaned as he pushed himself backwards with all of his considerably strength which caused his rubber neck to stretch. **KRASH! **Luffy's head finally came free and he did a flip and landed safely on the tree branch below. **TMP!**

Luffy glanced around him for any sign of the priest he'd been fighting. He eventually spotted Satori on a ball off in a distance but also saw a tree branch that would take him there.

**SKISH! **Luffy jumped onto the tree branch and sprinted along it towards Satori. Being about as subtle as a bull in a china shop, Luffy shouted loudly as he charged at the round priest. "ALRIGHT YOU! THAT DOES IT! NOW YOU'VE MADE ME MAD!" **SKISH! **Luffy jumped off of the branch and onto a ball. "GUUUM… GUUUUM… GAAATLIIING!" **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **But Satori managed to dodge Luffy's flurry of punches and as a result they only hit the surprise balls that floated around the priest. **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! **The surprise balls were sent flying when Luffy's fists struck them.

"LUFFY STOP!" Sanji yelled. He'd managed to climb up to the branch he needed to be on. "USE YOUR HEAD! YOU'RE ONLY MAKING THINGS WORSE!"

"Huh?" Luffy asked. He blinked in surprise and watched as the surprise balls flew around in front of him and slammed into other surprise balls. **KONK! KONK! KONK! **Luffy's attack had caused a good thirty surprise balls to knock into each other and fly through the forest in all different directions and speeds. Some of the balls bounced back the way they'd came others slammed into other surprise balls and sent them back towards Luffy. Now the surprise balls were no longer stationary and whizzed through the forest and brought their unknown cargo closer to the three Straw Hat Pirates. "What the… what the… WAAAAAH!"

"OOOOH NOOOOO!" Usopp screamed when he got up off of the ground. "IT'S TOO LATE!"

"TAKE COVER!" Sanji warned them. "THEY'RE COMING AT US FROM ALL SIDES!"

"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori laughed, "HAVE FUN BOYS! I'LL BE WATCHING!" Even he couldn't tell what was in each of the surprise balls while they were flying like this. So he quickly jumped from his ball to a higher one and then onto an even higher one until he was up above all of the surprise balls and could watch from safety as the Straw Hats dealt with the situation Luffy had created.

**KONK! **A surprise ball ricocheted off of another one and whizzed towards Sanji. **WHAM! **The ball slammed into the branch and Sanji quickly jumped off of it. **SKISH! SHUNK! **Nearly a dozen pointy spears shot out of the ball. "SPEARS!" Sanji fell downwards into the path of another surprise ball that had struck the tree trunk. **SHUNK! **Two large crab claws that were the same size as Sanji popped out of the ball along with thin crab-legs and two stalk-like eyes. "CRAB!" **KLAK! KLAK! SWISH! **Sanji spun and avoided a swipe from the crab's claws and landed on the forest floor. **TMP!**

**-x-**

"AAAAAHHH!" Usopp screamed as four surprise balls flew at him, "NOT FOUR AT ONCE!" Usopp ducked down. **SQUISH! SQUISH! SQUISH! **Usopp peeked back up and saw that the four balls hadn't bounced off of each other and instead were now stuck together.

**POP! "Ba-caaaaw!" **A pink bird popped out of the first surprise ball.

**POP! "Baa-caaaaaw!" **A blue bird popped out of the next once and crowed in a higher pitch.

**POP! "Baaa-CAAW!" **A yellow bird popped out and sang crowed even higher than the others.

**POP! "BAAA-CAAAW!" **A green bird popped out of the last ball and created a quartet.

"What the…" Usopp sputtered as the stared up at the four birds in surprise, "Another dud? Nah, I'm not that lucky."

"**BAAA-CAAAAAAAW!" **the aviary quartet sang together.

"YOU GOT ME ALL FREAKED OUT OVER NOTHING!" Usopp yelled at the birds. "Oh wait, maybe it's part of the ordeal… _Well_, if it's a singing contest you want, get ready! People call me Captain Golden Voice! Eh-hem…" Usopp took a deep breath to sing.

**DING! **The small pink bird rang a bell. Usopp's time was up.

"HEY!" Usopp protested. "I haven't even sung yet!" But that quickly became the least of Usopp's worries as the four birds lunged downward and started to peck at him. **WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! **"OOW! OOWW! WAAAAH!"

**-x-**

"YAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy screamed as he ran along a branch with the seat of his shorts on fire. "WAAAAH! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" **WOING! **He jumped off of the tree branch towards the Milky Road in an attempt to put the flames out.

**SPLISH! **A small gray sky shark came up out of the sea clouds and opened its mouth. **WHUP! **Luffy landed with the seat of his pants in the monster's mouth. But while the flames on his shorts kept the shark from closing its mouth some of its sharp teeth still sank into Luffy's skin.

**WOING! **"YAAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy hollered as he launched himself out of the monster's mouth. Smoke floated out of the shark's still opened mouth and Luffy plummeted downward through the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOSH! **But while the water-like clouds may have put out the flames on his shorts, Luffy fell through the bottom of the floating canal and continued to drop downward. "I went straight through!"

"LUFFY! YOU'VE GOTTA CATCH YOURSELF!" Sanji advised. "NONE OF THESE RIVERS HAVE A BOTTOM!"

**WOING! **Luffy shot his arm out and managed to grab onto a vine that was wrapped around a tree branch over his head. **SHOOOM! **Luffy flew up after his arm but the vine came loose and Luffy swung down through the trees. **SWOOOOSH! **"WAAAAAH!" Luffy yelled as he flew through the trees and quickly leapt to another vine to avoid contact with a surprise ball. **WHING! **Like a monkey, Luffy jumped from vine-to-vine as he swung through the forest and avoided the floating balls of cloud and let out a Tarzan yell that would've made Zoro proud. "AAAAAH-AAAAAAH-AAAAAAH-AAAAAAAH!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Sanji shouted after him. "GET SERIOUS!"

**-x-**

"USOPP HAMMER!" **WHOMP! **"USOPP HAMMER!" **WHOMP! **"USOPP HAMMER!" **WHOMP! **"USOPP RUBBER BAND OF DOOOOOM!" **WHAP! **"USOPP HAMMER!" **WHOMP! **Usopp dispatched his four aviary adversaries with his trusty hammer and left them all behind with large lumps on their heads.

Usopp panted as he stood over the four birds and sported a large lump on his forehead and the side of his face from when they had pecked him. "Phew…" he sighed in relief.

"**YAAAAAHOOOOOOOO!" **Usopp looked up in time to see Luffy swing over him on a vine. "AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAH! SHISHISHISHI!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Usopp said, "I should try out my new thingy." Usopp reached into his arsenal pouch and started to climb back up the tree he'd fallen from.

"What's up Usopp?" Sanji called out to him from a branch on his own tree. "You got an idea?"

Usopp stood on his branch in a manly pose. "Do I?" he repeated, "Friend, they don't call me Usopp the Technological Pirate-Wizard for nothing! BEHOLD MY LATEST INVENTION!" Usopp put his hands on his hips and showed off his new belt. It was brown and was lined in red. The buckle had a large hole in the middle of it. "USOPP AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAAH!"

"Yeah… WHAT?" Sanji demanded.

"Just watch!" Usopp told him. He lowered his sniper goggles again and spotted the Crow as it sailed along the Milky Road. "There's the Crow! Milky Road straight ahead! Perfect line-up!" Usopp raised his goggles as he prepared for a different kind of shot. **BANG! **A grappling hook with a long length of rope attached to it shot out of the hole in Usopp's belt and flew towards a branch that was over the sniper's head. **SHU-WHUP-WHUP-WHUP! **The rope swung around the tree branch a few times before the hook hooked on the rope. **WHAP! **Usopp pulled back on his end of the rope and pulled it tight. **KLAK!**

"Hmm… now what are they up to?" Satori wondered as he watched from up above.

Usopp gripped the rope that came out his belt and grinned, "Yes, now I just have to swing over there and catch the Crow!" he said, "But my timing's gotta be absolutely perfect. If it miss it, that's it. I've only got one shot at this!"

"Oh, not bad," Sanji remarked, "but how are you going to get passed those balls?"

"Just let me worry about that," Usopp reassured him. He was in the zone. "Did I happen to mention that they also call me King of the Jungle? Here it goes… UUUSOOOOPP…" Usopp took a deep breath… and then he jumped, "AAAAAH-AAAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAAH!"

**-x-**

**Ten Percent Survival:**

**-x-**

**SWOOOOSH! **Usopp swung through the forest on his latest invention the Usopp Aaaah-Aaaah-Aaaah-Aaaaah in a desperate attempt to catch the Crow. **WHING!**

"YEEEAAAH!" Usopp cheered as he swung passed the trees and surprise balls towards the Milky Road and the Crow. "IT WORKS! AAAAH-AAAAHH-AAAAHH-AAAAAAAAHHH!" Usopp reached the peak of his swing and ended up above the Crow on the Milky Road.

"That's it Usopp!" Sanji encouraged him, "Now just drop straight down! You can't miss!"

Usopp tugged at his harness and prepared to drop down onto the boat. The boat drifted onward… and onward… and completely passed under Usopp.

"HUUUUH?" Satori watched from above in surprise as Usopp struggled futilely with his belt. It wouldn't come undone and prevented him from landing on the Crow which caused him to miss his window.

"DAAAMN IIIIT!" Sanji shouted. "JUUUST JUUUMP!"

"Yeah… um… about that…" Usopp sheepishly replied, "There just one small problem… I forgot the rope is sort of attached to the belt… I never really got around to fixing that part… throw me some scissors or something!"

So as the Crow sailed onward underneath Usopp, gravity finally took its effect on him and the sniper started to come down from his big swing. **WHOOOOOSH! **

"Aaaaaaaahhh…" Usopp let out a depressed groan as he dropped downward and swung listlessly through the trees. He made a desperate grab the branch he had started out from but his swing didn't have enough momentum for him to reach it. "Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" **SWOOOOOSH! **Usopp dropped down as he fell into another long swing on his dud of an invention.

"Aaaah-haaaa-haaaa-haaaa-haaaaa…" Usopp cried pitifully as he swung back and forth through the trees (and conveniently missed all the surprise balls) as he rode out the momentum of his first big swing.

Sanji clenched his fist in irritation.

**SWOOOSH! **Luffy swooped by the depressed Usopp on a vine of his own. "YOOHOO!" he exclaimed. "HEY USOPP! WHADDAYA THINK? THIS IS A LOT OF FUN ISN'T IT? SHISHISHI! AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAH-AAAAAAAH!"

"I think I need to have a little word with those two," Sanji decided as he glared down at the two swinging pirates.

**-x-**

One savage beating later, the three pirates were ready for another go at catching the Crow.

Sanji casually smoked a new cigarette while Luffy and Usopp both sported fat lips, black eyes, and numerous large lumps and bruises on their heads.

"Here's the deal," Sanji instructed as they stood together underneath a tree, "I'm gonna forget about what just happened. But now you do what I say."

"Wight…" Luffy mumbled through this swollen mouth. "I'm fwowwy…"

"Yeah…" Usopp added, "Me too… what he said…"

"Okay then," Sanji resolved, "First thing, we're gonna forget about the boat for now. Then we're all gonna charge that fat freak at once. I don't care what kind of powers he's got. With all three of us attacking at the same time, if there's a way to beat him we'll find it."

"**OOH! DON'T BE SO SURE!" **a voice called out from somewhere behind them.

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji all glanced around warily for any sign of Satori but none of them could spot him.

"Um… where'd he go?" Luffy wondered.

"WAAAAAH" Satori flipped down from overhead and landed behind Sanji. **TMP! **Sanji turned around in time for Satori to lash his hand out at Sanji's chest. "IMPACT!" **BLING! WHAAM!**

"SAAAANJIIIIII!" Luffy and Usopp shouted at the cook was blasted backwards and slammed back-first into a tree. **KRASH! **Then he bounced off and dropped to the ground. **FWUMP!**

"Now what're we supposed to do?" Usopp wondered. Weren't they supposed to listen to him? That'd be hard if he was unconscious.

"HOH-HOH-HOOOOOO!" Sanji crowed. "Like they say, life is pain!" Satori's yellow-tinted glasses focused on Luffy and Usopp. "Now… who wants to go next?"

**-x-**

On the other side of the island, a little girl ran through the giant forest. She wore a fur cap that hid her short dark hair from view and a fur dress that her tiny white wings poked out from.

The little girl darted into a large 'cave' that was made from the space in between two of the humongous tree roots.

Just as the girl disappeared underneath the tree, Robin walked around the far side of the tree and casually took in the scenery. She never noticed the girl.

Inside the 'tree cave' the girl dropped to her knees and started to drag her hands through the dirt. The girl lifted her hands up and smiled when she saw them covered in dirt and then started to brush the loose dirt off of her hands into a small opened sack that she'd brought with her.

Meanwhile, Robin climbed up onto a tree root and then offered her hand to Nami who took it and allowed herself to be pulled up onto the large root along with Robin.

"Thanks," Nami said simply.

Zoro walked up behind the two of them.

Underneath the tree, the little girl's head jerked to the side as she stared out through the opening at the sound of 'voices'. She darted out of the cave and made a break for it.

Nami noticed the movement from the other side of the tree and glanced back at Zoro.

"Hey, did something just move over there?" Nami questioned.

"I don't know," Zoro answered as he climbed up onto the root.

"Oh," Nami sighed, "Um… then did you see anything Robin?"

"Nope, sorry," Robin replied, "Can't say I did."

"Are you sure it wasn't a monkey or something?" Zoro suggested.

"A monkey?" Nami repeated, "Um… yeah… I guess…"

"So what do you think?" Robin asked. "Maybe we should check out the other shore."

"Forget it!" Nami refused, "I told you I'm not getting attacked by those sharks again!"

"Ugghh…" Zoro groaned, "Here we go again…"

The little girl watched the three of them from on top of a higher root then turned and ran off.

**-x-**

At the Sacrificial Altar, Ricky and Chopper stared down at the hammer on the bottom step. It was inches from the Sea Clouds that they knew were filled with vicious sky sharks.

"Don't worry Chopper," Ricky tried to reassure him, "I'll get it for you."

"No!" Chopper interrupted. "I'll get it."

Ricky looked over at Chopper in surprise, "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm a man!" Chopper insisted, "So I've gotta give it my best shot."

"Alright then," Ricky said with a slight smile. He turned around and sat down on the step below the sky shark he'd been cutting up. "Try and go as quickly and as quietly as possible."

Chopper climbed up onto one of the railings that ran alongside the stairs and slowly slid down it. **SWISH! **"Just don't let them see you…" Chopper whispered to himself as he continued to slide down the railing,** Swiish! **"Gently… geentlyy…" **Swiiisshh! ** "Nice and easy…" **Swiiiissshhh…**

Chopper reached the bottom of the stairs and hopped off of the railing onto the step.

Up above him, Ricky tightened his hold on the handle of his sword while Chopper crept along the step that was alongside the lake of sky sharks.

**Tmp… tmp… tmp… **Chopper tiptoed across the step towards the hammer in the middle. **Tmp… tmp… tmp… **Chopper got to the hammer and slowly reached down and picked it up.

"Got it," Chopper whispered he looked up and beamed at Ricky whole smiled back. "Now I can fix the ship like I promised."

**CAAAAW! CAAAAW! **The bird flew overhead and let out a loud cry that startled the reindeer.

"WAAAAAH!" Chopper shrieked as he jumped around on the step. Then he remembered where he was and clamped his hooves over his mouth. Up above him, Ricky stood up on his high stair. Chopper's heart pounded, as he slowly peaked over his shoulder at the Sea Clouds behind him.

Sure enough, a purple dorsal fin cut through the water. **SPLOOSH! **A huge Sky Shark shot up out of the white water-like clouds and dove at Chopper with its mouth wide opened.

"CHOPPER! JUMP!" Ricky yelled.

**SKISH! WHAAM! **Chopper stared wide-eyed as he found himself perched on the snout of the Sky Shark which had its huge tooth-filled mouth clamped down on the step Chopper had just stood on. **SWOOSH! SWOOSH! **The Sky Shark swung its head while Chopper desperately attempted to stay balanced on top of it. **SWOOOSH! **With one final swing of its head, Chopper was launched back up the steps towards the Going Merry.

**SKISH! **Ricky jumped up and caught Chopper in midair then dropped down and landed on a step about three-quarters of the way up. **TMP!**

**SPLOOSH! **The Sky Shark lunged out of the sea clouds and dove at them.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed in terror.

"Machete… BACK KICK!" Ricky spun around and drove his boot into the sky shark's snout just as it reached them. **THWHAM! **The Sky Shark was knocked back down the steps and plunged down into the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOSH!**

"Phew," Ricky sighed in relief, "that was a close one."

"Yeah…" Chopper timidly agreed as Ricky put him down.

"That was really brave, Chopper," Ricky remarked.

"Shut up! Don't say stuff like that!" Chopper shouted… while he did a happy dance. "I'm a man! So you know that won't make me happy!"

"I can see that…" Ricky dead-panned, "So do you want to get back to work or would you like to have sushi to celebrate?"

"What's 'sushi'?" Chopper questioned.

"Raw fish," Ricky answered with a pointed glance at the dead sky shark up above them.

"That doesn't sound very healthy…" Chopper commented.

"You kidding?" Ricky asked, "When I was on Ace's pirate crew our cook made it all the time. Now, I'm nowhere near Treys' level but it doesn't take a cooking prodigy like Sanji to cut up vegetables and wrap them around bits of fish. Celebrating your bravery against a sky shark by eating a sky shark seems fitting, don't you think?"

"In that case I'll give it a try," Chopper agreed.

Ricky smiled and the two of them headed back up the steps.

**FWAP! FWAP! FWAP! FWAP! FWAP! **A large purple bird flew through the trees towards the clearing the Sacrificial Altar was in.

The hair on the back of Ricky's neck stood up and he whirled around and saw a familiar man fly into the clearing on the back of a familiar bird.

"Chopper, get back on the ship and stay there no matter what happens," Ricky instructed, "We have company." Chopper looked backwards and Ricky waited until he was sure Chopper had seen the Priest then gave him a shove towards the ship. "Go."

Ricky turned around just as Shura swooped down on Fuza.

"Well, well, well, looks like today's my lucky day," Shura remarked.

"Okay hey," Ricky greeted him, "You're just in time. I was just about to cook that sky shark I caught. But now that you and your fire breathing bird are here, you can save me the trouble. What do you say? Cook that shark for me and I'll give you half."

Shura glared at him, "So is this how Blue Sea Dwellers plead for their lives? How pathetic."

"I'm not pleading for my life," Ricky told him, "It's a genuine offer. There's no need for us to fight when we can sit down and talk this out over a nice meal like rational people."

"Do you really think I'd agree to that after you embarrassed me in front of the Almighty Eneru?" Shura snapped. "You made the four of us look like fools! I never thought you'd be stupid enough to fall for this trap. I had thought you were one of the three intruders that was coming through the entrance to save your friends that we were set to sacrifice. I was disappointed that they picked Satori's Ordeal of Balls instead of my Ordeal of String. But it turns out that _I _was the real lucky one because here you are."

"Yup, here I am," Ricky agreed.

"Hmm…" Shura said, "There were supposed to be eight of you Blue Sea Dwellers altogether. Three that came through the entrance, you and that _creature_ that leaves three unaccounted for."

"Watch it!" Ricky snapped, "That _creature_ is my little brother."

Shura blinked in surprise as he glanced up at Chopper as he watched them while he held onto the railing of the Going Merry from the inside.

"Seriously?" Shura asked.

"I'd never expect someone like you to understand," Ricky stated.

"No matter," Shura remarked as he gripped his lance, "Your stunt from earlier caught the attention of the Almighty Eneru and He has requested that I bring you before Him. It will be my pleasure to bring you to Him… IN PIECES!"

Ricky reached down and grabbed the handle of his sword, "Well unlike last time, I'm actually ready for a fight," Ricky retorted, "So I'll be _my pleasure _to resist you!"

**-x-**

Robin knelt down and brushed her hand on a piece of stone she'd noticed coming out of the ground. Most people would have walked right over it. But Robin was a master archeologist.

"_Cobblestones," _Robin noted, _"We may find more clues if we see where these lead…"_

Nami slid down the root she'd been standing on and glanced down at Robin, "What'd you find?"

"Quiet!" Zoro suddenly ordered as he gripped the handle of _Wado Ichimonji_. "Don't move."

Nami sensed the graveness in Zoro's tone and immediately tensed up.

All three of them were silent. Robin glanced upward.

**SPLOOSH! **A sky shark dove out from the bottom of the Milky Road that was up above them. The monster's mouth was wide opened and it was headed straight for Nami.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Zoro roared as he lunged at the shark and punched it in the face. **POW!**

**WHAP! **At the same time, Robin had sprouted a dozen arms on both sides of the sky sharks mouth and clasped the top and bottom hands together to keep the monster's mouth shut.

The sky shark was knocked backwards and crashed down into the Milky Road in front of them. **SPLOOOSH!**

"Huuuh…" Zoro let out a short sigh as he shook out his hand.

"What a day, huh?" Robin remarked.

They glanced back at Nami who had dropped to her knees and looked terrified.

"Try to be more careful," Zoro told her.

"Yeah…" Nami timidly replied, "Sure… thanks."

**-x-**

**BLINK! WHAAM!** Usopp was blasted backwards and slammed down onto a root. **KRASH! **

"UUUSOOOPP!" Luffy shouted in alarm. He turned and glared at Satori who had retreated to up above him.

"HAAAA!" Satori shouted as he lashed out his leg and kicked a surprise cloud. **THWAK! **The white ball flew forward and slammed into a bunch of other surprise clouds and knocked them forward. **KONK! KONK! KONK! KONK!**

Four surprise clouds flew down at Luffy… and exploded. **KA-BOOOM-BOOOM-BOOOM-BOOOM! **While not quite up to the level of Jun's blood the four explosions were enough to blow Luffy off of the root. He dropped down to the ground in a smoking heap. **THUD!**

Satori grinned as he glanced down at the three fallen Straw Hats. Satori's Ordeal of Balls had really started to live up to its ten percent survival rate and while Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were down on the ground the Crow continued to sail further and further away from them.

"HOH-HOH-HOOOOO!" Satori's mad laughter rang through the area.

Things looked bad. The Priests of Upper Yard really lived up to the place's terrible reputation.

**-x-**

That was a nice quick update. Next chapter, Luffy, Usopp and Sanji continue in their Ordeal of Balls and Ricky finds himself in an Ordeal of his own as he takes on Skyrider Shura.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	19. Skyrider Shura

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** This is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. Please support the official release.

**Skyrider Shura:**

**-x-**

**Truuuuum… tring tring… trruuuuumg…**

"I'd call this one of the finest batches in years," Gan Fall remarked, "Would you agree Pagaya?" After saving Conis from Eneru's wrath, the current Sky Knight and former God Gan Fall had made a quick stop to pick up her father and took the two back to his house where they would be safe from Eneru. Gan Fall's house wasn't nearly as lavish as Eneru's palace. It was a simple wooden house sitting in the shade of a small tree on a small cloud that was separate from the rest of Skypeia.

Pagaya stood outside the house while Gan Fall casually watered his pumpkin patch. Conis was a little ways away with Suu and was sadly playing a harp.

**Truuuuuummm…**

"Huh?" Pagaya questioned.

"I'm referring to the pumpkins," Gan Fall told him, "I don't think I've ever grown them quite as sweet."

"Hmm…" Pagaya hummed to himself, "Of course. I'm sorry by my mind is wandering elsewhere. It was very kind of you to take us in. I dislike putting you in this position."

"Not at all," Gan Fall reassured him. "If they believe that your daughter let the Straw Hats escape they'll consider you an accomplice. The only safe place for you is here. You can consider this one on the house. We're all lucky that Eneru's Mantra doesn't reach this far."

**Trrrruuuum trrrruuuuum tring…**

"How are things back on the island?" Gan Fall inquired.

"I'm sorry?" Pagaya questioned.

"The crops," Gan Fall clarified. "Are they coming in hearty this year?"

"From what I know of it, yes," Pagaya replied, "Quite well indeed."

"Well that's good to hear," Gan Fall remarked, he left the garden and picked up a tray with three glasses on it. "I've prepared some pumpkin juice made from the very ones that grow here, wonderful flavor." Gan Fall placed the tray on the front porch next to Pagaya before returning to the garden. "Try some."

"Thank you," Pagaya said, "It looks refreshing." Pagaya picked up a cup, "Conis dear, you should try this."

**Tring tring…**

"Hmmm…" Conis sighed as she half-heartedly plucked at the strings of the harp.

"Young lady, I'm curious," Gan Fall addressed Conis, "Have you ever heard tale of those from the Blue Sea World called 'pirates'?"

Conis blinked at the unfamiliar term, "Never," she answered.

"They are basically just criminals that travel on the water," Gan Fall stated, "And though each ship may vary somewhat, these pirates are usually recognized by their flag with a skull and crossbones on it." Conis went wide-eyed when she remembered seeing the Straw Hats' smiling straw-hatted Jolly Roger. "I have my suspicions that your new friends fall in line with his kind."

"That's absurd!" Pagaya protested. "You mean these people were criminals before they set foot on our shore?"

"Hmmhmmhmm," Gan Fall chuckled, "They may not live by the rules of their world but I can't necessarily call that criminal. There are those that fall out of grace with the rule of law in any society. I don't see you two as any different from them. Who says that those that don't fit in are wrong and others are right? Sometimes the way of the world is backwards and blurred. And it can change in an instant. For example, you kill a man in war and you're branded a hero. Kill the same man in peace-time and you're prosecuted as a murderer. I myself had a pirate friend a long time ago. He came here with his band more than twenty years ago while I was still God of Skypeia. They were funny, all of them, boisterous people with lots to laugh about and a general air of freedom. I hated to say goodbye. The beauty of this land masks a truth as old as time. Skypeia is entangled in endless war. We the people of Skypeia wage this war with those we call 'guerrillas', the Shandians. Even now they move against Eneru constantly, trying to siege the sky. I worry for all those I could not protect."

"When you were God you did all that you could to coexist," Pagaya reminded him, "Even the Shandians were convinced of this. You gave all of us hope that the several hundred year war would end and leave us with lasting peace."

"Aah," Gan Fall sighed, "I didn't have near enough time. Eneru dethroned me before I could solidify the treaty. Wasted efforts. I'm sorry for failing my people."

"Stop that," Pagaya scolded him, "You have nothing to apologize for."

**-x-**

Back at the Sacrificial Altar on Upper Yard, Ricky stared down with the Priest 'Skyrider' Shura while Chopper watched the confrontation from the safety of the Going Merry.

"The Almighty Eneru has requested your presence," Shura stated, "AND AS HIS LOYAL PRIEST I WILL OBLIGE HIM!" Shura shot his lance out at Ricky. **SKISH! **Ricky leapt up into the air and Shura drove his lance into the stone step he'd just been standing on. **SHUNK! FWOOOOM! **Flames shot out of the hole that Shura had made in the stone steps.

**TMP! **Ricky landed on the lance above the flames and ran up it then springboarded off of it and up into the air. **SKISH! **

"_So you want to attack from the air," _Shura noted, _"There's a reason they call me 'Skyrider' Shura. I'll show you why the air is the last place you want to be while fighting me!"_

Shura pulled back on his hold on Fuza and his bird reared upward.

"**CAAAAW!" FWWOOOOSH! **The bird unleashed a torrent of fire from its mouth.

"Stupid fire-breathing bird…" Ricky complained as he twisted to the side in midair and caused the flames to go sailing passed him.

**FWOOOOM!**

Since he had spun around to avoid the flames Ricky was able to see what they hit instead of him.

"OH SHIT! MERRY!" Ricky and Chopper both stared in horror when they saw the flames burning on the main mast of their beloved Going Merry.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper screamed at the sight of the flames, "THE MERRY'S ON FIRE!" The fire was burning on the main mast just above the metal plates that Usopp had hastily applied to repair the ship from when Luffy had torn the main mast off in order to fight Laboon the whale.

"CHOPPER! GET RID OF THE FLAMES!" Ricky shouted in alarm. _"I've got to get this fire-wielding creep and his fire-breathing bird away from our ship."_

**SKISH!** Ricky jumped to the side and landed on the side railing of the stone steps then leaned forward and began sliding down them.. **SWWIIIISSSH…**

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE YOUR JUDGMENT!" Shura roared as his bird whirled around and took off after him.

"WHY'D HE HAVE TO BURN OUR SHIP?" Chopper wailed. The only source of 'water' was the Sky Shark-infested bed of Sea Clouds at the bottom of the Sacrificial Altar. The reindeer wasn't sure the ship's main mast would last long enough for him to fetch some. Chopper thought quickly and transformed into Heavy Point. "Sorry Merry but I'm doing this to save you…" Chopper wrapped his muscular arms around the mast and began to pull on it. **Krek… krek… **"UUUGGGGHHH!" Chopper let out a groan of exertion before he tore the burning mast off of the ship. **CHUNK! **Chopper turned and threw the mast down the stairs. **WOOOOSH!**

"WHOA!" Shura exclaimed as he steered Fuza to the side to avoid the burning mast as it flew past him. The mast sailed onward passed Ricky and eventually splashed down in the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOSH! **The water-like Sea Clouds finally extinguished the flames but the damage had already been done and the flames had burned almost half-way through the wooden mast.

"Usopp's gonna be pissed," Ricky noted as he stared at the main mast while he continued to slide down the side railing. "But right now I've gotta deal with this guy. He's got a fire breathing bird, a lance that makes fire and the same annoying ability that the round guy had that allows him to predict my moves."

**SWOOSH! **Fuza swooped around him and Shura lashed out at Ricky. **SKISH! **Ricky jumped up into the air and flew clear over the low-flying bird then quickly drew his sword and slashed it at Shura. "Red Storm… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" **WHOOSH! **A red-tinted blade of air flew off of Ricky's sword but Shura veered to the side and avoided it. **SWISH! **Shura quickly lashed out and jabbed Ricky with his lance. **SHUNK****! **The lance sank into Ricky's stomach then burst into flames. **FWOOOM! **Ricky hit the stone steps with a literally _burning _wound. **KRASH! **Shura grinned as he watched Ricky roughly roll down the steps towards the Sea Clouds below.

"Hmph, I knew whatever you pulled before was a fluke," Shura muttered, "The only reason you got away was because those imbeciles kept getting in my way."

Up on the Going Merry, Chopper winced as he saw Ricky go tumbling down the stairs. Luckily the rolling put out the flames but unluckily it was a long flight of stairs and Ricky was getting really banged up.

"This is bad," Chopper whispered. "Big Brother's getting beaten up and there's nothing I can do to help him."

**Tink! **Chopper accidentally kicked something. He looked down and spotted the One Whistle that Gan Fall had given them. It had fallen off of the main mast when he'd torn it off.

"The One Whistle…" Chopper whispered. He thought back to how they'd decided to put it on the main mast in the first place.

**-One Whistle Flashback-**

"This is the One Whistle," the Sky Knight explained as he tossed a silver whistle down on the deck, "It is yours to use as you see fit. Should you find yourselves in danger, you have but to blow it and I will come to your aid! As I said, normally I would charge you five million extol but for today, please accept this as my gift to you."

"Wait-wait-wait!" Ricky had quickly cut in. "You still never explained what extol were. I get that they're a form of currency here on the Sky Island but is there some place that I can go to exchange some gold or treasure for extol?"

"I believe if you continue onward you'll eventually come across Heaven's Gate," the Sky Knight told him as he got off of the railing and headed over to his bird that was waiting for him on the side of the Going Merry. "There is a toll in place that you'll have to pay to continue onward. Perhaps the gate inspector that's stationed there can help you."

"Right, I suppose that'll work," Ricky said.

"Hold on, we still don't know your name!" Nami reminded him.

"I am Gan Fall," the Sky Knight introduced himself as he stood on the railing then he motioned the bird standing next to him. "And this is my partner, Pierre."

Gan Fall rode off on Pierre after he'd 'amazed' the Straw Hats with his Pegasus transformation.

"MAY LUCK BE WITH YOU, BRAVE WARRIORS!"

**-x-**

"How're we supposed to get to that Heaven's Gate place?" Sanji wondered a little bit later.

"I KNOW!" Luffy exclaimed as he picked up the One Whistle that Gan Fall had left behind, "We can just call the old man back and we can ask him!"

**WHAP!** Nami and Usopp raced over and practically tore the One Whistle away from him.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, LUFFY!" Nami yelled. "You don't blow that whistle to ask for directions! It's supposed to be for emergencies only!"

"Yeah!" Usopp agreed, "Like if that guy who attacked us comes back again! You wanna get blown up?"

"Tell you what," Nami said, "just to be safe, I'll hold onto the whistle." She smirked. "Any objections?" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all raised their hands, Luffy because he wanted to use the cool whistle and Usopp and Chopper out of fear. "WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE? I'm clearly the weakest one here! I need it more than you!"

"But…" Luffy protested.

"BUT NOTHING!" Nami snapped, "It's the only thing that makes sense!"

"I WANNA BLOW IT!" Luffy complained.

"NOOO!" Usopp shouted at him. "FORGET IT LUFFY! IF WE GIVE IT TO YOU, YOU'RE JUST GONNA WASTE IT! IT'S NOT A TOY!"

Luffy stretched his arm out and tried to grab the whistle from Nami.

"Come on!" Luffy pleaded, "I wanna call that weird old guy again!"

Chopper ran over to Nami and made a three-way tug-a-war over the whistle. "Let me have it!" Chopper requested, "I'm the smallest and the weakest one here!"

"YOU WISH!" Usopp shrieked, "YOU'RE A TRANSFORMING REINDEER MONSTER! _I _NEED IT THE MOST! I'M THE WEAKEST AND YOU ALL KNOW IT!"

"Oh please!" Nami protested, "I'm just a defenseless girl!"

"'DEFENSELESS' MY BUTT!" Usopp yelled, "We all know that Ricky would walk through fire for you! And that goes for Chopper too! I NEED SOMEONE TO PROTECT _ME_!"

"Fighting over whose most pathetic," Robin remarked, "Odd…"

Eventually the fighting had settled down and Nami had hung the One Whistle on a hook she'd put on the main mast.

"Okay, here's how we're gonna do this," Nami announced "We leave the whistle on the main mast here, so if any of us gets into trouble all we have to do is run over here and blow it. Now its fair to everyone."

"Fine," Usopp conceded.

"Okay…" Chopper agreed.

"And one last thing," Nami added as she glanced over at Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, Sanji and Robin, "None of you are allowed to blow it under any circumstances, got it?"

"Awww…" Luffy pouted, "Can't I just call him one time?"

"You touch this whistle and you'll be swimming with the sky fish!" Nami growled.

"Fine, we got it," the five of them chorused.

**-End of One Whistle Flashback-**

"Right now, Big Brother is the one that needs help," Chopper noted as he glanced back down at Ricky who had finally stopped tumbling and was left about five steps above the Sea Clouds. "He's protecting me but whose protecting him? I know I'm not strong enough to fight that guy… I think this qualifies as an emergency. Big Brother might not be allowed to blow the whistle but I can do it for him!"

Chopper picked up the One Whistle and took a deep breath and then blew into it as hard and as long as he could, **TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

**-x-**

**Twwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…**

Nami suddenly tensed when she heard the faint whistling sound coming from the direction she, Zoro and Robin had originally come from.

"_Ricky…" _Nami thought to herself then she turned and called out to her two companions. "Did either of you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Zoro asked.

"I could've sworn I just heard a whistle," Nami said.

"I heard it too Miss. Navigator," Robin stated. "It was very faint and it sounded like it came from far away."

"I didn't hear anything," Zoro admitted.

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOOOO!" Satori laughed loudly as he stood over Luffy, Usopp and Sanji in the middle of the Lost Forest and his Ordeal of Balls.

**Twweeeeeeeeeeeeee…**

A faint whistling rang through the area but Satori's loud cackles mostly drowned it out.

**-x-**

Back at Gan Fall's house, Gan Fall was still watering his pumpkin patch but Conis had stopped playing her harp.

"A legend is passed down in Skypeia about its beginnings," Gan Fall said. "It is said that the day that the Upper Yard – the sacred ground – was created the voice of the island sung forth a beautiful song that echoed through the skies. It was at that moment that the tragedy between the people of the sky and the Shandorians began, as if on cue. And so the legend says, when we next hear the singing voice of the island this war will finally come to an end."

"The voice?" Conis repeated.

"That's right," Gan Fall confirmed, "And our sacred land will sing again someday. Some day she must.

**Tweeeeeeeee…. **The now very faint sound of the One Whistle reached the island and Pierre jumped up in alarm.

"PIIIIEEE!" Pierre cried out as he jumped up from the cloud bed he'd been resting on and frantically flapped his bird wings to get Gan Fall's attention. "PIIIIEEEE!"

Gan Fall looked surprised but quickly dropped his watering can in a nearby barrel then put on his helmet and picked up his lance.

"Is something happening?" Pagaya asked.

"Nothing you need worry about," Gan Fall assured him as he ran and jumped on Pierre's back. "I've got a job to do! You'll be safe here!" The Sky Knight and his steed flew off in a distance to answer the call of the One Whistle.

Conis walked over to her father, not sure what to make of the Sky Knight's sudden departure. Pagaya sighed to himself and went over to the old broken Waver that the Straw Hats had given him to fix for them. He had a job to do too.

Suu hopped up onto the porch and sniffed at the three glasses of pumpkin juice. Conis picked one up and took a drink.

"He's right!" she exclaimed, "This pumpkin juice is fantastic!"

"Yes," Pagaya agreed as he tinkered with the Waver, "He's quite good at… cultivating things."

**-x-**

Ricky stood up on the fifth step from the bottom while Shura and Fuza swooped down towards him. **SKISH! **Ricky leapt high up into the air so he was up over the bird's head and slashed his sword down at Shura "Red Storm… AVALANCHE!" **SHOOM! **A red tinted blast flew off of Ricky's sword at Shura.

**SKISH! **Shura leapt up off of Fuza's back and avoided the air blade like he knew it was coming and was suddenly level with Ricky then lashed out his lance. **WHAP! **Ricky caught the lance and managed to pin it to his side. **THWAK! **But Shura lashed out his legs and kicked Ricky backwards.

Ricky went flying while Shura dropped down to the steps. **TMP! **But then Fuza swooped around and hit Ricky from behind. **WHAM! **Ricky was sent flying… RIGHT TOWARD SHURA! Shura lashed out his lance. **SHUNK! **And dove it into Ricky's chest. **FWOOOOSSSHHH! **Flames burst out of the tip of the lance and Ricky was blasted backwards and dropped down into the bed of Sea Clouds below. **SPLOOSH!**

"Hmph," Shura grunted, "In the end he was worthless. I knew what happened last time was a fluke. He wasn't even worth Almighty Eneru's time. Now he can serve as a snack for the sharks.

"BIIIG BROOOTHEEEER!" Chopper screamed from the ship. That had been a bad idea because his scream drew Shura and Fuza's attention to him.

"Hm, now it's your turn to be a sacrifice," Shura decided. He hopped back on Fuza's back and Chopper shook in terror as the Priest and his bird started flying back up to the top of the Altar.

"Oh no…" Chopper gasped, "Big Brother couldn't even beat this guy! WHAT DO I DO?"

"HOLD STILL AND I'LL END THIS QUICKLY, FURBALL!" Shura shouted.

**-x-**

Elsewhere on Upper Yard, a familiar little girl was running through the trees with her bag of Vearth when she suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared up at the sky which she could barely see through the giant trees.

"It's Gan Fall…" the girl observed.

**-x-**

**WOOOOOOSSH! **Gan Fall flew over Upper Yard on the back of Pierre and rushed to respond to the call of the One Whistle.

"PIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Pierre crowed as he soared over the enormous trees towards the Altar.

**-x-**

**Former God vs. Priest:**

**-x-**

Zoro, Nami and Robin were once again crossing part of the Milky Road but this time they were using a large tree trunk as a bridge.

"Nami, would you pick up the pace?" Zoro complained from behind Nami who was starting to fall behind Robin. "I'm growing gray hairs back here!"

"SHUT UP!" Nami snapped at him. "Stop it you're distracting me! What if I slip and fall, huh? I'll be dead! And then how would you feel?"

**SPLOOOSH! **A sky shark surged up out of the Milky Road and dove at the pirates on top of the tree trunk.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Nami screamed in terror as the shark dove at her. She lurched to the side to avoid the mouth full of teeth and ended up falling off the top of the branch. "AAAAAAAHHH!" Nami screamed as she started falling and turned so she was sliding feet-first down the side of the branch. She was wearing the boots Ricky had given her and they slowed her fall long enough for her to reach out and grab onto a vine that was growing out of the side of the trunk. **WHAP! **

Meanwhile, Zoro drew _Wado Ichimonji _and lashed out at the sky shark. **SLISH! SLISH! **Blood poured out of the shark's wounds as it dropped back down into the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOSH!**

Zoro sheathed his sword and glanced down the tree trunk, "Nami, you alright down there?"

"Yeah…" Nami grunted as she used the vine to climb up the side of the tree trunk, "These boots are lifesavers."

"You're quite welcome Miss. Navigator," Robin replied.

Nami reached the top of the tree trunk and stared at her in confusion. "What's that?"

"I was the one that helped Mr. One Eye pick out those boots for you," Robin explained, "Originally he didn't have a clue what to get you. But his heart was in the right place since he was trying to pick out an 'I'm Sorry' present for you so I lent him a hand."

"Oh, well thanks then," Nami said. "These shoes probably saved my life."

"As I said, you're quite welcome," Robin answered. "But I would have made sure to catch you if you hadn't caught yourself. Mr. One Eye would be upset if we let you get eaten by Sky Sharks."

Nami frowned, "Can we stop talking about Ricky?" Zoro and Robin both blinked in surprise.

"Did _she _really just say that?" Zoro asked as Nami stomped off.

**-x-**

"Uuuugghhh…" Ricky groaned as he treaded Sea Clouds and clutched his wounds. The one on his stomach was shallow but the one on his chest was a fair bit deeper. "The only good thing about being stabbed by a burning spear is that the wound gets cauterized immediately."

"**Grrrrr…" **Ricky turned around and found himself face-to-teeth with a vicious Sky Shark.

"Oh great," Ricky muttered, "What do you want?"

**-x-**

"_He's going to grow," _Shura observed using his Mantra as he raced towards Chopper.

Chopper grew into his large Heavy Point form and waved his big fist at Shura.

"STAY AWAY FROM THIS SHIP!" Chopper hollered in an attempt to scare the priest off. "YOU'VE ALREADY DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE TO IT!"

**SKISH! **Shura leapt off of Fuza and landed on the railing of the Going Merry. **TMP!**

"You're an odd sort of creature aren't you?" Shura questioned. "You don't want me to kill your friend, you don't want me to destroy this ship, and you obviously don't want me to kill you. What did you think was going to happen when you were on a Sacrificial Altar?"

"I was just supposed to fix the ship and wait here until my friends got back," Chopper admitted.

"Be assured your friends are trying their hardest to get back here," Shura assured him, "Of course they're going to find it incredibly difficult. On this island there are four areas, each of which is governed by a different Priest. Our first rule is that when targets are in one of the areas the other Priests are not supposed to interfere with them in any way." Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were currently in one of the areas dealing with Satori. "_But_, this Sacrificial Altar doesn't sit inside the perimeter of any of the areas. Here we are in a free zone which means that any one of us can find those that are here and proper etiquette would not have those at the Altar killed until after the targets fail at a challenge and die."

"WHAT?" Chopper shouted. "LUFFY AND THE OTHERS ARE DEAD?"

"Calm yourself," Shura ordered. "The fact that I am here does not necessarily mean that your friends are dead at this point. It's unfortunate but true. I stand before you now with a different purpose of sacrifice."

"What's different about it?" Chopper questioned. "Wait… you mean if my friends get back here and rescue me then we're free to go? But you won't let that happen, will you?"

"Well, that depends on you," Shura answered, "And whether you and your crew can make your escape from the free zone fast enough."

"What?" Chopper asked.

"But hold that thought," Shura said, "The reason I'm here is because those are the judgment rules under _normal _circumstances. However, when there is an exceptional situation the rules are set to change a little."

"Exceptional?" Chopper repeated.

"Yes, exceptional," Shura confirmed, "In this exceptional situation… a Blue Sea Dweller trespassed on the sacred land of Upper Yard and somehow managed to escape with his life. His actions caught the attention of the Almighty Eneru and God ordered him to be brought back and for the four of us to apprehend him when he arrived."

"Ricky…" Chopper realized.

"When we found him we were ordered to capture him and kill any Blue Sea Dwellers that happened to be with him," Shura continued, "But in this exceptional situation, three sacrifices escaped the Altar and swung to the main island using vines. That left only my target and an extra. I couldn't just take him and leave. I needed someone here to send a message to your friends when they returned and found him gone otherwise they'd just assume that he escaped. I wanted them to see it when they came back, their good friend lying on deck, the life drained from him. Then they would realize the severity of their mistakes and realize that God's Judgment had been passed."

**-x-**

"Mr. Swordsman," Robin said to Zoro in a low voice while Nami walked off ahead of them. "I know that Ms. Navigator doesn't wish to speak about Mr. One Eye but I wanted to know if you noticed his odd behavior before we left."

"Yeah, he's never really cared that much about food before," Zoro noted. "The second we took down that shark he was dead set on staying there and eating it. He even turned down the chance to find a huge treasure."

"So you noticed it too then," Robin realized.

"It was pretty hard to miss," Zoro replied as he eyed the orange haired girl walking in front of them, "He basically pushed Nami to leave the ship with us."

"Before the lobster came I spoke with Mr. One Eye below deck," Robin informed him, "I pointed out Ms. Conis' odd behavior to him and suggested that it might be a trap. But he already knew and decided that he wanted to spring it. He told me that when you truly care about someone you think of their safety above your own. Then he tried to send Ms. Navigator, Mr. Doctor and myself to get the others so he could spring the trap with just you."

"Yeah, that sounds like Ricky," Zoro admitted.

"Well the point is," Robin continued, "That faint whistling that Miss. Navigator and I heard before. Do you think it could have been Mr. Doctor blowing the One Whistle that we got from the Sky Knight?"

"Then that would mean that they're being attacked!" Zoro realized, "NAMI! We need to head back to the ship!"

"Oh, so _now _you want to help Ricky," Nami spat.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Zoro demanded.

Nami whirled around, "Did you _honestly _think I didn't notice how he was acting?" she asked. "The only thing that'd keep _'One Eye' Ricky Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire_ from hunting an extraordinary treasure is his Nakama's safety. He knew he'd pissed off God when those White Berets tried to arrest him so he sent us off so he could face God and His Priests on his own. He tried to trick Chopper into going with us too but he didn't take the bait."

"If you knew all this… THEN WHY DID YOU AGREE TO COME ALONG?" Zoro shouted.

"WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Nami yelled. "He was willing to stay behind and face the wrath of a God and His Priests all on his own! If I stuck around I'd be next to useless and he'd probably die trying to save me! Here's a better question: WHY WERE _YOU _SO EAGER TO LEAVE HIM BEHIND? If he had you with him he would've stood more of a chance!"

"I WAS TRYING TO DRAW GOD'S ATTENTION AWAY FROM HIM!" Zoro hollered, he took a deep breath and calmed himself. "I thought that if I bad-mouthed 'God' enough and then went off on my own that he'd go after me instead of Ricky."

"Oh, and then you decided to bring me and Robin along with you," Nami pointed out, "Brilliant plan Zoro!"

"I didn't ask either of you to come along!" Zoro insisted, "You decided that on your own!"

Zoro and Nami glared at each other while Robin silently looked on.

**-x-**

"Your friend was so determined to protect you," Shura noted, "And I had to get rough on him when he refused to come along quietly. I can still sense that he's alive even though he's proven to be beneath God's notice. But the situation hasn't changed. I still need a sacrifice to send my message. And since you're the only one here… that means it'll have to be you."

Chopper stiffened when some things Ricky had said earlier came back to him.

_"Chopper, are you sure you don't want to go with them?" Ricky had offered, "I promise I won't be upset if you want to go and explore too. That's what pirates do after-all."_

_"I promise I'll keep you safe, Little Brother."_

"He knew," Chopper suddenly realized. "He knew you were coming for him. He tried to send me away along with them so he'd be here alone when you arrived."

"If nothing else, he was brave to accept his judgment in the manner that he did," Shura noted, "He understood that sacrifice was part of life. He remained behind and sacrificed himself for your friends. Now why don't you follow his example and accept your judgment like a man?" Shura was done talking. He raised his lance and aimed it at Chopper.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed.

**SPLOOOOSSSHH! **A Sea Shark came flying out of the Sea Cloud and flew nearly all the way up the stone Altar steps. Shura whirled around and prepared to face the new threat.

The Sky Shark's mouth suddenly opened and revealed Ricky slashing his red sword, "…HURRICANE!" **WHOOSH! **A red-tinted spiral of compressed air flew off of his sword and slammed into Shura. **SHOOOM! **The priest was knocked off the railing and slammed into the other side of the Going Merry. **WHAM!**

"Stay away from my little brother!" Ricky growled as he jumped out of the Sky Shark's mouth. **KRASH! **The Sky Shark landed on the steps behind him and looked wary at the dead Sky Shark that was lying nearby. Ricky spun the Sky Shark around and gave it a good shove that sent it sliding down the stone steps then jumped after it and landed on its back. **SKIIISSSHH…**

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME!" Shura yelled as he pulled himself up and jumped back on Fuza then raced after Ricky and the Sky Shark. **SWOOSH!**

Ricky spun around on his sliding Sky Shark and slashed his sword at the Priest that was quickly catching up behind him. "Red Storm… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" **WOOOSH!**

**SWIIISSH! **Shura veered Fuza to the side and the red-tinted blast flew by him and slammed into the steps. **BOOOM! **A huge hole was blasted in the stairs when Ricky's attack made contact.

"Red Storm... HURRICANE!" **WOOOSH! **Ricky launched a red-tinted spiral at Shura.

"FASTER FUZA!" Shura ordered. His bird folded its wings in close to its sides and picked up speed. **SWOOOOSH! **It dove right through the spiral and began to gain on Ricky.

Ricky spun around and slashed his sword, "Red Storm… TORNADO!" **WHOOOSH! **A red-tinted circular blade flew off of Ricky's sword and shot out in all directions.

"PULL BACK!" Shura instructed. Fuza extended its wings and slowed its dive then ascended upwards so Ricky's attack flew under it. **BOOOOM! **The air blade cleaved into the stone steps that the bird had been flying over only seconds ago.

Ricky's attack had been enough to slow his pursuers and the Sky Shark he was surfing down the steps on top of finally reached the bottom and dove straight into the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOOSH!**

**SWOOSH! **Shura pulled up on Fuza when they reached the bottom of the stairs and they slowly soared over the Sea Clouds and the main mast of the Going Merry while he looked for any sign of Ricky.

"THERE FUZA!" Shura shouted as he pointed to a spot in the Sea Clouds and turned his steed to face it.

**SPLOOOSH! **Ricky and the Sky Shark shot out of the Sea Clouds in the exact spot that Shura had just pointed to. "White Storm… TSUNAMI!" Ricky slashed his sword through the Sea Clouds beside him. **SHOOOOOOOM! **A column of white clouds flew at Shura.

"**CAAAAAAWWW!" FWWOOOOOSSHH! **Fuza unleashed another torrent of flames that collided with the blast Sea Clouds. **FWOOOOOM! **The fire and the water-like Sea Clouds negated each other and created a blanket of steam.

**SKISH! **Shura leapt off of Fuza and shot his lance out at Ricky. **KLANG! **Ricky swung his sword and knocked the lance aside but Shura lashed out his legs and drove them into Ricky's chest. **THWHAM! **Ricky went flying backwards and slammed down near the tail of the Sky Shark.

**SKISH! **Shura leapt after him and pounced on the prone Ricky then drew back his lance to deal the final blow. "NOW I'LL END THIS!"

**WOOOSH! **Something whizzed over the trees and flew over the clearing.

"Huh?" Shura tensed as he sensed a familiar person approaching.

The Sky Knight had arrived. Gan Fall dove off of Pierre and lashed his lance out at Shura but the Priest spun around and blocked the former God's first attack with his lance. **KLANG!**

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Gan Fall apologized.

"You kidding?" Ricky retorted, "You're right on time!"

"ITS GAN FALL THE SKY KNIGHT!" Chopper cheered.

"UUGGHHH!" Shura grunted as he fended off Gan Fall's attack and pushed him backwards. "I wasn't expecting company!"

**SKISH! **Gan Fall leapt off of the Sky Shark and Pierre swooped around and caught him then flew up into the air. **WOOOSH!**

**SKISH! **Shura quickly jumped off of Ricky and landed on Fuza then took off in pursuit of the Sky Knight. **SHOOOM!**

"GAAN FAALL!" Shura hollered as he flew after the former God.

"I KNEW YOU WOULDN'T LET US DOWN SKY KNIGHT!" Chopper exclaimed as he jumped up and down on the Going Merry.

"We're not dealing with an amateur here, Pierre," Gan Fall informed his steed. "I wouldn't want to disappoint a worthy opponent with anything but our best."

"PIIIEE!" Pierre crowed.

"What could that decrepit old relic possibly be doing here?" Shura wondered, he looked down and addressed Fuza, "Do you feel like putting him in his place?"

"CAAAWW!" Fuza shrieked.

"That was way too close," Ricky remarked as he sat up and grabbed onto his Sky Shark's purple dorsal fin so he could pull himself up its long body.

"ENOUGH STALLING!" Shura shouted at Gan Fall, "WE DON'T NEED TWO GODS ON THIS ISLAND!"

**KLANG! **Shura and Gan Fall collided in the air.

"Uugghh…" Shura grunted. He recoiled and appeared to have gotten the worst of the exchange.

**SWOOOOSH! **Gan Fall swooped down and flew by the Sacrificial Altar.

"GOOO SKYY KNIIIIGHT!" Chopper cheered as Pierre soared over his head while Gan Fall brought him around for another pass.

**WOOOOOSH! **Pierre soared up into the air and quickly caught up to Fuza so Gan Fall was beside his opponent.

"RAAH!" Shura roared as he lashed out his lance. **SWISH! **Pierre shot up into the air to avoid the attack. **WOOOSH! **Pierre dropped down on Shura's other side with his wings angled upward. **WHIP! **Pierre flapped his wings downward and Shura's eyes widened in alarm. GAN FALL WAS NO LONGER ON PIERRE'S BACK!

**KLAK! **Gan Fall's armor rattled as he landed on Fuza behind Shura. With a building sense of dread Shura slowly turned around to face the Sky Knight. Gan Fall slowly extended his hand. **SWISH! **In a panic, Shura lashed out his lance. But when it came away Gan Fall only had the slightest scorch mark on his cheek. Gan Fall's eyes narrowed as he slapped his gauntlet into Shura's chest. **Bing!** **WHAAAM! **The powerful impact sent Shura flying off of Fuza and he dropped like a rock.

"WHOA!" Chopper gasped as he watched the terrifying Priest fall from the sky. "SKY KNIGHT YOU'RE MY HERO!"

"What the heck just happened?" Ricky wondered. His lack of depth perception left him unable to properly view the aerial battle as it took place over his head.

**WOOOOOSH! **Fuza swooped down and caught Shura on its back before he could fall into the Sea Clouds then flew back up into the air. **SHOOOOM!**

**Klank! **Gan Fall landed on Pierre's back. "One more hit in the right spot should do it for him, eh Pierre?" the Sky Knight remarked to his bird.

"PIIIEEE!" Pierre agreed.

**WOOOOSH! **Pierre flew up into the air to meet Shura.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Shura snarled as he glared at Gan Fall. "You're nothing but a pathetic shell of your former self! And I'm through playing games with a fool! You showed up to this fight a criminal which leaves me only one option: take you out."

"Hmmm?" Gan Fall grunted.

Shura lowered his aviator goggles and snapped out his arms. **SWISH! **"ORDEAL OF STRING!"

"CAAAAWW!" Fuza crowed.

**-x-**

"Uuughhh…" Luffy groaned as he struggled to push himself back up to his feet.

"HOH HOH HOOO!" Satori laughed as he floated above him on a Surprise Cloud. "You're still alive! I'm impressed! And, as a reward for good behavior we're going to finish our little fun for today with a move I've received several awards for!"

Satori pulled on a rope. "MY SUPER-SECRET SURPRISE… BALL DRAGON!"

**SHOOM! **A menacing decorative dragon head floated up into view. It was easily the same size of the Surprise Clouds and had evil green eyes and a wide tooth-filled mouth.

Both Shura and Satori were now pulling out all the stops and their respective battles had both taken a dangerous turn for the worse.

**-x-**

**Ordeal of String:**

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori laughed as he twirled around on a Surprise Cloud. **BOING! BOING! BOING! **Surprise Clouds attached to the red dragon head and formed a long chain of over twenty balls.

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji staggered up to their feet but were less impressed than Satori had hoped.

"It looks like all you did is string a bunch of Surprise Clouds together," Luffy noted. "Is that the best you can do? I've got to say I'm disappointed."

"Oh you won't be for long!" Satori taunted as he floated over to his Surprise Dragon on a Surprise Cloud. "The dragon is loaded with explosive surprises and all kinds of delightful shrapnel!"

"Gah!" Usopp gasped, "But then that means…"

Satori grinned, "If you even _touch_ the Fire Bomb Ball that hidden somewhere on its body it will be over for you and your friends! You'll be blown to bits in the ensuing inferno! HOPE YOU LIKE FIREWORKS! GO BALL DRAGON!" **WOOOSH! **The dragon head spiraled through the trees towards the three Straw Hats and was followed by the long chain of Surprise Clouds.

**Swish-swish! **Luffy swung his arm around at his side, "GET READY FOR MY GUM GUM PISTOL! RAAAAAH!"

"LUFFY NO!" **WHUMP! **Usopp ran over and tackled Luffy out of the way. **WOOOOSH! **The Ball Dragon flew over them and looped around the clearing.

"YOU IDIOT!" Usopp scolded Luffy as he pinned him to the floor. "He just told us if we touch that thing that it'll _explode_! Do you _want to _die a fiery death?" **WHUP! ** Luffy shoved Usopp off of him and sat up.

"Then how're we gonna fight it?" Luffy asked.

"That's just it!" Usopp replied, "We _can't _fight this thing! It think now's the time to run!" **WOOOOSH! **The Ball Dragon swooped down at them. "AAAAAH!" Luffy and Usopp ran off with the Ball Dragon flying behind them.

"SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW?" Luffy shouted as he and Usopp ran with the dragon nearly nipping at their heels.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Usopp snapped, "YOU'RE THE CAPTAIN!" Despite that, Usopp came up with a quick plan, "Okay, on three: jump! THREE!" **SKISH! **Luffy and Usopp lunged to the side and the Ball Dragon barreled through the space they'd just been occupying. **SWOOOOSH!**

"Shishi!" Luffy laughed as he and Usopp clung to a Surprise Cloud.

"Phew!" Usopp sighed in relief. But then they realized what they were holding onto. "Oh no! This is bad!" **KA-BOOOM!**

"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori laughed as he floated over them on a Surprise Cloud. "Well you are quite the little survivors, aren't you?"

"Ugghh…" Usopp grunted as he and Luffy pushed themselves up off of the ground. "OKAY NOW YOU'RE JUST TOYING WITH US!"

"CORRECT!" Satori chirped. "It wouldn't be as much fun if you didn't experience the full-power of the Ball Dragon!" **SWISH! **The Ball Dragon's head came around a tree and floated next to Satori. "SHALL WE CONTINUE?"

**-x-**

**Skish… skish… skish… **A familiar little girl had left Upper Yard and was leaping through the nearby Island Clouds. **SHUNK! **The girl sank through a patch of Island and dropped down into an opened cloud-surrounded clearing. **TMP!**

The clearing was filled with a numerous teepee-like tents and totem poles and looked to be some kind of settlement. In the middle of the settlement was towering green beanstalk that was easily as thick as one of the teepees and stretched up through the clouds above the settlement.

The girl ran down a wooden path towards the settlement.

"**Aisa!" FWUMP! **The girl tripped when a man called her name. Aisa glanced to the side and saw a man sitting in front of one of the teepees. He was a lean muscular man that had brown skin, dark hair that was shaved into a Mohawk and small white wings growing out of his shoulders. He wore round glasses with red lenses, a vest made of orange fur, a fang necklace and brown shorts underneath a red loincloth. The man had a knife in his mouth and was holding another one. "Where have you been, child?"

"Oh, Kamakiri!" Aisa greeted the man.

"The Upper Yard again, right?" Kamakiri answered his own question. "And that's probably Vearth in your bag. Stay away from that place Aisa… or you will die."

"NYYAA!" Aisa stuck her tongue out at the man's warning. "You can't tell me what to do! You haven't even been able to beat Eneru yet!" Aisa turned and ran off.

"Grr…" Kamakiri growled to himself as he stood up, "What a brat."

Meanwhile a serious discussion was taking place inside one of the tents further in the settlement. There was a familiar bull-themed mask resting outside of it.

"An opportunity?" a man questioned.

"For some reason Gan Fall entered the Upper Yard," another man informed the first. "And that of course drew the attention of the Priests. You see, that old bag of bones thinks it's his responsibility to protect the people of Skypeia and that will only make him weak."

"We would be wise to strike while our enemies are occupied with each other," the first man reasoned. He had brown skin and his dark hair was styled in a Mohawk that was a lot thicker than Kamakiri's. He had a circular tribal tattoo around his left eye. He had a toned muscular body and had a red and black tribal tattoo that covered the left half of his chest and his left bicep. He was barefoot and only wore a simple brown tribal skirt. In the man's hands was a very familiar bazooka-like cannon. This man was a Shandian known as **Wyper. **He was also the same guerilla that had attacked the Straw Hats when they first reached the White Sea and that Nami had seen again while visiting Upper Yard with Ricky. Wyper was currently in a meeting with some other Shandians.

"The great warrior Calgara said 'Light the Fire of Shandora'," Wyper recited, "Our people will do just that. No one can deny us our destiny be it Gan Fall or Eneru and now is the time to take action! They have had the audacity to reign as 'God' and that is unforgivable! No matter how different from one another they may seem I assure you that they are the same and they must be eliminated!"

"Then let us strike now and take back what is rightfully ours!" another man stood up and exclaimed. He was a large man with dark skin that stood a good head taller than Wyper and had a wide mouth with two large fang-like teeth. He had long, shaggy dark pink hair that fell to his waist in the back and midway down his chest in the front. He had small wings on his shoulders with pink bands around the base and pink and red tattoos on his face and chest. The tattoo on his face were a series of lines then underlined his eyes and looked like eyeliner and met at the bridge of his nose. The tattoos on his chest were mostly circular in shape and started around his nipples then expanded outward to cover his shoulders with pink and red markings. He had dangling red rings for earrings and a necklace around his neck that alternated between long fangs and round pink beads. He wore red shorts underneath a pink loincloth and a pink belt on his waist. His fingernails and toenails were all painted the same dark pink as his hair but had been filed to look like claws. So while his color scheme and jewelry made him seem effeminate his fangs, claws and shaggy hair made him look wild. His name was **Kiko**. "NO GOD SHALL KEEP OUR LAND FROM US! HOO!"

"Wyper," a woman spoke up. While Kiko was large and excitable she was much smaller and calmer. Her skin was pale and she had long black hair that had two long bangs parted to either side of her face in the front and an elaborate ponytail on the back. Her eyes were green and she had the usual Shandian wings on her back. Her top was a low-cut light-purple tunic with darker designs and bared her midriff. Her pants were light red but lacked sides and the front and back were only laced together. The woman's name was **Laki**. "It has been six years since Eneru began his reign. And for the first time since he took power a rebel has appeared on Angel Island. A young woman I hear."

"Get to the point, Laki," Wyper ordered.

"Because the Sky Knight rescued the young woman from judgment, Eneru now has a reason to confront Gan Fall in order to judge _him," _Laki continued her report. "A battle like this between the former God and the current God has never happened. Strategically this could be most advantageous to us. We must remember that Gan Fall has never harmed any of us. Not as the Sky Knight and not during his reign as God."

"The fact that he never hurt any of us does not change the fact that he ruled with absolute authority as God," Wyper reminded her, "And although he is our enemy's enemy. That does not make him our ally, if he and one of the Priests kill each other in battle that will serve our purposes just fine. Otherwise, he is of no use to us. "

"Hm…" Laki said simply.

"If you have any doubts at all about this fight then stay out of it!" Wyper exclaimed. "You'll just be in the way!"

"IT IS OUR TIME TO CLAIM WHAT IS OURS!" Kiko howled, "HOOO!"

Just then Aisa reached the teepee. She was creeping past the opening when one of the men came outside.

"Aisa!" the man called out to her, He had pale skin and the top half of his face was hidden by a dark hat that looked like a ski cap. He wore a grass skirt and a long red decorative scarf around his waist, under the skirt he wore a light blue veil that went down to his ankles. On top he wore a fur-lined dark green jacket and gloves on his hands. The man's name was **Braham**.

Aisa fell backward in surprise and she quickly scrambled backwards. "Upper Yard? What Upper Yard? I didn't go to Upper Yard! I promise you I didn't!"

"You can't go into the tent yet," Braham told her, seemingly unconcerned that the girl had just admitted to her guilt. He paused to take a bite of a jerky-like snack. "Wyper 'Descendant of the Great Warrior Calgara' is angry right now. Careful."

Aisa stood up and glanced over her shoulder of a statue, "Oh, he's scary when he gets mad, scarier than God."

**-x-**

"Help them?" Conis questioned her father as he continued working on the Straw Hats' Waver back at Gan Fall's house. "Us? How?"

"Conis, my dear child," Pagaya addressed his daughter, "It's only right that you and I should try to create some way for them to escape."

**-x-**

Robin glanced between Zoro and Nami who were still glaring at each other. "So what are we going to do?" she inquired.

"Let's go back to the ship so I can help Ricky!" Zoro said.

"I left the ship so I could find the treasure," Nami stated, "I'm not going back empty-handed."

"YOU GREEDY BITCH!" Zoro snapped, "You'd wander around a forest trying to find treasure while Ricky's in trouble?"

"I know that Ricky's smart enough to handle himself without your 'help'," Nami retorted, "I heard the One Whistle earlier so I bet Chopper blew it and the Sky Knight's on his way to help them right now. He's got that weird bird so he'll get there way before we would and he knows how to fight Sky Island people better than you do. I think that between the two of them they should be able to handle anyone that comes after them. We already spent all this time trying to find this treasure and I don't want to rush back now and have it all be for nothing."

"She has a point," Robin remarked, "I came along because I wanted to learn the story behind this strange island of dirt in a sea of clouds."

"You're welcome to head back alone," Nami offered, "But knowing your sense of direction you'd probably wind up back on Angel Beach instead of the Altar."

Zoro growled at her, "So we're really just going to keep exploring while Ricky's in trouble?"

"I know first-hand that Mr. One Eye is very resourceful and is capable of handling himself," Robin stated, "He accepted the situation he's in and I believe he will get through it alright."

"If you had faith in Ricky like I do you'd know that he can handle anything," Nami stated. "The best thing we can do for him at this point is have some expensive treasure that we can rub in his face when we get back."

Nami turned and walked off. Robin glanced at Zoro then shrugged and followed her. Zoro grumbled to himself and trailed behind them. Nami had at least one point. With his sense of direction he'd end up back in Jaya before he found Ricky.

**-x-**

**KLANG! **Lances collided as the Sky Knight and former God Gan Fall continued his aerial battle above the Sacrificial Altar with the Priest 'Skyrider' Shura.

**KLANG! **Gan Fall and Shura leapt off of their birds and collided in the air. **KLANG! KLANG! **Pierre and Fuza circled around the two airborne fighters as they exchanged blows with their lances. **KLANG! KLANG! KLANG!**

"Wow!" Chopper gasped as he watched the intense battle from down on the Going Merry. "I can't believe how fast they are! Awesome!"

"I'd kill for depth-perception right about now," Ricky muttered, "I can hear them but I can't for the life of me see them." Ricky frowned. "I really don't want to start overusing the Eye but in this case I guess I can risk it…" Ricky reached up and lifted his eye patch so it stuck out from under his sunglasses. A red glow emitted from underneath the right lens. "OH NO!"

**KLAK! **Gan Fall landed on Pierre's back. "I can see that diplomacy is no longer an option for me!" the Sky Knight growled.

**TMP! **Shura landed on Fuza. "DIPLOMACY IS FOR THE WEAK!" Shura snapped. **SKISH! **Shura launched himself off of Fuza at Gan Fall. The Sky Knight jumped off of Pierre and blocked Shura's lance with his own in midair. **KLANG! **Another exchange began as the two warriors dueled with their lances high up in the air. **KLANG! KLANG!**

"This battle is intense!" Chopper remarked.

"So that's why he shouted 'Ordeal of String'," Ricky realized as he closed his left eye and stared up entirely through his red eye. "The old man has no idea that he's already caught."

"HAAAAAA!" Gan Fall roared as he lashed out at Shura.

"RAAAAAH!" Shura shouted as he blocked with his lance. **KLANG!**

**-x-**

Back at the dock on Lovely Street the people were still standing around the crater that the beam of light that had nearly destroyed Conis had left behind.

"Heaven's Judgment!" a woman gasped.

"That young woman did something foolish," a man insisted, "she brought this upon us. She knows that we're not supposed to anger him."

**-x-**

**SWOOOOSH! **Pierre swooped down out of the air and flew straight at Fuza.

**WOOOOOSH! **Fuza shot towards Pierre and Shura and Gan Fall locked gazes.

"RAAAAAHH!" Both warriors lashed out their respective lances. **KLANG! SLISH!**

**Squirt! **"UUUGGH!" Shura groaned as blood squirted out of a wound made by Gan Fall's lance.

"This fight's over…" Ricky observed with frown.

"Huff… huff…" Gan Fall panted as the long hard-fought battle started to take its toll on him.

Gan Fall suddenly recalled Conis' words after he had saved her from Eneru's Judgment.

"_Please come back to us… God…"_

**WHUP! **Pierre suddenly jerked to a stop in mid-swoop. Both the bird and the knight were caught in midair.

"YOU'RE MINE!" Shura taunted. "HAHAHAHA! IS SOMETHING WRONG, GAN FALL?"

"Shura… what have you done?" Gan Fall demanded. He struggled with all his strength but couldn't move an inch. _"Why can't we move?"_

Ricky stared up into the air through the red-tinted gaze of the Devil's Eye. String. Shura had spread string all through the clearing. It was so incredibly thin that it was invisible to the naked eye. Gan Fall had no hope of spotting it and while he and Pierre had flown around in circles while battling Shura they had unknowingly cocooned themselves inside the string until it completely stopped their movements.

Ricky, however, had the enhanced vision of the Eye of the Devil at his disposal. He could see beyond the visible light spectrum and could see the extremely thin string perfectly.

"You old fool!" Shura snarled, "TIME TO DIE!"** SHOOOOOM! **Shura swooped down and drove his burning lance through the Sky Knight's armor, through his chest and out his back.

**FWOOM! **The flames on Shura's lance burned through Gan Fall's body.

"If you have the audacity to enter the Upper Yard…" Shura growled, "You have to answer to the four Priests. You were foolish to think you could—"

"**WHITE STORM TSUNAMI!" SPLOOOSH! **A white torrent of Sea Cloud flew up into the air and slammed into Shura and Gan Fall. **SHOOOOM! **The flames burning through Gan Fall's body were extinguished while Shura was knocked backwards.

"HE'S FALLING! OH NO!" Chopper screamed.

Gan Fall fell off of Pierre's back and plummeted downward.

"_And our sacred land will sing again someday. Someday she must."_

"SKY KNIGHT! SKY KNIGHT!" Chopper shrieked as Gan Fall fell passed him and disappeared below the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOSH!**

"YOU!" Shura shouted as he glared down at Ricky who was standing on his Sky Shark with his sword drawn.

"Hey, flyboy," Ricky called up to him. "Don't forget about me."

**-x-**

**Ordeal of Love:**

**-x-**

"PIIIIEE! PIIIIEEE!" Pierre shrieked in alarm at seeing Gan Fall get run through and fall into the Sea Clouds. The bird was still bound by Shura's invisible strings and couldn't move to help the Sky Knight.

"So you want to continue where we left off, do you?" Shura questioned as he stared down at Ricky as he stood on a Sky Shark below him with his sword drawn. "Do you realize that you're in the middle of my Ordeal of String? There's only a three-percent chance of survival and that pathetic excuse for a former God just failed."

"Well I don't see any strings down here," Ricky noted.

"What… IMPOSSIBLE!" Shura snapped. "You can't see my string!"

"Oh no?" Ricky questioned. He gripped the Sky Shark's dorsal fin and it leapt up out of the Sea Clouds and up into the air. **SPLOOSH! **"Red Storm… TORNADO!" **SLISH-SLISH-SLISH! **Ricky spun around in circles on the Sky Shark's back and slashed his sword. A series of red air blades flew off of Ricky's sword and severed the strings that were surrounding him.

The Sky Shark reached the peak of its leap and Ricky jumped off of it. **SKISH! **Ricky flew up towards Pierre and slashed his sword again. "Red Storm… VOLCANO!" **SLA-SLISH-SLISH! **Three circular red air blades flew up into the air and cut through the string that was holding Pierre in place.

**WOOOSH! **Ricky, Pierre and the Sky Shark all fell downward. **TMP! **But while Ricky landed on the Sky Shark's back, Pierre was still partially bound by the string wrapped around his body and plummeted into the water after Gan Fall. **SPLOOSH!**

**SPLASH! **Ricky and the Sky Shark touched down in the Sea Clouds. "So do I pass your little test?" he inquired.

"YOU DON'T PASS MY ORDEAL UNTIL YOU DEFEAT ME!" **WOOOSH! **Fuza dove downward at Ricky but then Shura threw himself off of his bird and rushed towards Ricky at an even faster speed. **SHOOOOOM! **"TIME TO DIE!"

"Red Blade… VOLCANO!" **SKISH! **Ricky launched himself off of the Sky Shark and spun around in circles as he soared up into the air.

**KLANG! **Ricky's sword collided with Shura's lance and knocked it to the side. Shura went wide-eyed when he found himself wide-open and eye level with Ricky. Ricky kept spinning and lashed his leg out behind him. "Machete… BACK KICK!" **THWAK! **Ricky drove his foot into Shura's chest and sent the Priest flying across the clearing.

"_What's going on?" _Shura thought to himself, _"Why isn't my Mantra working?"_

**SWOOOSH! **Fuza swooped in and caught Shura while Ricky dropped down and landed on his Sky Shark again. **TMP!**

**WOOOOSH! **Fuza circled around then unleashed a torrent of fire. **FWOOOOSH! SKISH! **Ricky was already in the air before the flames reached him. He flipped overhead then landed on Fuza behind Shura. **TMP!**

"TAKE THIS!" Shura whirled around and lashed out his lance. **SWISH! **Ricky leaned to the side and the attack sailed harmlessly passed him.

"Is that it?" Ricky questioned. "I guess the fight with the old man took a lot out of you. You're much slower now."

"I'M STILL FAST ENOUGH TO KILL YOU!" Shura roared. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **He lashed out his lance over and over again but Ricky avoided all his attacks with ease. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **Shura grew more and more infuriated as Ricky continued to dodge his strikes seemingly effortlessly.

"_Big Brother's fighting that Priest now," _Chopper thought to himself as he watched from up on the Altar. _"That means it's up to me to save the Sky Knight and his bird." _"I'LL SAVE YOU!" **SKISH! **Without thinking, Chopper jumped off of the Going Merry and dove for the Sea Cluods.

"CHOPPER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ricky shouted, "YOU CAN'T SWIM!"

"I'VE GOT YOU NOW!" Shura exclaimed. He capitalized on the distraction that Chopper had caused and ignited his lance then lashed out at Ricky. **FWOOOM! **

**KLANG! **Ricky knocked Shura's lance to the side with his sword then lashed out his leg. "JAVELIN KICK!" **CRUNCH! **Ricky drove his foot into Shura's jaw and sent him flying off of Shura's back.

"CAAAWW!" **WOOOSH! **Fuza did a barrel roll that caused Ricky to plummet downward then the bird shot after Shura and caught him just before he hit the water. **TMP!**

**SPLA-SPLOOOSH! **Ricky and Chopper hit the Sea Clouds at the same time and disappeared from view.

"What the hell is going on here?" Shura demanded as he sat up on Fuza. "Is he using Mantra? This must be what God warned us about. But why wasn't he using it before?" The Priest stared warily down at the Sea Clouds below him in search of any sign of Ricky.

Chopper spotted Gan Fall and Pierre sinking through the Sea Clouds ahead of him. The Sky Knight was sinking like a rock due to his heavy metal armor while Pierre was facing the same problem as Chopper. They were both Devil Fruit Users and the water-like Sea Clouds rendered completely them powerless. Chopper and Pierre could only watch as the wounded Sky Knight sank deeper and deeper into the Sea Clouds right in front of their eyes.

"_I need to save Chopper and the Sky Knight," _Ricky reasoned as he floated in the middle of the Sea Clouds. _"The best way to do that is to take out the Priest first. I'll have to end this quickly."_

"Damn it!" Shura cursed as Fuza floated over the surface of the Sea Clouds. "Where'd he go? I can't even sense him anymore! This shouldn't be possible!"

Ricky sat on the back of a Sky Shark directly below him. "WHITE STORM… TYYPHOOON!" Ricky spun around and slashed this sword upward through the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOOOSSHHH! **

**SHOOOOOOM! **A swirling vortex of Sea Clouds surrounded Shura and Fuza and blasted them both up into the air. It was like being was trapped in the center of a tornado. The white Sea Clouds swirled around them in a high speed vortex with no opening to escape.

"Where is he? Where is he?" Shura demanded as he looked frantically at the walls of white that were surrounding him. "THERE!" He sensed something and lashed out at it.

**SPLASH! **A Sky Shark came flying out of the Sea Clouds.

"NOOOOO!" Shura screamed. He went wide eyed and tried to pull his lance back.

**SPLASH! "Gotcha!" **Shura managed to spin around in time to see Ricky fly out from the opposite side of the vortex. But the Priest was still off balance from his attempt at attacking the Sky Shark and he wasn't able to defend himself as Ricky flew at him and slashed his sword.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Shura screamed.

"Red Blade… HURRICANE!" **SLA-SLISH! **Ricky slashed Shura across the chest as he flew passed him.

**WOOOOoooosssshhh… **The spinning vortex ran out of steam. Ricky dropped down onto the back of his diversionary Sky Shark while Shura plummeted towards the Sea Clouds with a trail of blood falling after him and no sign of movement.

**SWOOOOSH! **Fuza dove. **WHAP! **The bird caught the Pirest by the shoulders right above the Sea Clouds.

**Slik! **Ricky sheathed his blood-coated sword and turned his Sky Shark around so he could stare at the bird and the unconscious Priest it was holding in its talons. "I guess this means I pass," Ricky observed, "Unless part of this 'Ordeal of String' involves me having to beat you too."

"CAAAAAWW!" **WOOOOOSSH! **Fuza proved to be part chicken as it flew off with Shura.

Ricky had just passed the Ordeal of String.

"Now to save the other three," Ricky resolved. **SPLOOSH! **Ricky and the Sky Shark disappeared below the surface of the Sea Clouds and left the clearing empty.

**-x-**

Robin was kneeling over a well they'd found almost buried under one of the massive tree's equally massive roots. The archeologist used a chain of arms to gather a sample of wet soil from the bottom of the well and passed the vial up to herself so she could examine it.

"Could a well really be that interesting?" Zoro questioned as he stood impatiently nearby.

"Yes," Robin answered, "Don't you think it's odd that a well would be stuck under a tree? The balance between civilization and nature here is off."

"Well unless we find a way to cross this cloud-river we'll be stuck in this forest," Zoro pointed out. "And we're still nowhere near where we wanna be."

"It's like the people who built this well didn't know that the tree would grow to be so large," Robin reasoned. "I've never seen anything like it."

"HEY NAMI!" Zoro shouted up the tree. "CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING UP THERE?"

High, high overhead Nami was seated on a tree branch as she stared through a pair of binoculars. "The island where God lives…" Nami whispered to herself, "Upper Yard…"

"NAAAMIII!" Zoro shouted again. "SAY SOMETHING WOULD YOU! WHAT DO YOU SEE? HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"What do you think she sees up there?" Robin inquired.

Nami lowered her binoculars in shock. "This island… can't be…"

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori crowed. "There's no way you can win! After all, I'm a Priest! And you all look so tired! Why don't you just end this now and die?"

"My heart can't take any more of this…" Usopp complained to the others. "Too many surprises… Ow… It hurts… "

"You'll be out of options quite soon!" Satori exclaimed, "It's sad really." While the three Straw Hats waged war against Satori, his forest filled with Surprise Clouds and now his Ball Dragon the unmanned ship 'the Crow' that they'd gotten from Conis was getting further and further away from them. "Your little boat has nearly reached the forest's exit. And when that happens it's all over for you! Hoh hoh hoo! You'll have nowhere to go unless you suddenly learn to fly! Hoh hoh hoo! You'll wander around in this terribly unfamiliar forest and die of exhaustion! HOH HOH HOO!"

"THAT WON'T HAPPEN!" Luffy shouted as he jumped up and shot his fist out at Satori. **SHOOM! **

**WOOSH! **Satori dodged Luffy's stretched hand. "NICE TRY!" he taunted, "MY TURN NOW!" **SWOOOSH! **Satori motioned downward and the Ball Dragon dove at Luffy, "BALL DRAGON ATTACK!" **WHUMP! **Luffy lunged to the side and managed to dodge the Ball Dragon. "You know you can't run forever! And wherever you stop the Fire Bomb Ball will be waiting to incinerate you! Hoh hoh hooo!"

"WAAAAH!" Luffy screamed as he ran through the trees with the Ball Dragon behind him.

"_Good, looks like we can still make it," _Usopp thought to himself as he peaked out from behind a tree… then turned and ran off. "I'LL JUST LEAVE THINGS TO YOU LUFFY!"

"WAAAAAH!" Luffy wailed. He spotted a tree up ahead of him and ran towards it.

"That tree will not give you any shelter!" Satori informed him.

"It's like he's reading my mind!" Luffy snapped, "Stay out of my head and quit following me!"

**WHUP! **Luffy ran up the tree and flipped off of it over the Ball Dragon's head. But as he came down he grabbed… _something_.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Satori shouted as Luffy floated above the Ball Dragon.

Luffy looked up and saw the wire he was dangling from and noted that it was attached to the back of the Ball Dragon's head.

"A wire!" Luffy observed, "That must be how he controls the dragon! I'll just…" Luffy tightened his grip on the wire and stretched it.

"NO! STOP!" Satori shrieked.

"…do this!" **SNAP! **The wire broke.

"AAAH!" Satori screamed. "YOU RUINED MY BALL DRAGON YOU IMPUDENT LITTLE BRAT! NOW YOU DIE! GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!"

**SHOOOM! **Satori yanked on the wire that Luffy had a firm grip on and pulled the rubber pirate towards him.

"WAAAAH!" Luffy shouted as he was yanked towards Satori. But not only was he holding onto Satori's end of the broken wire but he was also still holding the Ball Dragon's end and pulled it towards Satori behind him. **WOOOOSH!**

"NOOOO!" Satori screamed as he saw Luffy and his own dragon come flying at him. "LET GO OF THE DRAGON YOU FOOL! AAAAAAAAHHH!"

**KA-BOOOOOOOM! **The resulting explosion rocked the entire forest.

**-x-**

"There it is!" Usopp exclaimed as he stood on a tree branch. Despite Satori's claims, Usopp had managed to find the exit to the Lost Forest. "I knew I could find the way out of this place! Of course, this makes perfect sense! Why didn't I think of it sooner? When we fell before it was from a very high altitude. So it's only natural that the exit be at the same height. Now that I know where the exit is the boat doesn't really matter anymore."

"Alright," Usopp resolved, "That huge explosion worries me. I'd better hurry. Game time." Usopp started to climb down the tree he was on so he could begin the trek back to Luffy.

**-x-**

"Huff… huff…" Satori panted as he stood on a Surprise Cloud in the middle of a much different forest. The Ball Dragon was gone but it had left behind countless weapons and numerous craters. And while the Priest had been scorched by his Ball Dragon blowing up in his face, he had managed to survive it. "That was close. That maniac must have had a death wish. This isn't good. I've got to intensify my training. I can't let a weakling like him… get the upper hand in a fight. Not even for a second. That might block me from using my Mantra."

"**You're right!"** Luffy replied. HE WAS ON SATORI'S BACK! "That was close!"

"GAAH!" Satori shrieked. The Priest struggled to grab Luffy but due to his round shape he couldn't reach him and Luffy was perfectly sheltered as he used Satori's small wings as handles. "IT'S YOU! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?"

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed in response.

"GET OFF ME!" Satori hollered at him, "YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE MAN! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! LET GO OF ME RIGHT NOW! I SAID LET GOOO!"

"**Do **_**not **_**let him go, Luffy," **Sanji said as he sat cross-legged on a Surprise Cloud that was about level with the one Luffy and Satori were on.

"YOU TOO?" Satori exclaimed.

"HEY!" Luffy called out as he shoved Satori's head downward so he could see his cook. "Sanji, where have you been?"

"I WAS OUT COLD ON THE FOREST FLOOR!" Sanji snapped at him. "WHERE ELSE WOULD I HAVE BEEN, YOU IDIOT?" Sanji calmed himself and lit up his new cigarette. "But, that's beside the point. See, the point is that you keep saying 'Ordeal this' and 'Ordeal that' which normally wouldn't interest me. However, there are two helpless ladies waiting for me to come to their rescue and I refuse to let them down."

"Huh?" Satori questioned.

"So I'm proposing this," Sanji continued, "And I think you'll like it: Ordeal of Love."

"_THIS GUY'S AN IDIOT TOO!" _Satori shouted to himself. "UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT YOU MAGGOTS!"

**SHWUP! WHUP! **Luffy stretched his legs out and wound them around Satori's round body.** Whap! Whap! Whap! **Eventually Luffy had the Priest wrapped up like a Christmas Present with his rubber body. He wasn't going anywhere.

"AAAAH! IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!" Satori screamed, "YOU HAVE NO HONOR GANGING UP TWO AGAINST ONE!"

"_We _have no honor?" Sanji repeated. "You creeps kidnapped our friends and tried to murder a beautiful young angel. And you accuse _us _of not having any honor?"

"I've been thinking," Luffy chimed in. "It's pretty amazing that you can predict our movements. But what good is that… if you can't do anything to avoid them, huh?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Satori wailed. "STOP! STOP I SAID! ARE YOU LISTENING? HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME! I'M A PRIEST IN GOD'S SERVICE! NOT BEING JUDGED BY ME IS A FIRST DEGREE CRIME IN SKYPEIA! LET ME GO! NOW LISTEN HERE! ATTACKING ME IS DECLARING WAR ON THE ALMIGHTY GOD ENERU!"

"I've got a question," Sanji stated. "Do you ever cook? Well, you don't have to be a chef to know which dish is best served cold."

"EEEEK!" Satori squeaked in terror.

"You know this dish is really quite simple," Sanji informed the helpless Priest, "Step One: season the main course with a smattering of defeat." Or perhaps 'da feet'. **SKISH! **Sanji shot himself high up into the air overhead. "Then you must brutally and without hesitation tenderize the meat!"

"AAAAH! NOOO!" Satori hollered, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! NOOO!"

Sanji curled his body up into a ball but left his legs extended then flipped over and over again until he became a blur and shot down towards Satori. "CONCASSE'!" **THWHAAAAAAM! **Sanji slammed his powerful legs down onto the top of Satori's head. The Priest's glasses were shattered by the impact and he was instantly knocked out cold.

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp had just passed the Ordeal of Balls.

**-x-**

"Uggghhh…" Ricky groaned as he climbed up the long flight of steps towards the top of the Sacrificial Altar and the Going Merry. He had Gan Fall draped over one shoulder, Pierre draped over the other and Chopper was tucked under one of his arms. While Ricky was strong enough to carry the unconscious trio he was still suffering from the burning lance-wounds to the chest and stomach that Shura gave him during their fight. "This is the last thing I need now…"

Ricky eventually reached the top of the Altar and stared up at the railing of the Going Merry – or more specifically – the man that was casually sitting on it.

"Oh no," Ricky complained, "Don't tell me I've got to deal with another Priest already."

"Yahahaha!" the man laughed. "I am no simple Priest, mortal Blue Sea Dweller. I am God."

Fresh off his victory of the Priest 'Skyrider' Shura and his Ordeal of String Ricky found himself standing face-to-face with the Almighty Eneru himself.

**-x-**

Next chapter, Ricky has a face-to-face encounter with the Almighty God Eneru and Wyper the Warrior attacks Upper Yard.

Credit for the creation design of the Shandian Kiko goes to **Sallem Cortez 004**. You can expect to see him in action during the next chapter.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	20. Light the Fire of Shandora

**Another Nakama III**

Ricky stared up at the entrance to the latest temple that he'd come across. It was modeled into the shape of a giant snake's mouth.

"Well that's unsettling," Ricky noted as he eyed the stone snake's massive stone teeth.

"Ricky!" Zoro called out from behind him, "Why'd I have to come on this 'hunt' of yours?"

"Because last time I had Luffy with me," Ricky explained, "He was very helpful in getting us through the traps."

"You know I'm happy to help you out," Zoro told him, "but what I meant was, why'd I have to come along if you were bringing _him_?" Zoro turned and gave Sanji a nasty glare.

"Hey screw you, moss ball!" Sanji snapped, "Like I'd wanna be stuck on this trip with you and Ricky when I could be back with Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin."

"We don't need you anyway you stupid cook!" Zoro retorted. "You should've stayed behind!"

"Are you saying you'd be better at getting through the traps than me?" Sanji demanded.

"That wasn't what I said," Zoro clarified, "But the way you put it sounds a lot more insulting… _Yes_, I _would _be better at getting through the traps than you!"

"We'll see about that!" Sanji exclaimed, "I'll get through the traps way before you ever could!"

"I'M NOT LOSING TO YOU!" Zoro shouted back before they both took off into the temple.

Ricky massaged the tick-mark on his forehead, "Oh yeah." Ricky muttered, "This is gonna be a great trip." He shook his head and followed the other two into the serpent's mouth.

Ricky managed to catch up to Zoro and Sanji in time to encounter their first obstacle. The floor ahead of them was sunk down and divided into tiles marked with different symbols.

"What do you make of this?" Sanji asked the resident treasure hunter.

Zoro stepped forward and placed his foot on one of the tiles. **Tmp! **Ricky had a split-second to make out feline-like features. **SHOOOM! **Zoro yanked his foot back just as a stone column slammed down where he'd just stepped. **SHUNK! **The column rose back up to the ceiling and looked as if it had never fallen. Ricky watched the column and noted that the ceiling above the tiled floor was divided into parts. Each one was probably a column just waiting to drop on them.

Ricky crouched down and eyed the tiles on the floor in front of them, "It looks like the tiles are pressure sensitive," he stated, "Adding pressure one of the tiles triggers one of the columns." Upon closer look, Ricky realized that each of the tiles was marked with one of four patterns. "Let's see, there's a cat, a bird, a bear and a snake. I think the giant snake at the entrance means the snake tiles are safe while the others trigger the columns. If we jump across using only the…"

"Race ya across Moss Ball!"

"You're on, Eyebrow!"

**ZZZOOOOM! SHOOM-SHOOM-SHOOM-SHOOM-SHOOM! SLISH! KRESH! SLASH!**

Ricky stood up and found that Sanji and Zoro had already made it across. Sanji had taken the right side and had relied on pure speed to avoid each column as it dropped. **SHUNK! SHUNK! SHUNK! **Ricky watched the columns that the cook had triggered rise back up into the ceiling. Zoro, on the other hand, had gone with brute strength and had slashed each of the columns with his swords as it dropped and had left a path of rubble and destruction on the left side.

"Hah!" Sanji taunted, "I knew you'd never be able to keep up with me!"

"Shut up, pervy-cook!" Zoro snapped, "I had to slow down to slash the stupid columns!"

"Whose fault is that?" Sanji countered. The two turned and raced onward.

"Or we could do that," Ricky dead-panned as he walked across on the columns Zoro had broken.

Ricky ran after Zoro and Sanji and the three of them eventually found themselves in a wide-opened room. The room was lined by familiar stone statues with three weapon-wielding figures on each side. On each side of the room was a shelf most of which had another two stone statues perched on them. The only exception was the shelf on the far side of the room which had an opened doorway on it. Ricky's treasure sense told him that the treasure was through there.

"Step carefully guys," Ricky instructed, "The last time I did this the statue came alive and—"

**Click! **Ricky jumped and turned in time to see Zoro's foot sink down on a stone trigger.

**SHOOM! **The top of the doorway they'd come through dropped down and sealed the room. **Krek-krek-krek… **The stone statues came alive and pulled themselves out of the walls.

"…attacked us…" Ricky finished post-humorously.

"Way to go, shitty-swordsman," Sanji spat, "Now you've trapped us in here!"

**TOOM! TOOM! **The stone guardians on the shelves dropped down and joined the other statues in advancing on them. Ricky counted and realized that they were outnumbered eighteen to three.

"Oh yeah, dartboard-brow?" Zoro retorted, "At least I'll know that I beat more than you!"

"THE HELL YOU WILL!" Sanji barked at him.

**SLA-SLISH! THWAK-WAK! **Zoro and Sanji launched themselves across the room and began to viciously hack and kick at the weapon-wielding statues that had them surrounded.

"While you two are doing that I'll go get the treasure," Ricky reasoned but he was blocked by a large statues with a mace "Oh great…" Ricky idly noted that the statue had snake-like features and that the other statues seemed to share them.

"TIGER HUNT!" **SLA-SLA-SLISH! ** Zoro came out of nowhere and sliced the statue to pieces. "Back off! That one's mine!"

"Who said I wanted it?" Ricky asked as Zoro threw himself back into the stone-filled fray.

Ricky reached the far wall and jumped up onto the shelf. **SKISH! **He went through the doorway and followed a short hallway until he came to a treasure chest on a pedestal. But then he saw the massive snake-featured stone guardian that was embedded in the wall behind the chest. **KREK-KREK-KREK! **The statue pulled itself and its massive double-edged ax out of the wall and charged at him.

"Aw crap!" Ricky cursed as he turned and ran down the hallway with the statue thundering after him. **TUNK! TUNK! TUNK! **

**Skeeeesshh… **Ricky skidded to a stop when he found himself at the edge of the shelf. **TUNK! TUNK! TUNK! **Ricky turned around as the giant guardian caught up with him and raised its huge ax for a big attack but in doing so left a large gap between itself and the side of the hallway.

"_There's an opening!" _Ricky realized. **SWISH! **Ricky ducked under the statue's big swing and rolled passed it. Then he jumped up and drove both his steel and Sea Stone soled boots into the statue's back. **THWHAM! **The statue was launched forward and fell off of the shelf. Ricky looked down in time to see the big statue crash to the floor and smash to pieces. **KROOOOSH!**

Ricky ran back down the hallway and quickly picked the lock on the chest which had a snake inscribed on the lid that he hadn't noticed on the other two. He pulled out the golden tablet that was inside and read the inscription.

'**One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.'**

With the tablet in hand, Ricky followed the short hallway back to the statue-room.

"Hey guys!" Ricky called out as he reached the edge of the shelf. "I've got it! We can go now!" He looked down and saw Zoro and Sanji arguing in the midst of a sea of smashed statues.

"How'd you get nine too?" Zoro demanded. "You couldn't have gotten the same number as me!"

"Ricky!" Sanji snapped, "Why the hell did you have to smash that really big one?"

"Good grief," Ricky groaned.

**-x-**

**Light the Fire of Shandora:**

**-x-**

While two vicious battles had been fought and won by the Straw Hats on Upper Yard, down below it in their settlement on the White Sea the Shandian warriors had continued their strategy meeting after a brief recess.

Aisa had watched as Braham and Kamakiri went into the tent and rejoined the meeting and decided to peek through the door to see what it was all about.

"So Gan Fall the former God made his way into Upper Yard alone," Wyper recapped. "This will not sit well with Eneru."

"Do you think Gan Fall's trying to take back what he lost?" Kamakiri inquired.

"No way," another Shandian insisted. His name was **Genbo**. He had pale skin and was nearly as round as Satori. His head was shaved bald and on top of it he wore a white and dark yellow striped hat that resembled a chef's hat. A brown belt went diagonally across his large round chest and belly which was left uncovered. His arms were in a pair of long sleeves that went from his wrists to his shoulders and were covered in giraffe-like spots. He had the customary white Shandian wings on his shoulders and wore a short brown grass skirt. "That old fart's never had the guts to try before. Why would he now?"

**FWOOM! **At that exact moment Shura drove his burning lance through Gan Fall's body.

**THWHAAAAM! **Elsewhere, Sanji smashed his foot down on the top of Satori's head.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Aisa screamed and stumbled into the tent. Aisa's scream and presence drew the attention of all the Shandian warriors in the meeting. Aisa suddenly found herself standing in the middle of the tent in front of Wyper, who just earlier she had said that she found even scarier than God. "AAAAHH!" The girl screamed again then ran and hid behind Laki.

"What's the matter Aisa?" Laki inquired as the girl peeked out from behind her.

"Two voices… they're gone…" the scared girl answered.

"Your Mantra?" Wyper inquired.

Aisa nodded. "Yes," she confirmed. "It just happened."

"Grrr…" Wyper growled which caused Aisa to duck back behind Laki again. "You're saying you heard two voices… and then they disappeared suddenly? You need to be honest with me. Is this true?"

Aisa merely whimpered despite the fact that the scary warrior was doing a remarkable job of keeping calm while dealing with the girl.

"I assume that's a 'yes'," Laki informed Wyper. "We should believe her. Ever since she was born she's been able to use her ability of Mantra to sense people, even those who are far away from her. There is no mistaking her gift." Clearly Aisa wasn't 'just' a little Shandian girl. Laki glanced down at Aisa, "You sure you don't hear them? They're not there anymore?"

"Yeah… I think it stopped," Aisa answered, "But… it seemed like Gan Fall was fighting a Priest and they…"

"Killed each other?" Kamakiri supplied.

"Nicely done old man," Braham remarked.

"HOO!" Kiko howled, "Only three priests left now!"

"Which is good for us," Wyper realized.

"No… it was…" Aisa timidly attempted to correct the scary warrior.

**SLA-SLISH! **Just then Ricky slashed Shura with his blood red sword.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Aisa screamed.

"AAAAAHH!" Kiko, who had been sitting next to Laki, jumped at the girl's sudden scream and then screamed right back at her.

"AAAAAAAAHH!" Aisa screamed at the wild-looking warrior.

"WHAT NOW?" Wyper demanded over the screaming causing both Kiko and Aisa to quickly quiet.

"Another voice…" Aisa whispered. "It disappeared… no… it's just really faint…"

"ENOUGH!" Wyper snapped, "Tell me exactly what you heard!"

"Eeep…" Aisa squeaked in terror.

Laki turned and draped her arm around Aisa. "Wyper calm down," Laki scolded him, "She's just a child. You're scaring her."

"She's a child who you just said may have vital information!" Wyper reminded her. He stared straight at Aisa. "Tell me… who… did you hear?"

**Gulp. **"Three voices," Aisa reported, thought she was still shaken. "The first was Gan Fall… he was fighting Shura… but he lost."

"So the old man didn't take him out?" Braham inquired. "What was the second voice?"

"The second was Satori," Aisa revealed, "Two people that I don't recognize beat him."

"That means we're down a former God and a Priest," Kamakiri noted.

"Two Priests," Aisa corrected him, "The one I heard just now was Shura."

"But I thought you said he took out Gan Fall?" Kamakiri questioned.

"Someone else beat Shura," Aisa explained, "I don't recognize their voice... it's very strange… I've never sensed anything quite like it before."

Wyper tensed when he thought back to earlier when he'd attacked a small ship filled with Blue Sea dwellers. Then he remembered seeing two of them again when he'd visited the Upper Yard.

"Blue Sea Dwellers…" Wyper spoke up, "I saw a small group of them earlier."

Aisa's eyes widened. "I saw three Blue Sea Dwellers when I was…" the girl trailed off when she realized that she was about to admit to in a room filled with Shandian warriors that she had gone somewhere that she wasn't supposed to go. "Uh… I mean…. maybe those are the strange people that I sensed. There are eight voices on Upper Yard that I've never heard before."

Wyper didn't dwell on Aisa's obvious slip. Instead he focused on the fact that two of Eneru's Priests had been taken out.

Wyper stood and walked to the opened flap with his cannon hoisted on his shoulder.

"I guess Heaven's actually answered our prayers," Wyper announced, "It's time for us to crush those Priests once and for all!"

"HOOOOO!" Kiko howled as he jumped to his feet. "Eneru's forces are the weakest they've ever been! LET'S STRIKE NOW!"

"On your feet!" Wyper ordered the less-high-strung Shandians. "We're launching a full-scale attack on the Upper Yard!"

"YEAH!" Kiko, Kamakiri and Braham chorused. Wyper led the men out of the tent and left behind Laki and Aisa.

Laki stood up and glanced down at the girl who was holding her hand. "Wyper still makes you nervous, doesn't he?" she inquired. The girl nodded. "You have to grow up sooner or later." Laki lightly pushed Aisa off of her then turned and left the tent.

"Laki wait!" Aisa called after her. Laki stopped outside the tent. "Those Blue Sea People that beat the Priests… they scare me. Be careful."

"Aahh," Laki sighed, "I'll try." She knelt down and motioned Aisa towards her. "Now be a good girl and hand over your bag."

"NOO! I can't!" Aisa protested as she hugged the bag that held the Vearth she'd collected on Upper Yard, "This is my special-secret bag it has treasure in it!"

Laki leaned in and smirked at her, "I know that," she said as she gave the girl a one-armed hug. "And it will have even more inside when I bring it back."

Aisa's face lit up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Laki confirmed.

"**Ptoo…" **Wyper spat out tobacco from a pipe he'd been smoking and scowled as he stood nearby with the other warriors.

**-x-**

"He couldn't have shut up any sooner," Sanji remarked as he stood with his foot on the unconscious Priest Satori's round belly. Luffy stood next to him admiring the large pile of bumps that the Priest was sporting on his head after being hit by Sanji's powerful kick. "There's nothing worse than being humiliated by a guy who looks like _that_."

"At least he had some neat tricks," Luffy supplied. "Like predicting our moves before we even knew them..."

"**HEY! GUYS!" **Usopp shouted. "LUFFY! SANJI! I FOUND THE BOAT BUT YOU'VE GOTTA MOVE! I'M SERIOUS! IF WE DON'T GET TO IT RIGHT NOW WE'RE GONNA BE STUCK ON THIS STINKIN' ISLAND!"

"I guess Usopp's okay," Sanji observed.

"He's yelling something about the boat," Luffy noted.

"KICK IT INTO GEAR!" Usopp instructed, "THE BOAT'S LEAVING THIS PLACE AND WE'VE GOTTA GET ON IT _NOW_!"

Luffy and Sanji climbed up a massive root to join Usopp.

"Get up here!" Usopp called down to them. "Just hold onto my body."

Luffy blinked. "What?"

Usopp held the sides of his grappling hook belt. "USOPP AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAH!" **BANG! **The grappling hook shot out of the buckle in his belt and whizzed through the trees. **WOOSH! **The hook reached the Crow. **SHUK! **AND CAUGHT THE SIDE OF IT!

"Now that's what I call marksmanship!" Usopp bragged.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he and Sanji ran over, "Usopp you're my hero!" **WHUMP! **Luffy and Sanji ran too fast and ended up inadvertently tackling Usopp off of the branch.

"Do you try to kill all your heroes like that?" Usopp complained.

"I don't think so," Luffy replied.

"You threw my back out, you jerk!" Usopp snapped at him.

The Crow kept going and pulled Usopp's grappling hook and the belt it was attached to along with it. **KRAK!**

"You fixed it!" Luffy cheered.

"I can do anything…" Usopp reminded him as he gingerly held his back.

Sanji smirked at him as he put an arm around Usopp's shoulders while Luffy casually poked at Usopp's special belt. "I'm surprised you pulled this off," he admitted.

"Oh yeah?" Usopp asked, "Well no more underestimating me."

The Crow kept going along the Milky Road and the three Straw Hats quickly grabbed each other and were yanked after it. **SHOOM!**

Of course, what Usopp _hadn't _planned on was the slight bank in the Milky Road which caused the Crow to turn and the rope to swing to the side to compensate. **WHAAM! **Luffy, Usopp and Sanji slammed into the trunk of a giant tree. Then they bounced off and smacked into another one. **WHAM! **

"Uuuuuugggghh…" Usopp groaned. When they finally reached the Crow they had a number of 'tree wounds' on top of their various injuries from the fight with Satori.

"I will never let you forget this…" Sanji growled.

"You know…" Luffy supplied, "I could have... stretched my arm… and grabbed the boat…"

"Look… we're on the boat and out of the forest…" Usopp pointed out, "That's all that matters."

The Crow continued along the Milky Road with its three passengers once again on board. They still had a fair distance to go but they were now headed for the Sacrificial Altar... or at least they hoped they were.

**-x-**

Up ahead of them, Ricky took a deep breath as he stared at the man that all the sky people referred to as 'God'. Eneru was casually seated on the railing of the Going Merry while Ricky was still carrying Gan Fall, Pierre and Chopper after fishing the three of them out of the Sea Clouds following his victory over the Priest Shura and his Ordeal of String.

"_If that Priest refers to this guy as God then that means he's even stronger than he is," _Ricky thought to himself, _"There's no way I can take a guy like this after the fight I just had."_

"Don't worry Blue Sea Dweller," Eneru called out to him, "I'm not here to fight."

"You're not?" Ricky questioned, he had to admit that he was a bit unnerved that the man had seemingly just read his thoughts.

"Not just anybody can face My four mightiest warriors and live to tell the tale," Eneru explained, "Your abilities have caught My interest."

"I kind of figured that out myself when you sent the White Berets to arrest me instead of passing judgment on me yourself when I committed a Class One Crime," Ricky replied. "And then flyboy mentioned that you ordered him to bring me to you. But then he decided he wanted to rough me up a little bit first."

"But despite that you managed to defeat the White Berets and one of My Priests," Eneru noted.

"As a pirate I'm used to dealing with people trying to arrest me," Ricky answered. "As different as this place is from my world down below, I guess some things never really change."

"Perhaps they could…" Eneru offered with a small smile, "As you proved when you defeated My warriors, good help is hard to find. Even for an immortal God such as Myself. I could use a warrior of your skill."

Ricky's eye widened in surprise, "Wait… you want me to join you?" he inquired.

"Yes," Eneru confirmed, "Your Mantra is remarkable. And know this, Blue Sea Dweller, I don't give out praise lightly."

"Mantra?" Ricky repeated in confusion.

Eneru actually blinked in surprise.

"Interesting," he remarked, "You don't even know what Mantra is but your usage of it surpasses that of My four Priests. If you joined Me, I could give you the training necessary to harness your ability. Who knows, perhaps someday your Mantra will be half as powerful as Mine."

"_Is the Eye's telepathy 'Mantra'?" _Ricky wondered. _"I don't really like using its abilities. I just want to be able to control it. How do you say 'no' to a guy who thinks he's a God?"_

**-x-**

"_Satori and Shura have fallen," _'Sky Boss' Gedatsu thought to himself as he sat on a statue in his territory. _"That's why their Mantra pales in comparison to mine. It seems that the intruders this time are from the Blue Sea… but they behave strangely. The sacrifices are now moving around freely as well. However, even if we leave them alone they won't find their way off this island."_

Gedatsu's thoughts actually sounded cryptic and menacing. Too bad no one was around to hear them. Then the Priest stood up and once again proved his incompetence when he tried and failed to cross his arms properly.

**-x-**

"Do you hear the voice of sorrowful warriors, Holy?" 'Skybreeder' Ohm asked his giant dog as he sat on a rock at the edge of a grassy field that was filled with skulls mounted on spikes. "It doesn't matter how many times we walk this road, things always end the same. Shura may have defeated Gan Fall but his and Satori's Ordeals were broken. That's where luck will end for our new challengers. For them to attempt to see God is insolence at its greatest and their punishment at my hands will have things a bit unsettled this evening in the Upper Yard." Ohm reached up and pressed his sunglasses against the bridge of his nose. "No one here gets out alive."

**-x-**

"CAAAAAWW!" Fuza crowed as it flew over the massive trees.

Shura twitched as he hung from his bird's claws.

"_How?" _the wounded Priest wondered. _"How could I have lost to a simple Blue Sea Dweller? I beat the former God. I have to… increase my training…"_

"Next time Fuza…" Shura whispered, "Next time we'll kill him for sure…"

"CAAAAAAAAAWW!" Fuza screeched in agreement.

**-x-**

Wyper led a battalion of thirty Shandian warriors along the Milky Road towards Upper Yard. He was on the same dial-powered skis as he was before and had his cannon slung over his shoulder.

Kamakiri flipped through the air as he rode a dial-powered surfboard while wielding a spear.

Braham clutched a pair of guns as he raced along on a pair of skis.

Laki had a long rifle slung over her shoulder as well as Aisa's bag as she rode a pair of skis.

Genbo was in a wide stance on a pair skis and was wielding a cannon like Wyper's.

Kiko was right behind Wyper on his surfboard. He wore a pair of fingerless gauntlets that reached his elbows where tubes ran along his forearms to the back of his hands.

There were over twenty other Shandian warriors in their company riding dial-powered skis or boards and all of them were armed with some form of weapon for the upcoming battle.

"ALL OF YOU! LISTEN UP!" Wyper called out from the head of the group. "TODAY WE CATCH UPPER YARD AT HER MOST VULNERABLE! THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME! WE MOVE FULL SPEED AHEAD AND DON'T STOP UNTIL WE REACH GOD'S SHRINE! AND DO NOT FEAR ENERU! THE GREAT WARRIOR CALGARA IS OUR ONE AND ONLY SAVIOR! ONLY TO HIM ARE WE TRUE!"

The Shandians drew closer together as they bared down on Upper Yard. Wyper called out the names of his trusted officers.

"Kiko!"

"HOOO!" Kiko howled as he flipped his mane of wild pink hair. "HAIL CALGARA!"

"Braham!"

"Ready!" Braham called out as he clicked his guns.

"Kamakiri!"

"Hmph," Kamakiri grunted as he twirled his spear.

"Genbo!"

"Rraaah!" the round warrior growled.

"Laki!"

"Right!" Laki exclaimed.

"Be careful!" Wyper instructed his officers. "We split up here!" Wyper readied his cannon and pointed it at the massive trees of Upper Yard. "WE VOWED TO THE GREAT WARRIOR CALGARA TO LIGHT THE FIRE OF SHANDORA!"

"YEAAAH!" the Shandians cheered.

**BOOM! **Wyper fired the first shot and his round impacted with the tress. **KA-BOOOOOOM! **An explosion rang out and rose above the massive trees as the Shandians readied for battle.

Up ahead Ohm and Gedatsu tensed when they sensed the oncoming attack.

"_So the Shandians have come for a fight," _the two Priests realized and prepared to receive their special 'guests'.

**-x-**

Nami stared through her binoculars in shock. "It can't be!"

**-x-**

**Secret of the Island:**

**-x-**

"Look… I'm flattered," Ricky said, "But I'm loyal to my crew. I couldn't leave them."

"Yes, I sense that you have a strong bond with your pirate crew and that they have great loyalty towards you," Eneru stated, "The three that you sent off for their safety have already realized your true intentions."

"They have?" Ricky asked, "Wait… how could you possibly know that?"

"I'm God," Eneru reminded him, "I know everything that happens on this island. Two of them had a particularly loud argument concerning whether or not they should continue their attempt to find the treasure you claimed to send them out for or to return here and help you. Speaking of which, your other three crewmates are on their way here to rescue you. You'll be pleased to know that the three of them actually managed to defeat Satori."

Eneru decided not to mention the force of Shandians that He sensed approaching His island.

"_Wow… flyboy was able to predict my moves but this guy can sense everything on this island," _Ricky remarked,_ "He's not just on a different level, he's playing an entirely different game. I don't know if he's trustworthy but if he says Luffy, Sanji and Usopp are okay then that's a good thing. They even managed to defeat another one of the Priests." _

"Which Priest is Satori?" Ricky questioned, "The dumb one, the fat one, or the bald one?"

"Satori is the round one that hosts the Ordeal of Balls," Eneru informed him, "It has a ten percent survival rate but they managed to overcome him. But you defeated Shura and his Ordeal of String which has a three percent survival rate and you did that on your own with only a minor distraction from that old fool that you're currently holding." Eneru glared at the unconscious form of Gan Fall that was currently draped over Ricky's shoulder. "If Shura hadn't already passed judgment on him I would have done so Myself. To think that the people here believe that their precious Sky Knight could stand up to My power. The reason I decided to come here was to meet you so he hardly matters at this point."

"Well… I've always been good at overcoming the odds," Ricky admitted, not sure of what to say about Eneru's dismissal of the old man that had saved his life earlier.

"But back to the matter at hand," Eneru said, "I want you to join My forces. With your abilities I could easily have you replace those weaklings Shura or Satori as one of My Priests."

"I told you, my loyalty is to my crew," Ricky replied, "and I've never really been overly religious."

"Following Me has very little to do with religion," Eneru corrected him, "If you'd prefer you could think of Me as a King. Although I'm significantly more powerful than any King you're likely to have met down in your Blue Sea World."

"That's just the thing though," Ricky countered, "I became a pirate for the freedom. I'm an outlaw which means I don't have to follow any laws or orders."

"Doesn't your pirate crew refer to you as 'Captain' and follow your orders?" Eneru pointed out, "If you followed Me then I'd be _your_ Captain."

"_He thinks I'm the Captain?" _Ricky thought to himself. "Hey, I'm not…"

**KA-BOOOOOM! **Wyper's cannon exploded in a distance.

"What was that?" Ricky wondered.

"I'm a busy God," Eneru stated, "It seems like I have other matters to deal with at the moment so perhaps I'll give you some time to decide. Maybe losing some of your crew will make you more willing to reconsider."

Ricky's eye narrowed and he immediately forgot about being civil at the sound of the threat.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on my crew!" he growled.

But to Ricky's surprise, Eneru merely laughed at his threat. "Yahahahaha! You actually believe that you pose a threat to Me? You may have been skilled enough to face My Priests but you'd stand no chance against Me. But rest assured, it wasn't a threat, it was a warning. The Survival Game will begin tomorrow. If you live through it I'll repeat My offer to you and any of your remaining crew. Consider yourself warned."

**FWOOSH!** There was a flash of bright light and Eneru disappeared.

A Survival Game… that didn't sound good.

**-x-**

Nami held her arms out to the side as she fought to keep her balance as she slowly crossed a log.

**KA-BOOOOOOM! **The explosion from Wyper's cannon suddenly rang out in a distance.

"Uh… guys?" Nami questioned. She stopped and looked worried about what she'd just heard.

"That sounded like an explosion," Zoro noted.

"I thought I heard some earlier," Robin added, maybe she'd heard the explosions from Satori's battle with Luffy, Usopp and Sanji, "but this one sounded bigger."

Nami overcame her shock and continued onward, "Well either way we have to keep moving forward," Nami announced.

**SKISH!** Zoro shot himself up on top of a log that was up above Nami's.

"Are you in some kind of hurry?" he asked.

"You've been acting odd for some time," Robin added as she crossed a third log alone. "What did you see?"

"Please tell me it wasn't god," Zoro groaned.

"It wasn't," Nami answered, "If I explained it you still wouldn't understand!"

"Enough with the mystery, Nami!" Zoro snapped, "Spit it out! Tell us what you saw!"

"Quit ordering me around and just do what I say!" Nami shot back at him. "We have to get to the sea shore!" She looked upward and noted that despite her very useful boots the other two were a lot further along their own logs than she was. "Would one of you please help me?"

"You're the leader," Zoro replied, "Why don't you help yourself."

"The sea shore?" Robin repeated as she casually created a long chain of arms that stretched down from the bottom of her log to Nami's.

"Yes," Nami answered. "It's the only way we can get close enough to check this thing out." She grabbed hold of the last hand in Robin's chain and allowed the older woman to pull her up to the higher log. "Because to be honest, I won't believe what I saw until I see it up close."

"Me too," Robin agreed. "It's been bothering me for a while now but I still can't prove anything yet. Of course, a theory is only a theory until proven. But if what I've dreamed up turns out to be true it would be interesting, very interesting. The one thing I always wanted in life… doesn't seem so far out of reach anymore." Robin's mind briefly flashed back to the Poneglyph in Alabasta's Royal Mausoleum. Then to the other one that she and Ricky had found that marked the resting place of the ancient weapon Pluton, "Although, it's only a theory."

Nami stood up on the log behind Robin and wondered what her theory was.

**-x-**

"Uuugghh…" Chopper groaned as he blearily opened his eyes. He glanced around him and noticed that he was on the Going Merry. "What's going on? What happened?" Then he noticed the wounded Gan Fall and Pierre were lying on the deck nearby. "GAAH!" Chopper shrieked at the sight of the hole going through the Sky Knight's armor as well as his chest. "SKY KNIGHT! HEY! DOCTOR!"

"**That's you…" **Chopper glanced off the side of the Going Merry and saw Ricky dragging the main mast up the altar stairs towards the ship. Chopper had torn it off after Shura's bird Fuza had set it on fire. But the mast was still showing signs of serious burns. "You'd better take a look at the old man."

Chopper nodded then turned and pressed his ear and hooves to Gan Fall's chest.

"Uuugghhhh…" the Sky Knight let out a low groan.

"He's alive!" Chopper noted, "That's good."

"But he's hurt bad," Ricky pointed out. "See what you can do for him."

"Piieeee…" Pierre let out a low caw.

"The bird's fine," Ricky told him as he reached the top of the altar and set the mast down beside the ship. "He only fell into the Sea Clouds. Focus on helping the old man."

**SWOOSH!** A winged figure suddenly flew over the opening in the trees above the Altar.

"Huh?" Ricky grunted as he looked upward. He had the Eye covered once more so he was back to having limited depth perception and couldn't see anything that high above him but with his sharp ears he was still able to hear it.

"What happened to the Priest?" Chopper asked.

"I used the Eye and beat him up," Ricky answered. **Skish! **He jumped up onto the railing then dropped down onto the deck and glanced at Chopper, Gan Fall, and Pierre. "Then I dove in and fished you three out of the clouds. How's he look?"

"He's hurt really bad," Chopper observed, "He was stabbed straight through his chest and a number of his internal organs are probably burned."

"I've got a couple of those too," Ricky admitted as he looked down at his chest and stomach where Shura had stabbed him with his lance. "But mine are shallow and aren't nearly as bad as his so I can wait."

"Get his armor off," Chopper instructed, "I'll go get my medical supplies."

Chopper shot up and ran for the storage room. **Tmptmptmptmptmp!**

"Piiiieeeee…" Pierre let out a mournful cry as he slowly pushed himself up.

"Don't worry," Ricky reassured the bird, "Chopper's the best doctor around. If anyone can help your friend, it's that little guy."

**SWOOOSH! **A winged silhouette passed over the opening above the clearing again. Ricky's head snapped upward.

"Okay, this time I _know _I heard something," he insisted.

**SWOOOOOSH!** A large winged figure descended from the sky towards the altar.

"Don't tell me the Priest's chicken is coming back…" Ricky muttered.

**Fwap! Fwap! Fwap! **The bird pulled out of its dive and beat its wings and it hovered above the Going Merry. Ricky went wide-eyed when he saw what the bird really was.

"Chopper…" Ricky called out towards the reindeer in the storage room, "You're gonna wanna take a look at this…"

"**JOOOOOHHH!"**

**-x-**

"We're almost there," Robin announced, "I can hear the waves breaking on the shore. Listen…"

"Hmm…" Zoro hummed as he stopped moving and listened quietly as Robin instructed.

"Almost… there…" Nami panted as she climbed over. "It might not be treasure… but Ricky's not gonna believe what we found… Hurry up, slow pokes!"

"Would you mind telling me what you saw?" Zoro asked yet again. Then he lowered his voice and muttered, "Or at least shut up."

"On second thought, I'm hearing more than just the tide rolling in," Robin said as she stood next to Zoro while Nami continued to climb off ahead of them, "you?"

"Yeah," Zoro answered, "It sounds like a charging army."

**-x-**

"**RAAAAAAHH!" **the invading Shandians let out a collective roar as they charged down the Milky Road through the forest of Upper Yard.

**KA-BOOOM-BOOOM-BOOOOM! **Explosions marked their path as the warriors blasted the huge trees as they whizzed by them. They _wanted _the Priests to know they were there. They had come for a fight.

**-x-**

"And some explosions thrown in for good measure," Zoro added. "With any luck, it's a distraction from what we're doing."

"Or they're attacking our friends," Robin supplied.

"Ricky and Chopper?" Zoro questioned. "I didn't really wanna admit this but Nami was right before. Ricky can handle himself. I've sparred with him at night enough to know that he's one of those guys that I wouldn't wanna fight for real. While he might not be very strong, he never holds still and always keeps moving during a fight. He gets in your head and outsmarts you. That's how he beats you."

"You don't have to tell me something I already know," Robin replied, "I fought Mr. One Eye three times back on Alabasta. But he does have a habit of getting distracted when his friends are in trouble. So the one I'm really worried about is Mr. Doctor."

"Chopper?" Zoro repeated, "Don't worry, he's tough for being so fuzzy. When the time comes he can handle himself."

"And the others?" Robin inquired.

"You mean Luffy?" Zoro asked.

"He won't sit still after learning what happened to us," Robin stated.

"Right," Zoro agreed, "And he's the one who wanted to come here to begin with."

"I don't know what this God has hidden out here," Robin admitted, "but I doubt he'll let our Captain just walk through."

"Between that, your theory, Nami being annoying, and this other battle…" Zoro recapped.

"This whole thing has gotten more complicated," Robin pointed out.

"That's what I was gonna say," Zoro noted, "Anyway, our Nakama are used to being neck-deep in trouble so I'm not worried. Getting bent out of shape over things that haven't happened is a waste of time."

"Fufu," Robin lightly chuckled, "Good point."

"WOULD YOU TWO HURRY UP!" Nami shouted at them. She wasn't nearly as athletically gifted as Zoro or even Robin so it was taking her a while to climb over each root even with her hiking boots. Meanwhile the other two were making their way through the giant forest with casual ease.

Nami finally climbed down off of the latest root and turned around then smiled at what she saw ahead of her. Between two trees off in a distance she saw nothing but white. They'd reached the shore. Wordlessly she continued onward. Her destination was within reach.

"Nami wait!" Zoro called after him. "NAMI!"

**-x-**

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he, Usopp and Sanji continued to sail along the Milky Road on the Crow. "Lemme do it again but this time don't make me laugh."

"Ahahaha! Alright," Usopp laughed in agreement, he grinned then called out, "Zoro would you wake up already!"

"Huh?" Luffy grunted in a deeper voice as he looked up at his friend. He'd pushed his hair back to expose more of his forehead, narrowed his eyes, and made his rubber nose more pointed. As a result, Luffy's face looked like Zoro's and once again, Luffy was using his rubber body for an impersonation. "You're a dead man…" 'Zoro' let out a low groan then passed out again.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Usopp roared with laughter. "THAT'S THE BEST! AHAHAHA!"

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR GOOFING OFF!" Sanji yelled at them from the driver's seat. "Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin are lost out there and for all we know they could be in trouble."

"Ricky, Zoro and Chopper are with 'em, you know," Luffy reminded him.

"There are three more Priests waiting in the wings," Sanji told him, "We may have more challenges ahead of us."

Luffy brushed his black hair down so it covered his left eye, then pinched his right eyebrow and spun the end into a spiral before he held two fingers in front of his mouth like he was smoking a cigarette. "Ordeal of Love…" Luffy mumbled in an impressive Sanji impression.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed and applauded the impersonation.

A couple seconds later, the laughter had stopped and Sanji was lighting up a new cigarette while sporting a large tick mark on his head.

"Whatever the case is, we've got to get to that Altar," Sanji resolved, "Don't you think?"

Clearly Sanji hadn't cared for Luffy's impression of him because the Captain and Sniper had suffered yet another vicious beating at the feet of their cook and were now sporting puffy lips, black eyes and large bumps on their head.

"Ookaaayyy…" Luffy and Usopp groaned, "We're soorryyy…"

**-x-**

Nami panted as she exited the trees and laid eyes on what she'd come all this way to see.

"I wonder why she took off so fast?" Robin remarked as she and Zoro followed the Navigator.

"Figures," Zoro grumbled, "She sees what she wants leaves everyone else behind."

Nami brushed her hand on the wall she'd found on the shore. "I was right," Nami realized as she stared up at it. "This is exactly what I thought I saw."

Robin reached the edge of the forest but then she stopped and stared in surprise at what Nami had found. "Unbelievable," she gasped.

"Hey Nami!" Zoro called out as he climbed over the last large root, "If you don't tell me what it was that you saw… then I'm am gonna—" Zoro immediately cut off when he looked up and saw what it was that Nami had found.

"Speaks for itself pretty well," Nami told him, "Look at it. It's almost unreal. But it's no fairy tale. We've all seen what it belongs to." Nami walked along the side of the round dirt and vine-covered stone structure. "How did it get all the way up here?"

"That doesn't make any sense," Zoro said as he overcame his shock and walked over to the two women. "Why would this be here? It looks exactly the same. It's like a copy."

"But it's not," Robin corrected him.

"How do you figure?" Zoro questioned.

"This is the other half of what we saw before," Robin informed him.

"Go on," Zoro instructed her.

"It's bugged me for a while," Robin explained, "Why is it we walk on soil here instead of Island Cloud? This dirt, there's nothing in the make-up of the White White Sea that would allow for its existence. So… the ground that we're walking on shouldn't exist up here. Upper Yard was originally on the ground."

"I knew that house was off when I saw it," Nami added, "Thing is, it's a two story house but there was no staircase leading up to the second story. And what would make you build a house on the edge of a cliff? But then again, it wasn't a cliff at all."

_"WHOOAA!" Luffy and Usopp exclaimed when they first saw what they thought was Montblanc Cricket's house on the north-eastern shore of Jaya. "AMAZING!"_

_On the shore in front of them was a castle. It was a large white structure that was easily six stories tall. It had three round pink diagonally striped turrets and two that were pointed with yellow and black stripes. There were fancy designs all over it and cannons perched on top of the walls of the top two stories._

_"Uggh… look closer," Zoro groaned._

_"It's really unattractive," Sanji commented. "The guy's gotta have some serious guts to build a house that ugly."_

_Chopper stared at the castle and stretched his eyes wider with his hooves, "Hmm? What's that?"_

_**SKISH! **__Luffy leapt off of the Merry and onto the shore then ran around the side of the palace. "WAAAAAAAHHH!" he howled. The palace turned out to only be a wooden cutout. The actual house was a small, round two-storied structure. The house was half as tall as the cutout and a third as wide. "IT'S NOT A PALACE AT ALL!"_

"This is that half of the island that was ripped away," Nami realized. "THIS ISLAND USED TO BE PART OF JAYA!"

The proof was the fact that Zoro, Nami and Robin were currently stared at the aged second half to their friend Montblanc Cricket's house. The gaudy palace cutout was to cover the hole in the side of the house that had been split in half. Together the worn half-round house combined with the one Cricket was living in down on Jaya and made the same round two-storied house.

"So what that means is a few hundred years back the island split in half and one side of it rose into the sky," Zoro concluded. "Do either of you know how that could have happened?"

**-x-**

Back at the Going Merry, Ricky and Chopper found themselves staring up at A MASSIVE SOUTH BIRD!

"**JOOOOOHH! JOOOOOOHHH!" **the huge South Bird crowed.

**SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! **More winged shapes descended from the sky and suddenly the one massive South Bird became an entire flock of nearly a dozen giant-sized South Birds.

"They're South Birds!" Chopper realized, "A whole flock of 'em! They're huge! I didn't know they got so big!"

"Everything's big here," Ricky reminded him, "These birds are only supposed to be native to Jaya. What are they doing all the way up here? And for that matter, what do they want Chopper, you know I don't like birds."

"Piiiiee?" Pierre looked offended.

"Sorry but its true," Ricky apologized.

Then before his eyes transformed into his winged Pegasus form. "Piiiee?"

"That actually is better," Ricky admitted, "I've got no problem with horses."

"JOOOH! JOOOOOOH!" the main South Bird crowed.

Chopper went wide-eyed and glanced at Gan Fall, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GOD?"

"_Or he's the former God at least," _Ricky realized, _"Eneru must of unseated him. That must be why he was so dismissive toward him before."_

**-x-**

"It had to have been the Knock Up Stream that did it," Nami reasoned, "Sounds ridiculous but that's the best I can do. "

They all remembered the powerful Knock-Up Stream that had blasted their ship up through the clouds to the White Sea. And then they remembered their friend that helped them get there.

"_My name is Montblanc Cricket," Cricket had introduced himself. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I thought you were more bandits coming for my gold."_

"_YOU MEAN THERE'S NO SKY ISLAND?" Luffy shouted after they'd explained their reason for coming. "ARE YOU SURE?"_

"_I know of only one who has claimed to see the island for himself," Cricket had answered, "But that man is considered a liar of epic proportions."_

"'_**I saw a City of Gold on an island in the great sea,' declared Noland," **__Nami read from the fairy tale story Noland the Liar.__** "And the courageous King decided that he must have this treasure for his kingdom. The King set out with Noland and two thousand of his finest soldiers and all they found for their troubles was a normal island covered with an ordinary jungle."**_

"_As the story goes, Noland's last words were as follows," Cricket told them, "'I can only assume that the City of Gold sunk into the sea. Unable to find the city Noland assumed that it had submerged due to shifts in the Earth's crust. But everyone dismissed this as the last-ditch excuse of a doomed man."_

"_That's what made you keep diving until you got sick," Chopper had realized. Their friend had given up his former life and had moved to Jaya so he could spend his days diving into the sea in an attempt to find the City of Gold that his disgraced ancestor claimed to have found. _

"_All I'm doing is following what I believe is my destiny," Cricket had said, "This is between me and Noland. I'm facing what I fear. Whatever the outcome, the act is all that matters."_

"_Let's settle this Noland!" Cricket had cried out to the sea after he'd left his crew to stay behind on Jaya. "Once and for all!"_

They could imagine it now, the powerful upward current known as the Knock-Up Stream had shot up under Jaya and blasted half of it along with the creatures and people that were on it up into the sky. Cricket's house had been on the exact spot where the island had broken in half and had been split resulting in one half being in the sky on what became known as Upper Yard while the other half remained behind down on Jaya. Cricket gave up his former life and spent his days living as a disgrace as he attempted to find the gold that would restore honor to the Montblanc name.

"The City of Gold didn't sink into the sea like he guessed," Nami realized, "This part of Jaya… has been floating in the sky for four hundred years!"

**-x-**

**City of Gold in the Sky:**

**-x-**

"YAAAHOOOOO!" Nami cheered. "GOOD GOD THANK YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE AFTER ALL THE SUFFERING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH TO FIND SKY ISLAND THAT IT REALLY TURNED OUT TO BE THE CITY OF GOOLD!" Nami clasped her hands in prayer, "This must be your way to reward me for my good behavior, right God? You're just... great!"

"Shut up," Zoro spat at her. "Ten minutes ago you were scared this God was gonna kill you, remember?"

"Well, call me shallow," Nami replied, "but I don't care how scared I get as long as someone has gold waiting for me."

"So do you fear or praise this God?" Robin inquired, "I'm confused."

"Alright, I'm done keeping up with your mood swings," Zoro announced.

**-x-**

"Whoooaaaa…" Luffy and Usopp gasped as the Crow finally exited Satori's territory known as the Lost Forest. They were still traveling along the Milky Road only now it was out in the open and ran above a grassy field.

"What is this?" Luffy wondered.

"My money says that this is where we're supposed to find the next Ordeal," Sanji stated, "Which means another Priest. So you two stay awake."

"Oh no," Usopp groaned, "I think one Ordeal is enough for today. Which one seems like it could be out here? String? Iron? Swamp? I'm so nervous!"

"Relax," Luffy reassured him, "It's just a grassy field."

"Open your eyes!" Usopp exclaimed. "It's a field with a thousand impaled skulls set up like trophies to scare us! AND ITS WORKING!"

The three Straw Hats had left the forest and were now in a field. And to make matters worse, it was Ohm's field in the territory where he conducted his Ordeal of Iron.

"Yeah you're right," Luffy noted as he eyed the impaled skulls as they sailed by them. "I wonder who did this."

"AAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed as he clasped his hands over his eyes. "Its another one of those Priests! I just know it! He's gonna tear our bodies in half!"

"Another Priest with another Ordeal?" Luffy questioned, "Sounds like fun!"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Usopp shouted, "THOSE ARE HEADS ON STICKS BACK THERE! ON STICKS! Next its gonna be us…"

"Don't worry so much Usopp," Luffy wrote off his scared sniper's worries, "We'll beat 'im!"

Luckily for the three Straw Hats. Ohm was currently… occupied.

Sanji turned his head in time to see an explosion rock the edge of the field. **KA-BOOOOM! **

"Hey, what's that smoke?" Luffy asked as he stared in the direction of the explosion.

"GAAAH!" Usopp shrieked, "I KNEW IT! THEY'RE GONNA GET US WITH STRING, IRON AND SWAMP ALL AT ONCE!"

"That certainly would save time," Sanji remarked.

**KA-BOOOM! **One of the skulls exploded.

"AAAAAAAHH!" Usopp wailed. "WE'R DEAD!"

**WOOOOOSH! **Wyper, Kiko and five other Shandians flew over the Crow on their skis and boards. Wyper flipped so he was hanging upside down in midair and aimed his cannon at the Straw Hats. **BOOOOM! **Wyper fired off a round at the three pirates.

"AAAAAH-GAGAGAGAGAGA!" Usopp screamed and whimpered at the same time.

Luffy pushed Usopp out of the way and inflated his stomach, "GUUUM… GUUUM…" **WHUP! **Wyper's round impacted with Luffy's inflated belly. "BAAALLOOOON!" **SHOOM! **Luffy launched the round back the way it came.

**SWISH! **Kiko spun in midair and slammed his elbow into his side. **FWOOSH! **A long blade of fire shot out of the tube on the back of the Shandian's right gauntlet. **FWOOOOM! **Kiko slashed the fire-blade like a whip and cleaved Wyper's incoming round in half. The round flew passed them and exploded on the ground. **KA-BOOOOOM!**

"WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?" Kiko demanded as he, Wyper and the other five Shandians landed on a massive tree branch at the edge of the clearing ahead of the Straw Hats.

"Paramecia," Wyper answered, "Only one who has eaten one of the Devil Fruit could do that."

"HOOOO! I'LL SLICE THEM TO PIECES!" Kiko howled.

"STAND DOWN!" Wyper ordered, "We're not here for them. Keep fighting."

"Grrrr…" Kiko growled as he gritted his fang-like teeth. But he knew better than to go against Wyper's orders. "Fine."

"You…" Sanji said as recognized the masked man that had wiped the floor with him, Luffy and Zoro when they first reached the White Sea.

"WE'RE READY!" Luffy hollered at the Shandians. "COME ON DOWN! WE'LL CREAM YOU! MAKE YOUR MOVE BIG GUY!"

"You sound and stink like Blue Sea People," Wyper noted, "Which means you're responsible for all the chaos in Skypeia!"

"Luffy, that's the guerilla we saw back on the White Sea," Sanji informed his Captain, "Look…"

_"What's gotten into him?" Sanji had wondered about Chopper odd behavior after the doctor had just witnessed Wyper blowing up a ship._

_**SHWOOSHH!**__ The cook looked off the side of the ship and spotted Wyper racing along the clouds on his dial-powered skis._

_"Check it out, he's right," Sanji realized when he spotted the strange man approaching the front of the ship. "There's a guy running around out there."_

Currently, the only difference in Wyper's outfit now was that he'd left his mask behind.

_**SKISH! **__The bull-masked man leapt off of the clouds revealing his then-unknown dial-powered skis and flew at the Merry looking to land on it._

_"Hey stop!" Sanji called out to the man, "What do you want?"_

_"TO DESTROY YOU!" the man shouted._

_"Oh, is that all?' Sanji questioned._

_"He's mine," Zoro called out._

_"Who is?" Luffy asked. "What's going on?"_

_**THWAK!**__ Before anyone could react the man flew over the railing and sent Sanji crashing into the side of the galley with a surprisingly powerful kick._

"AAAAHAAAHAAAAHAAA!" Usopp screamed as he dove for cover, "JUST BLOW US UP AND GET IT OVER WITH!"

"If you don't want to die, then go back to your 'blue sea' immediately!" Wyper ordered, "Because, I promise, if you do anything stupid on this island…" Wyper growled as he glared straight at Luffy, "Grrr… We'll execute you along with Eneru!"

"They're up here trying to kill this guy Eneru?" Sanji questioned. "Then that means that these guerillas… are different."

"If different means that they're not Priests then that means they don't have to kill us," Usopp pointed out, "For the sake of keeping all of your body parts intact can we please SAIL ON?"

"NOT A CHANCE!" Luffy snapped as he raised his fists. "WHAT DO YOU SAY TO A FAIR FIGHT? JUST YOU AND ME!"

Usopp grabbed Luffy from behind and held his waist in a desperate and pathetic attempt to keep him from getting them in trouble with another scary enemy. "PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Usopp sobbed. "PLEASE STOP!"

Luffy struggled to get the sniper off of him as he continued to shout threats at Wyper. "YOU STAY ON THAT TREE BRANCH! I'M COMING TO YOU! USOPP, GET OFF ME! HANDS OFF! I'M TRYIN' TO FIGHT HERE! I'LL UPHOLD OUR HONOR! I HAVE TO! WE'RE PIRATES!"

"Do all Blue Sea People act this strange?" Kiko inquired, he was seated on the branch next to Wyper and was scratching an itch in his pink mane of hair… with his foot.

Wyper gave the wild warrior an odd look then went back to watching Luffy struggle with Usopp, "They'll probably end up destroying each other before they can make it off this island. Let's go!" **SWOOSH! **He turned and leapt off through the trees. Kiko and the other five quickly followed behind him.

Once the Shandians were gone, Usopp finally let go of Luffy and dropped down to the deck.

"I wonder why they're up here," Luffy said as he stared after the tribal warrior quintet.

"I'm not sure," Sanji admitted, "Must be pretty serious. But they seem to be enemies of Eneru as well as us."

"Yeah," Usopp whimpered. "You know… I really do hate this place…"

"Let's keep moving," Sanji resolved.

"Koff! Koff!" Usopp let out a pair of fake coughs. "I think my 'Can't-Go-Into-the-Scary-Forest' Disease is acting up!"

"I'm starving!" Luffy complained.

"HOW COULD YOU BE HUNGRY?" Usopp demanded, "Look, we need to calm down! All of us! Let's just sing Sanji's song and everything will be fine, right? Good. Eh-hem!"

"TAAKE MYY HAAND HONEEEY!" Luffy and Usopp sang together.

"THOSE AREN'T THE WORDS!" Sanji snapped at them.

**-x-**

At that moment, Ohm, Holy and Gedatsu were in the forest ahead of the Straw Hats dealing with the attacking Shandians.

**CHOMP! **Holy lunged forward and clamped his giant mouth down on one of the Shandians. The warrior's entire body fit in the colossal canine's mouth as it stomped its paws on the ground to scare off the other Shandians. **WHOMP! WHOMP!**

"I'll cover you!" Laki called out to Braham as they sped over on their skis.

"RAAAH!" Six Shandians leapt at Ohm, each from a different direction.

Time slowed as Ohm used his Mantra to sense the movements of the six warriors then in a flash drew his sword and slashed his opponents. **SLA-SLISH!**

"AAAAAAHHH!" All six men were hit by a single split-second swing of Ohms sword and dropped to the ground. **Fwump-wump-wump!**

**WOOOSH! **Braham sped in and fired his guns at Holy's face. **BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!**

"Useless!" Ohm growled as Holy reared up and knocked the gun-wielding warrior away with one of its massive paws. **WHAM!**

**-x-**

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji continued to sail across the empty meadow on the Crow. Luffy and Sanji were both relaxed but Usopp was still nervous and was awaiting an oncoming attack from one of the Priests.

"There's no way they'd let us out of here this easy!" the sniper insisted as he peered through his goggles for any sign of trouble. "You know as soon as we relax we're all dead meat! We've got zero! And I mean Zoro… I mean Zolo… no that's stupid… _ZERO_! Hey I wonder how Zoro's doing…"

**-x-**

**WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! **Three Shandians were sent flying courtesy of Gedatsu in a rare display of competence. A spear-wielding Shandian stared in surprise as he watched his comrads get dispatched by the Priest.

"He-heh," Gedasu chuckled. The Priest lashed out his hand and the warrior went flying. **WHOOOM!** Gedatsu was on a roll.

**-x-**

**Head for God's Shrine:**

**-x-**

"We've been sailing forever Sanji," Luffy complained, "When can we stop? Can we stop now?"

They'd left the skull-filled field behind and were now once again traveling through the giant trees of an Upper Yard forest.

"Soon," Sanji answered. "I just wanna make sure that field behind us is _way_ behind us."

"I think that since we've gotten this far maybe they'll let us keep on moving," Usopp suggested, "Yeah, I mean, of course they will! They already have!"

**WOOOSH!** The Crow dipped downward and Usopp started screaming again as they found themselves sailing down a spiral of Sea Cloud.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed, 'THIS IS IT! DYING WILL BE A BLAST!"

"THIS WHOLE POINT IS _NOT TO _DIE!" Usopp yelled at him, "SPEAKING OF POINTS, WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING A CANAL SPIRAL LIKE THIS?" They picked up speed as they continued down the spiral. "SUDDENLY I DON'T FEEL VERY GOOD!"

"YAAAHOOOOO!" Luffy cheered. He was having a great time. "SHISHISHI! YOU'VE GOTTA ADMIT, THIS IS FUN!"

"I'LL DO NO SUCH THING!" Usopp shouted.

"HOLD ON!" Luffy called out.

"I'M ALREADY DOING THAT!" Usopp exclaimed.

**WOOOOSH!** The spiral stopped but the canal suddenly tilted upwards as the Crow went through a loop in the terrifying rollercoaster.

"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed loudly, loving every second of it. "THESE MILKY ROADS ARE A BLAST!"

"And they're perfect if you ate something earlier AND YOU DON'T WANNA KEEP IT!" Usopp snapped. "I REALLY, REALLY, _REALLY_ HATE THIS PLACE!"

**-x-**

"RAAAAAHHH!" Kamakiri and Genbo roared as they charged in and tried their hand at attacking Ohm, Gedatsu and Holy.

"HAAA!" Ohm shouted as the slashed his sword and dispatched another batch of soldiers.

With Ohm there to cover for Gedatsu's blunders the two Priests were holding their own against the Shandians even if there were only two of them.

**-x-**

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were now on a canal that was running up above the trees which allowed them to see the beautiful orange color the sky had turned due to the setting sun.

"The sun's going down," Usopp noted, "I wonder what we'll run into after dark. Do you think we can make it to the Altar before then?"

"No, I don't," Sanji answered around his cigarette.

"I can barely see the sunset through those clouds," Usopp remarked as he adjusted his goggles.

"I'm surprised they even have sunsets up here," Luffy added.

**-x-**

**WOOOSH!** **WOOOOSH!** Kamakiri and Genbo looked up from their fight with Ohm in time to see Wyper, Kiko and the five other Shandians come racing through the trees.

"HOOOOO!" Kiko flew straight overhead and swung a flaming whip out at Holy who was holding off Laki and Braham. **FWOOOSH! **"TAKE THIS BEAST!" Kiko swung his flame whip downward but the dog caught him off guard when it suddenly reared up onto its hind legs and lashed out its massive paw. **WHAAAM! **Kiko slammed into Braham and both of them were knocked out of the way.

"WYPER!" Kamakiri shouted. "WE CAN HANDLE THIS GUY! HELP THE OTHERS!"

"Right," Wyper agreed as he bounded over a tree and spotted a bunch of Shandians having a hard time with Gedatsu.

Wyper dove and lashed out his leg at Gedatsu's face. **SWISH!** Gedatsu tilted his head to the side to avoid the kick but then found Wyper's cannon pointed at his face. **KA-BOOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

"RIIIICKYYY! CHOOOPPEEEEER!" Nami called out. She, Zoro and Robin had finally made it back to the Altar. "WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, ANSWER!"

"They tore the mast off," Zoro noted when he saw the Going Merry's main mast lying next to the ship on the top of the Altar. "What've they done to her?"

"Obviously they were attacked!" Nami exclaimed, "Ricky and Chopper couldn't have done that to the Merry. RIICKYY! CHOPPER? WHERE ARE YOU? SORRY WE TOOK SO LONG! AT LEAST GIVE US A SIGN THAT YOU'RE NOT DEAD!"

"…" The ship stayed silent.

"So I guess that means they're dead," Robin dead-panned.

"WOULD IT KILL YOU TO THINK POSITIVE?" Nami snapped at the morbid woman.

"Huff…" Zoro sighed, "HEY RICKY, CHOPPER! COME OUT HERE! NAMI'S SCARED!"

**Krek… **They heard the faint sound of the galley door opening.

"I knew that would get him," Zoro said with a smirk.

Ricky appeared wearing a new black t-shirt. "Hey guys," he greeted them. "Chopper's dealing with a patient right now."

"Thank God he's still alive," Nami whispered.

"I think it's _despite_ god that he's still alive," Zoro countered.

"RICKY!" Nami shouted, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"

"We got attacked," Ricky answered. "I handled it."

"YOU WANNA GIVE US A _LITTLE _MORE DETAIL?" Nami requested.

**-x-**

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as the Crow sailed up a steep incline. "We're climbing over a tree! And it's the biggest tree I've ever seen!"

"My stomach's already in knots and your yammering isn't helping, Luffy," Usopp complained, "Do you feel that? It's weird, like something bad's gonna happen when we get over that tree."

"Maybe," Sanji replied, "But my money's on the rest of those Priests waiting for us at the end of our journey here."

They reached the top of the tree and realized that the steep incline now became an extremely steep decline.

"That's what you were sensing Usopp," Luffy pointed out, "An incredibly unsafe drop off of this treeeeeeeee..." Like an actual bird, the Crow started to dive and the three Straw Hats plummeted from the top of the tree at a rapidly increasing speed. **SHOOOOOOM!**

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Usopp screamed in terror.

"WAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy screamed in delight.

"PLEASE TELL ME IT'S NOT ANOTHER CORKSCREW!" Usopp shouted.

"Huh… you see them down there?" Sanji asked. Unlike Luffy and Usopp, he'd stayed calm the entire ride and just kept staring ahead of them. Right now he saw a large lake at the bottom of their drop filled with small specks.

"Are those the Priests?" Usopp wondered.

"No, just Sky Sharks," Sanji informed him.

"Oh," Usop said, "Thank goodness, I thought for sure we were goners." But then he realized what Sanji had said and actually saw the school of Sky Sharks waiting below them with wide-opened mouths. "WAAAAAAAH! SKYY SHAARKS! AAAAAAAH! THEY'LL SWALLOW US WHOLE!"

**Whup! **Luffy leapt over Sanji and landed on the head of the Crow figurehead and began to lash out his fists. "GUUUUUM… GUUUUM…" Luffy shot his fists out ahead of them and peppered the entire school of Sky Sharks with rapid-fire punches. "GAATLIING!" **KA-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW!**

**SPLOOOOSHH** The Crow slammed down into the lake that was now filled with the unconscious floating bodies of the Sky Sharks that Luffy had easily knocked out.

"Uuugghh…" Usopp groaned, "WE'RE SOAKING WET!"

But Luffy saw something to be very happy about.

"HEY! CHECK IT OUT!" he called out to the other two. "WE'VE FOUND IT! THERE'S THE GOING MERRY SITTING RIGHT ON TOP!"

Zoro, Nami and Robin looked to the side and saw Luffy, Usopp and Sanji approaching them on the Crow.

"SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed and waved to his crew.

"MISS. NAAMII! MISS. ROOBIIIN!" Sanji swooned, "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING BUT I BEAT THE ORDEAL OF LOVE TO GET HERE!"

"I thought it was Balls, not Love?" Luffy questioned him while Nami sweat-dropped.

"If that was love I don't ever wanna find it again," Usopp insisted. "ANYWAY, WHO CARES! WE'RE ALIVE! WOOOOHOOOO!"

"Sounds like they're happy to be here," Nami remarked, "Safe and sound."

"Hey Chopper!" Ricky called out towards the galley, "All the others are back!"

At long last the Straw Hats were all reunited.

**-x-**

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji had sailed the Crow up to the Altar and Usopp was now on the ship standing between Ricky and Chopper as he surveyed the damage to the ship.

"Sorry about that Usopp," Ricky apologized, "I had to deal with a Priest, his fire-breathing bird and the Ordeal of String. The bird lit the mast of fire so while I led the Priest away I had Chopper tear it off and throw into the clouds so the flames didn't spread to the rest of the ship."

"Sorry Usopp," Chopper whispered as he hung his head.

"I had to deal with one of those Priests too," Usopp admitted, "Those guys are no joke." He turned and smiled at Chopper, "It's a good thing that bird only lit the mast on fire instead of you, right? Ahahahaha! We can figure out the details on the ship later."

"See Chopper, nothing to worry about," Ricky reassured his little brother.

Chopper had tears in his eyes and was touched that Usopp was more worried about him than his treasured ship. Chopper turned and jumped up onto the railing and with flames of courage burning around him shouted, "I PROMISE TO BECOME A MORE DEPENDABLE MAN, STARTING RIGHT NOW!"

Luffy glanced from Chopper over to Ricky, "So how'd you beat your Priest?"

"I cheated and used the Eye," Ricky answered, "Nothing else that I did was working. He kept predicting my moves. Chopper blew the One Whistle and the Sky Knight came and helped me. If it weren't for him I would've _literally_ been toast."

"The Sky Knight was here?" Luffy questioned, "Where is he? I don't see him." Ricky and Chopper glanced solemnly towards the galley.

**-x-**

A moment later, Luffy, Ricky, Nami, Sanji and Chopper were gathered in the galley standing over the Sky Knight. Sanji had made a quick trip to the shore in the Crow and had brought Zoro, Nami and Robin over.

Gan Fall the Sky Knight and former God was lying unconscious in a makeshift futon that Ricky and Chopper had made for him. Pierre was dutifully sitting nearby still in his Pegasus form.

Luffy crouched down and stared at the unconscious man. "He was willing to sacrifice this much for us, even though he gave us that whistle for free."

"If it wasn't for the Sky Knight you guys wouldn't have a ship," Chopper said, "And we'd be dead for sure."

"Using the Eye was the least I could do after he saved me," Ricky admitted.

"I've got a bunch of questions for him," Sanji said, "but I guess I'll wait 'till he wakes up." Sanji glanced over at Pierre, "We owe you a 'thanks' as well."

"Piiieee…" the 'horse' chirped and saluted.

Nami stared down at the Sky Knight then glanced at Ricky who was standing beside her. **WHAK! **Nami elbowed Ricky in the stomach.

"AAAGGGHHH…" Ricky groaned, "What was that for?"

Nami glared at him, "I _knew_ there was something you weren't telling us!" Her hand flashed out and she grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted it up to reveal the bandages he had wrapped around his chest and stomach. "YOU GOT HURT TOO!"

"First of all," Ricky said, "the old guy's sleeping. Keep your voice down. Second, his injury was worse than both of mine put together. And third…" Ricky grabbed Nami by the hand and led her out of the galley. Zoro, Usopp and Robin were out on the deck to keep from crowding the galley. "Third, I didn't want to worry you."

"You didn't want to worry us…" Nami repeated, "WELL YOU COMPLETELY FAILED ON THAT ONE! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE ABOUT YOU!"

Zoro leaned over to Robin, "Wasn't she the one saying not to worry about him?"

"I think someone should scream at him," Robin replied, "She seems like the best choice."

"Look, I'm sorry I worried you," Ricky apologized, "but I didn't want any of you getting hurt so I wanted to keep God's attention focused on me."

"WE FIGURED THAT OUT FOR OURSELVES, GENIUS!" Nami yelled at him. "You may think you're clever and sneaky but you didn't fool any of us! Didn't it ever cross your _brilliant _mind THAT YOU COULD'VE TOLD US WHAT YOU WERE PLANNING? THEN WE WOULD'VE _KNOWN _WHAT TO EXPECT AND LEFT ZORO BEHIND TO HELP YOU OUT!" Nami jabbed her hand in Zoro's direction, "THAT IDIOT WAS NEXT TO USELESS OUT THERE IN THE FOREST!"

"HEY!" Zoro protested, "Who saved you from those sharks!"

"SHUT UP ZORO!" Nami snarled at him before she turned back to Ricky, "HE WAS WILLING TO FIGHT GOD FOR YOU! HE WOULD'VE HAPPILY HELPED YOU KICK THAT PRIEST'S ASS!"

Zoro blinked. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the girl insulting him one second then sort-of praising him the next.

**POW! **Nami lashed out and punched Ricky in the chest.

"AAAAH!" Ricky gasped.

"DON'T YOU _EVER_ TRY TO KEEP SOMETHING LIKE THAT FROM US AGAIN!" Nami threatened him, "IF YOU DO AND I FIND OUT, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS! THEN I'LL LET THEM HAVE WHAT'S LEFT!"

Ricky frowned as he remembered his meeting with God. He hadn't even told Chopper about that. "Then _boy _do I have a story for you," he said.

"We have one too," Nami informed him, "I decided to take my mind off of your idiocy and actually find something while we were wandering that forest for hours."

"Then we should probably have this conversation elsewhere," Ricky suggested, "I wanna get off of this damn Altar."

"He's got a point," Sanji agreed as he came out of the galley with Luffy and Chopper, "The ship's trashed and it'll be dark soon so there's no chance we'll make it back to Angel Island until tomorrow. We should hop over to land and make came for the night."

"Why there?" Luffy asked.

"Because if we stay here and someone attacks us the first thing to take a beating will be our ship," Usopp pointed out. "Would you use you're head Luffy? You're as bad as Ricky."

"Not to mention it's easier to fight from land than from an Altar floating on a cloud," Sanji added.

"SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy suddenly started laughing and Chopper laughed along with him. "TEEHEEHEEHEE!"

"CAAAAMPIIIING!" Luffy cheered.

"THIS ISN'T A PARTY!" Usopp snapped at him, "WE'RE IN ENEMY TERRITORY! NOW CALM DOWN!"

"Not a party… got it," Luffy said as he stared off the ship at the still unconscious Sky Sharks. "Hey Usopp… is a barbecue a party?"

**-x-**

Sometime later, night had fallen and the Straw Hats were gathered on shore around a campfire. Gan Fall was still resting and Pierre the horse was lying next to him.

"Get your hand… off my food…" Ricky growled at Luffy as he yanked half a Sky Shark away from him.

"I WANNA EAT THAT!" Luffy argued.

"EAT YOUR OWN!" Ricky snapped back. "I haven't eaten anything _all day_! I tried to make some sushi before but the Priest interrupted me and then the shark went bad. The last time I ate was at that party last night at Cricket's house. That was nine chapters ago! If you don't take your hand off my food… _right now _you're gonna lose it!"

"Okay, okay, geez," Luffy conceded as he pulled away from Ricky's half of the sky shark.

**Tap! Tap!** Usopp tapped a stick against a chalkboard, "Quiet down now," he instructed, "It's time to hear everyone's field reports."

"We ran into this Priest named Satori who uses Balls with different kinds of threats inside them," Sanji recapped as he casually grinded some medicine for Chopper to use on Gan Fall, "Explosives, dragons… the usual. But what really hung us out to dry in the fight was that this guy kept predicting our moves using a power called 'Mantra' or something."

"The Priest that attacked us was called Shura," Chopper chimed in, "He used a spear that sets fire to anything and his bird lit the main mast on fire. He seemed like he could predict Big Brother's moves like that Satori guy. When things got really bad I used the One Whistle to call the Sky Knight and he came and saved us just in time."

"I couldn't see most of that fight because it was way up in the air," Ricky continued for Chopper, "But when he shouted 'Ordeal of String' I knew I wanted to see what was going on. I took off my eye patch and realized that Shura had spread extremely thin string all around the clearing. It was invisible to the naked eye so the Sky Knight and his bird didn't notice it until they were so tied up in it that it kept them from moving. Shura finished him with his lance and that's where I jumped back in. I used the Eye and a reluctantly cooperative shark as a distraction so I could finish him off. Then his bird took him away."

"Sounds like you all had a rough time," Nami remarked, "Well, what we found was that this island we're on is actually the missing part of Jaya. You see, the City of Gold didn't sink into the ocean like in the Noland the Liar story but it was shot into the sky like us."

Ricky grinned, "Then that means it's somewhere here on the island," he realized. He looked over at Nami, "That's probably that large amount of treasure I've been sensing."

"I've noticed that you've stopped sneezing," Nami noted.

Ricky looked thoughtful, "I've been fine ever since I took my eye patch off."

Meanwhile, Luffy finished off his half of the Sky Shark while Ricky was still working on his.

"EXCELLENT WORK!" Usopp crowed then motioned to what he'd written down on the board. "Now, based on your reports we've learned that the Priests can predict our movements using a power they like to call Mantra. Next, the bird breaths flames, the spear burns you and watch out for invisible string. But most importantly, we learned THIS! The City of Gold is not a thousand leagues under the sea as we had thought but it is hidden somewhere on this very island!"

"NO WAY!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I TOLD YOU!" Nami scolded him.

"So… what is this Mantra-business all about?" Zoro asked Sanji.

"Maybe it's some sort of sixth sense you only get up here," Sanji suggested.

"Actually…" Ricky said as he glanced at Nami, "I've got something else to report. After I beat the Priest… I met God."

"YOU MET GOD?" Chopper exclaimed.

Ricky nodded. "It was while you were unconscious following your swim. I carried you, the old man and the horse up the stairs and found him sitting on the side of the Going Merry."

"You met God… what's He like?" Usopp asked.

"What do you think the person in charge of the Priests that tried to kill us, is like?" Ricky countered, "He's really dangerous. His Mantra is probably fifty times stronger than the Priests'. He can sense everything that's happening on this island. Anyway, I used the Eye's telepathy to beat Shura and he claimed that it was Mantra and that it was powerful enough that he wanted me to join his forces. I tried to let him down easy since my loyalty is to you guys but then we heard an explosion, he threatened you and said something about a 'Survival Game' that would start tomorrow and then he disappeared. I just thought I'd warn you guys."

"OOOOOH! A GAME!" Luffy cheered, "THAT SOUNDS FUN!"

"I like games," Chopper admitted.

"Do you really think it's going to be a simple game after what we've been through today?" Sanji asked him. "By the way, do I need to grind this down anymore?"

"Yes it needs to be a fine powder," Chopper told him as he turned back to the Sky Knight, "He suffered a lot of damage to his digestive system."

"The game doesn't matter," Luffy decided, "We've finally got an adventure with gold at the end! I can't wait!"

Nami winked at him, "Glad to see someone on my side." She turned to Ricky, "After everything you put us through today, you'd better make up for it tomorrow by finding that City of Gold!"

Ricky nodded, "Consider it found."

"Luffy nooo!" Usopp protested, "Did you forget about what the scary guerilla guy said about execution? We can't go looking for treasure! Now we've got an even scarier God after us!"

"God will be really mad," Chopper nervously realized.

"Fufufufu," Robin laughed, "Sounds like fun."

"Well, we wouldn't be very good pirates if we turned our backs on gold," Sanji reasoned, "So let's not."

"It won't be easy," Zoro stated with a smirk, "You know everybody up here already hates us, which means I'm in."

"Come on…" Usopp attempted to reason with them, "Aren't you even a little bit frightened of the wrath of God? I mean, I wanna live, don't you?"

"Look at it this way,' Ricky told him, "'God' knows everything that happens on this island. So he probably knows what we're doing now. He hasn't reacted yet so maybe he doesn't care what we do while we're here."

"SHISHISHISHISHISHI! Luffy stood up and laughed, "GOOOOLD! AND IT'S ALL WAITING FOR US!"

The Straw Hats were getting set for the treasure hunt of a lifetime.

**-x-**

Next chapter the Shandians continue their battle with the Priests and express their feelings for vearth while the Straw Hats have a festival the night before the gold hunting.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	21. The Night Before the Gold Hunting

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**The Night Before the Gold Hunting:**

**-x-**

The battle between the Shandian Warriors and Eneru's Priests waged on. Strike that. The battle between the Shandians and Eneru's _Priest _waged on. Gedatsu had been taken out when Wyper blasted him in the face with his cannon. He wasn't dead. But he'd been taken out of the equation.

Ohm was now the last Priest standing. But he wasn't alone. His still had his massive dog Holy. Ohm rode on Holy's back as he dodged cannon blasts from the remaining Shandian Warriors. Even if he was the only Priest left, Ohm wasn't giving an inch and was actually holding his own.

"RAAAH!" Kiko roared as he lashed out his arm. **FWOOSH! **A long blade of fire came out of the tube on his arm. The blade became a whip as he swung his arm down at the Priest and his massive dog.

**SWIIISH! **Ohm lashed out his sword, the blade grew and swung like a whip and cleaved straight through Kiko's flame whip. Ohm's whip-like blade kept going and connected with Kiko's stomach, **SLISH! **Kiko was knocked back and went crashing to the ground. **THUD!**

"RUFF!" Holy swung to the side and knocked a pair of charging Shandians aside with a massive tackle. **WHAM!**

Ohm and Holy raced through the battlefield. Ohm used his Mantra so they could avoid the cannon blasts while he used his versatile sword to strike down any of the Shandians that got close enough to them.

"Those two together are a problem," Laki noted as she and Kamakiri watched from nearby.

"We have to find some way to separate them," Kamakiri resolved.

**Wooosh! **Genbo sped up behind them, "Hey, I've got an idea," he told them. Genbo raced off and Laki and Kamakiri quickly followed after him.

**Swish! **Ohm swung his sword and blocked a shot from a Shandian.

"ROOOAAHH!" Holy roared as he barreled through the trees.

**KA-BOOOOM! **Ohm looked up in time to see a massive tree start to fall. The tree dropped enough for him to get a glimpse of Genbo perched on the branch of the tree behind it with a smoking cannon-barrel before the tree came crashing down.

**SKISH! **Ohm lunged one way while Holy dove the other. **KRASH! **The tree crashed to the ground and effectively separated the Priest from his canine steed.

"RAAAH!" A group of Shandians charged at Holy and started to blast the monster dog with their cannons. **KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! **Without Ohm to guide him, Holy was unable to dodge the blasts and ended up taking fire. But the massive dog was so huge and powerful that the blasts had very little effect on him.

On the other side of the fallen tree, Ohm let out a whistle to signal Holy, "SWEEEEEEEEE!"

Ohm turned to the side and watched as three Shandians came charging over a tree.

"_Three attackers," _Ohm observed using his high-level Mantra and read their movements perfectly. Ohm drew his sword and slashed it at his attackers. **SLIISH! **The whip-like blade flew through the air where Ohm already knew the three Shandians were going to be. **SLA-SLA-SLISH! **His attack connected and all three Shandians were sent flying.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!** Laki perched on a tree and fired her rifle at Holy. But her long-distance shots were having no effect. **SKISH! **Laki leapt off of the tree branch and bounced down it for a closer shot.

"RAAAWWR!" Holy lunged up from the ground and tackled Laki to the side. **WHAM!**

Laki went flying… but she didn't fall. Her backpack was caught… on the blade of Ohm's sword.

"LAAKII!" Genbo shouted as his fellow warrior dangled from the Priest's sword.

"Can you get a shot?" Wyper asked Braham from on a tree branch overhead.

"Not without hitting, Laki," Braham admitted.

"Damn her," Wyper cursed.

"You look so sad dangling there while all of your hope drains away," Ohm remarked. Ohm smirked as he watched the dirt or Vearth in Laki's backpack drain out and spill to the ground.

Laki scowled and her skis suddenly activated. **WOOSH! **The skis propelled Laki forward and she flipped up over the top of Ohm's sword. Took aim with her rifle and went for a point-blank shot at the Priest's face.

**Whak! **Ohm reached up and battled the barrel of Laki's rifle aside just as she fired. **BANG! **Ohm threw Laki off of his sword. The woman was left in free fall and had no way to dodge as Ohm swung his sword.

**WOOOSH! **Kamakiri dove in on his surfboard and tackled Laki out of the way just as Ohm's sword came down. **SLOSH!**

"NOW!" Wyper shouted at Braham. Braham fired his guns at Ohm while Wyper shot a blast from his cannon. **BANG! BANG! BANG! KA-BOOOOM!**

Ohm spun to the side and slashed his sword. **SLISH! **The blade extended and not only swung through the rounds that Wyper and Braham had fired at him but almost cleaved the two Sandian Warriors in half on their distant tree branch. **SKA-SKISH! **The two of them had only barely managed to jump up off of the branch in time.

"Thanks," Laki said to Kamakiri down on the ground, "I owe you one, Kamakiri."

She sat up AND SAW BLOOD! Kamakiri had saved Laki from Ohms attack but in the process had ended up taking it himself.

"KAMAKIRI!" Laki shouted in alarm.

"NOOO!" Genbo shouted.

"Wyper, Kamakiri's down," Braham informed the leader.

"RAAAHH!" Kiko surged between the two of them on his surfboard and used a flaming whip to block an attack from Holy. **FWOOSH!**

"Damn it, so close to victory…" Wyper growled.

"Heh," Ohm scoffed, "But you never even had a chance. Once night falls, I'll have an even greater advantage. You'll lose your visibility… but I'll still see all your attacks coming."

Wyper glared at Ohm but he knew better than to fight Eneru's Priests at night. He didn't want to lose any more of his warriors. Despite his warriors pride, he had to concede defeat on this day. "WE'RE MOVING OUT!" Wyper called out to his men, "GRAB ALL OUR WOUNDED AND MEET BACK AT THE RENDEZVOUS POINT! NOW!"

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Ohm shouted after them.

"**Ohm, wait…" **Gedatsu came staggering over the fallen tree.

"What do you want, you useless fool!" Ohm snapped.

"We've been summoned by the Almighty Eneru," Gedatsu informed him.

Ohm knew better than to disregard an order from God so he reluctantly allowed the Shandians to make their escape.

**WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOOSH! **The Shandian Warrios gathered all of their fallen comrades and bounced off through the tree.

**-x-**

In the forest surrounding the Altar and the area that the Straw Hats had claimed as their campground, Chopper stopped in his tracks.

"Why'd you stop?" Zoro asked from nearby. The two of them had been sent off by Sanji to gather what they could find to add to their dinner.

"All that racket seems to be getting farther away," Chopper told him.

"Well, maybe all those guerillas and priests decided to call it quits for the night," Zoro reasoned, "Sounds like the right idea." Zoro turned and started to head off. "Let's go."

"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Chopper exclaimed as he hurried after Zoro with his basket.

"If you keep up, I won't," Zoro replied.

"But you don't know how to get back to the camp!" Chopper reminded him.

**-x-**

Back in the clearing around the campfire, Sanji smiled as he cut a slice of carrot into a heart. He gave the carrot-heart a kiss and placed it down next to another one that he'd prepared on his cutting board.

"Grrr…" Luffy grumbled as he stared at the campfire and the large pot they'd brought from the ship that was on top of it. "Grrr…" Luffy continued to whine while Sanji sliced a Sky Shark up into smaller bite-sized pieces and dumped them in the large pot he was using to make his stew. "Grrr…" Luffy growled when Sanji placed a pan on top of the pot on the fire.

Eventually, Luffy couldn't take it anymore, and rolled away from the fire, "GAH! BORING!"

"Nobody told you to watch the water boil," Sanji reminded him, "You only have one job to do and that's to use the distilled drinking water to fill the canteens. So make sure that happens, we'll need fresh drinking water tomorrow."

"Hmph," Luffy grunted, "Whatever…"

"Sanji!" Chopper called out as he and Zoro came out of the woods and into the clearing. "We found tons of great stuff!"

"Let's see the haul," Sanji instructed.

"We found walnuts, aloe, bananas, garlic…" Chopper listed off as he rifled through his basket.

"Grabbed some frogs too," Zoro chimed in as he held up the sky frogs and sky possums that he'd managed to catch.

"Great, it all goes in the pot," Sanji told them.

"DISGUSTING!" Nami complained from where she was kneeling in front of a crate pouring over a map with Ricky. "YOU DON'T EXPECT US TO EAT THAT MESS, DO YOU?"

"Oh, silly me," Sanji bashfully replied while he rubbed the back of his head, "Miss Nami, I promise, I'll take the garlic out."

"THE GARLIC'S THE ONLY GOOD THING!" Nami shouted.

"Frog's not bad if it's cooked properly," Ricky told her without looking up from the map.

"I heard shouting," Robin said as she came into the clearing, "Is Miss Navigator having another melt-down?" The archeologist was using both arms to carry a huge crystal.

"Now that's what I call a gem!" Nami remarked.

"I'm not sensing anything from it," Ricky said, still without looking up, "It's not valuable."

"That's right," Robin said. "It's salt."

"Good find Miss Robin," Sanji complimented the archeologist.

"I found it on the shore," Robin informed Nami as she stared in fascination at the huge crystal. "I figured we'd find some use for it."

"Not only is salt vital to survival, but without it my food would taste awful," Sanji stated.

"If I take half of the garlic and aloe then I can make antiseptic and burn ointment and use it to heal the Sky Knight," Chopper reasoned as continued to look through his basket.

"Oh yeah… need any frog?" Zoro offered.

"No thanks," Chopper replied. "No frog."

"Hey Zoro," Sanji called out, "You're not doing anything. I've got a job for you."

A couple minutes later, Zoro was staring incredulously at his swords. "Ugghh… damn cook… My swords are not meant to be used like this!" Zoro complained as he used two of his swords to lift a burning stone out of the fire then dumped the stone into the pot.

"Yeah, but if you don't listen to the chef than you probably won't eat," Sanji told him.

"Aah!" Luffy yelped. "You just dumped a rock into the stew! Does it taste good?"

"We don't eat it," Sanji explained, "it helps the pot cook. The stone's heat cooks the stew from the inside-out."

"Ohh!" Chopper said.

"Trust me on this one," Sanji reassured him, "you'll need all the nutrients that you can get to survive this place."

"Prefect then," Chopper remarked.

Luffy lifted the lid on the pot and took a sniff, "Smells good!"

**THWAK! **Sanji raised his leg and kicked him on his head. "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF!"

"Sanji… I'm hungry!" Luffy complained.

"WELL IT'S NOT READY YET!" Sanji yelled at him, "WEREN'T YOU JUST CRAMMING A SKY SHARK DOWN YOUR GULLET NOT TEN MINUTES AGO?"

"Yeah… but that was just an appetizer," Luffy told him, "I figured you knew that."

Nami and Robin looked on in annoyance and mild amusement respectively. "He must have rubber stomach too," Nami commented.

"Of course he does," Ricky replied. "I figured you knew that." He finally looked up and his eye widened in surprise. "Since when do you wear glasses?"

"Oh these?" Nami questioned, as she motioned up to thin-framed glasses she was wearing. "They're reading glasses. I only really use them when I do detail work on maps and charts." Nami narrowed her eyes at Ricky. "I've been wearing these this whole time. Are you telling me that you only just noticed them?"

"I didn't want to get distracted so I focused solely on what we were doing," Ricky stated. "But they look good, they bring out the brown in your eyes."

"That's it?" Nami asked, "You don't think they make me look smarter?"

"I've always thought you were brilliant," Ricky answered, "Why would you wearing glasses make me think any differently?"

Nami's cheeks pinked while Robin smiled faintly from where she was silently watching the by-play between the two. "Good answer," she remarked.

"What're you guys working on anyway?" Chopper inquired.

"I think you can figure that out for yourself Chopper," Ricky assured him, "What could a Treasure Hunter and a Master Cartographer be working on together?"

Treasure Hunter + Map Maker "YOU'RE MAKING A TREASURE MAP?" he exclaimed.

"A treasure map?" Luffy repeated, he raced over to the group, "Lemme see it!"

"We're not done with it yet," Nami explained, "We can't seem to agree on the location of the City of Gold and where we'll find the treasure."

"Aren't those the same thing?" Robin inquired.

"Not according to Ricky," Nami told her, "He believes that the gold and the City of Gold are in two separate locations."

"My Treasure Sense has never led me wrong before," Ricky stated, "But then again, it's never been almost overwhelmed like it has been recently." Ricky glanced around them and noticed that Luffy's, Chopper's, Robin's, Zoro's and half of Sanji's attention was on their map. "Since we have their attention, we might as well show them what we figured out. Zoro, would you grab Usopp for us?"

Zoro, who was standing on top of the roots of one of the massive trees they were camped out under nodded and climbed down the root in search of Usopp. He eventually found him on the shore next to a big pile of wood.

"Usopp, what're you doing down there?" Zoro questioned.

"Since I'm not doing anything anyway, I thought I'd start hauling this wood over to the ship for repairs," Usopp answered. He began to remove his shoes so he could swim it over.

"You're gonna swim over there, huh?" Zoro asked him.

"Yeah," Usopp confirmed.

"So you don't have a problem with the giant sharks?" Zoro inquired. The two of them watched as a Sky Shark dove by in front of them and sank back down into the Sea Clouds. **SPLOOSH! **While most of the Sky Sharks had been knocked out when Luffy, Usopp and Sanji had arrived on the Crow, by now they had all recovered and the Sea Clouds were dangerous once more.

Usopp blinked. "The ship'll still be broken tomorrow," he reasoned, "I'll fix it then!" He quickly scrambled up the roots back to camp. "Let's eat Zoro!" Usopp practically sprinted the rest of the way back to camp.

"What a moron," Zoro grumbled as he picked up Usopp's shoes and followed after him.

"Alright everybody, dinner's ready!" Sanji announced when they'd made it back to camp. Sanji handed off two special bowls with heart-shaped carrots to Chopper, "Remember its ladies first."

"Sure," Chopper agreed as he headed off to give the two special dishes to Nami and Robin.

"If you would all please take your seats, I'll be around with your meal shortly," Sanji addressed the others, "And eat up, I don't want it getting cold."

Ricky and Nami sat down on a root together with their treasure map.

"And if you'll all listen up while you eat," Nami called out, "we'll explain how we'll handle this tomorrow,"

Chopper handed one dish to Robin then headed over to Ricky and Nami with the other.

"Ooh, looks tasty," Usopp remarked as he took the two dishes that Sanji gave him and handed one off to Nami. When Chopper made it over with the special dish, he saw that Nami had already been served and that Usopp still had a bowl in his hand so he passed the remaining one to Ricky.

Ricky raised an eyebrow as he used his spoon to pick out the heart-shaped carrot then turned and offered it to Nami. "Do you want this?"

"Aw, Ricky! That's so sweet," Nami remarked. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek then pulled back and opened her mouth. Ricky smiled as he slipped the spoon into her mouth and fed her Sanji's special carrot. "Mmmm!"

"WHAT? NO!" Sanji shouted as he ran over. "Miss Nami! That wasn't from him! It was from me! I made that special for you and Miss Robin!"

"Then why was it in my dish?" Ricky inquired.

"You probably stole it you thieving one-eyed bastard!" Sanji snapped.

"Well I think that instead of focusing on who got what plate you should probably concern yourself with the person who's eating all the stew," Ricky suggested as he motioned passed Sanji to the pot he'd left abandoned.

Sanji turned to see Luffy using the ladle to pour scoop after scoop of stew into his mouth. "Sanji! This is really good!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THAT'S NOT ALL FOR YOU!" Sanji yelled as stormed over, grabbed the lid and slammed it down on Luffy's head. **KLANG! **This resulted in Luffy's head being trapped in the pot.

**WOING! **"GAAH! YOU JERK!" Luffy shouted when he finally pulled his head out of the pot, "I was paying you a compliment!"

"As amusing as this all is," Robin spoke up, "I believe we were going to discuss how we're going to find the gold tomorrow?"

"Oh right," Ricky agreed, "Thanks Robin. Way to keep us on track."

"Isn't that usually your job?" Nami asked.

"Eh, I'm on vacation," Ricky said dismissively.

"Anyway, let's review Noland's book first," Nami decided, "He discovered the City of Gold four hundred years ago. However, after leaving the island and returning with his King, he found that the gold ruins had vanished. Luckily, we now know what happened to these ruins. The gold didn't sink into the ocean like the story says but was instead shot up here into the sky by the Knock-Up Stream just like we were."

"Do you really think a whole island could have done that?" Chopper asked as he handed Robin another bowl of stew after she'd passed hers off to Pierre who was dutifully sitting at Gan Fall's side.

"Well it's the only thing that makes sense," Nami replied, "Remember, Cricket said that every time this phenomenon occurs it's in a different location."

"Yeah, that explosion was enormous," Usopp recalled, "I'm not surprised that it lifted an island."

"It's just hard to believe that the forest we're sitting in is the same one from back on Jaya," Zoro remarked as he stared up at the massive trees that were towering above them.

"I believe that has something to do with the odd composition of the Island Clouds up here," Robin theorized, "Look at all the trees, fish and wildlife, something about this environment dramatically increases growth rates which explains why a society here could have been swallowed up by these immerging forces."

Sanji glanced over at Robin and saw that she had a regular bowl of stew while the bird/horse beside her was helping himself to the special one he'd made for her. The cook sighed and hung his head in dejection as he was faced with his wasted efforts. "So tragic…"

"That explains why those South Birds that Ricky and I saw were so huge," Chopper realized, "I couldn't believe it!"

"Well, four hundred years of growing will do that to a bird," Zoro told him.

Sanji came over and carelessly tossed Zoro a bowl of stew then sat down next to him with his own bowl, "Why were those South Birds so concerned about the old man, anyway?"

"Um… I don't know," Chopper admitted, "but they kept referring to the Sky Knight as God."

"HE'S GOD?" Luffy exclaimed, "So you mean if we beat the crap out of that old guy then our job here is done?"

"PIE!" Pierre squawked and threw his wings over Gan Fall to protect him.

"No you idiot!" Usopp scolded him, "how'd you get that out of what he was saying?"

"Actually, Eneru referred to him as God too," Ricky chimed in, "Well, he actually called him a 'sad excuse for a former God'. I'm guessing that up here the title of 'God' means about the same thing as 'King'. But while the Sky Knight was clearly more of a protector that saw it as his duty to protect everyone, Eneru came along and took over at some point and now he uses the position and his powers to rule over everyone and keep them oppressed. So Luffy, I'm guessing that if you wanna do something about it, then you've gotta beat the crap out of the _current_ God."

"Oh, okay, then let's go beat _him_ up," Luffy decided.

"We're here to find the gold," Nami reminded him, "Not to dethrone a super-powered God!"

"So you can do that _after_ we find it," Ricky added which caused Nami to glare at him.

"SPEAKING OF GOLD," Nami said loudly to get the conversation back on track. "Does anyone remember what Noland's log said about the City of Gold?"

"Oh, I know!" Luffy exclaimed, "It's a city of GOLD!"

"You're such a dumbass!" Usopp snapped, "Do you ever think before you talk?"

"I think he wrote about South Birds and a giant gold bell," Sanji recalled. "Of course, there could be a lot more."

"The last thing he wrote in the log before he died was something odd," Robin answered, "It's something I can't figure out even after seeing this island. It says 'the City of Gold is in the skull's right eye'."

"Bingo," Ricky told her, "And that's exactly what Nami and I have been working on. Luffy, do you remember when you were looking at our map of Jaya and thought it looked like a mouth?"

"Not really," Luffy admitted.

"Well at the time, I told you that you were looking at it wrong," Ricky reminded him, "When _actually _you were looking at it the right way. It _is_ a mouth." Ricky held up the map of Jaya that he and Robin had managed to get at a bar during their trip to Mock Town. Held up right, the island looked like a sloppy 'U'. But then Ricky turned the map sideways and the 'U' ended up looking like a mouth.

"And if we take the map of Jaya and match it up with the map of the Sky Island…" Nami continued for Ricky as she held up the Skypeia map that Ricky had found while exploring the sunken remains of the St Briss, "which we've already established is the missing part of Jaya…" The others came closer as Ricky and Nami put down their two maps and slid them together, "Then _this _is what the island of Jaya looked like four hundred years ago."

The Straw Hats stared down at the two combined maps and saw a skull-shaped island.

"Neat!" Luffy exclaimed, "It's a skull!"

"It _is_ a skull," Chopper agreed as he peered down from his perch on Ricky's shoulder.

Ricky pointed out a circular clearing on the left side of the map, "Right now, we're on the edge of the forest surrounding their clearing where the altar is. That's the skull's left eye."

"And that means this clearing here is the skull's _right eye_," Nami supplied as he pointed to the other eye.

"Okay, but where in the skull's right eye?" Usopp questioned.

"I'm thinking right here," Nami answered as she pointed to a small structure in the middle of the right clearing. "It's the one structure that's actually inside the eye. And no one's found it yet because of all the people who tried, we're the ones who had both maps."

"It kind of makes sense," Zoro remarked.

"HIDDEN TREASURE!" Luffy shouted.

"TREASURE!" Chopper cheered.

"I see, so we must me lucky pirates," Usopp resolved.

"Lucky?" Ricky repeated, "I'd like to think that skill was a major part of it too. We were lucky when that ship nearly fell on us. But I was the one that managed to find the map to Skypeia. Then Robin snagged Masira's Eternal Pose which led us to Jaya. There, Robin and I managed to get the map of Jaya and found out about Cricket by following my 'Ask the Creepy Outcast' Policy. We befriended Cricket and those two monkeys like only we can and they filled us in with the rest of the information we needed. We managed to catch _two _South Birds out in the forest and even had time for Luffy and I to make a quick stop so Luffy could beat up Bellamy while I got Cricket's gold back. Thanks to Cricket and the monkeys we managed to survive our trip up the Knock-Up Stream and we made it up here. We may have been lucky starting out but when we combine the skills of a treasure hunter, a master archeologist and a brilliant cartographer with our crew's unnatural ability to make friends then that gold was as good as found once the St. Briss almost fell on us." Ricky's face lit up with a broad smile, "And you know what… this is just the kind of adventure that I live for."

None of the Straw Hats had noticed that Gan Fall had woken up and was now listening to their conversation.

"Now, I don't know how much gold will be there," Ricky admitted, "I don't sense much coming from the direction of the City of Gold but I still think we should head for the skull's right eye and check it out."

"But we can't leave the ship unguarded," Nami reminded them, "So tomorrow morning we'll split the crew into two teams." Nami grinned, "This is our time, somewhere on this island waits more gold than we've ever dreamed."

**-x-**

**Feelings for Vearth:**

**-x-**

The Shandians had returned to their camp and discarded their skis and boards. The injured were being tended to and the Shandians were attempting to regroup.

As expected, Wyper was in a foul mood as he made his way through camp.

"Wyper," Genbo called out in greeting as he rested against a tree.

"How serious are Kamakiri's injuries?" Wyper asked.

"Well, they're tending to him right now," Genbo answered, "He's back there."

"Is he going to make it?" Wyper inquired.

"See for yourself," Genbo replied.

If the War Demon Wyper was in a bad mood, then Laki who was nearby and could hear their conversation was in an even worse one. Kamakiri had gotten injured saving her from Ohm. She couldn't help feeling guilty and responsible for her comrades blood being spilled.

"I didn't expect him to be defeated like that," Wyper confessed.

"What can we do?" Genbo questioned. "Ohm will not easily be beaten."

"It's me," Laki spoke up drawing Wyper and Genbo's attention to her. "It was my fault. He's dying because of me."

Wyper turned to stare at her.

Night had fallen and a torch representing the Fire of Shandora was still burning overhead. After their near defeat at the hands of Ohm, the Shandians were in for a restless night.

**-x-**

"Ah," Luffy sighed in contentment, "Now that's what I call gourmet!" The Straw Hats had finished their stew and now even Luffy was satisfied.

"Tomorrow we'll get the gold!" Chopper chirped as he carried everyone's discarded bowls to the water bucket.

"You've got it," Nami agreed.

"Hey Chopper," Ricky called out as he sprang up from his seat, "I'll take care of washing those."

"Don't worry, I can handle it," Chopper assured him.

"I know you can," Ricky told him, "But you served everyone their dishes earlier. I wouldn't be fair to make you do everything."

Luffy stood by the fire with Usopp and stared up at the dark sky that was peeking through the giant tress overhead.

"Do you think it will be sunny again?" Luffy questioned.

"We're above the clouds," Usopp pointed out as he crouched down and stoked the fire with a stick, "So I'd guess 'yes'."

"Let's put out the fire if we don't need it," Robin suggested as she sat nearby, "It's getting kind of late you guys. We don't want to announce our location to our enemies."

"Hmph, what a rookie move," Luffy remarked, causing Robin to stare at him in surprise. "You hear that Usopp, she wants us to douse the fire. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know," Usopp replied, "It's not really her fault, though. She's never been exposed to this kind of living before. We should be tolerant."

"What are you two saying?" Robin asked in a rare moment of confusion.

Luffy and Usopp turned to her and then to her increased surprise, threw themselves down at her feet and started sobbing.

"YOU'RE ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CAMPFIRE WHEN YOU CAMP!" Luffy wailed, "THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT 'CAMPING'!"

"It's the force of the flames fighting through all this wilderness that reminds us that we're human!" Usopp sobbed.

"It's never ending with those idiots," Nami muttered. "Hey! Lay off the sob stories. You know how dangerous this island can be! Let's not give it any help in killing us!"

"Don't care," Luffy stated.

"We're in the middle of a war between priests protecting their God and guerrillas forging a coup," Nami reminded him, "Not to mention the blood thirsty monsters that wait around every corner to eat us!"

"NOT MONSTERS!" Chopper shrieked.

While Luffy still wasn't worried, Usopp was getting scared now and was warily backing away while keeping a frightened eye out for the aforementioned blood thirsty monsters.

"Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary…" Usopp chanted.

"Luffy!" Zoro called out, "Take a look." Zoro and Sanji were standing next to a large stack of logs that was over their heads and stood over six feet tall. "Is this enough wood for your fire?"

"CAN YOU IDIOTS THINK FOR ONE SECOND?" Nami yelled.

"Dishes are done," Ricky announced, "And relax Nami, we're gold hunting tomorrow. There's no harm in letting them have a bonfire party the night before. If a scary monster comes, Zoro can deal with it."

"Fine by me," Zoro agreed with a predatory grin.

"Heh, don't worry," Sanji added, "Wild animals are afraid of fire." Sanji held up a small torch that he planned to use to light the firewood but was oblivious to the ominous sets of feral yellow eyes that had just appeared in the trees behind him.

"BUT THEY'RE SURROUNDING US!" Nami shouted. She streaked across the clearing and grabbed her favorite meat shield, "WE HAVE TO RUN OR WE'LL DIE!"

"Zoro you want to deal with this?" Ricky inquired as Nami clutched him from behind.

"Sure," Zoro said as he reached for his swords.

"**Grrrr…" **a low growled emanated from the forest as a tough-looking wolf with white fur and a scar next to its right eye stalked out of the forest. "Grah-rah-roo-raaah-rraaah!"

"Chopper, I think it's trying to say something," Sanji pointed out, "Do you mind translating?"

"Graah… raaah rreehh rugghh!" the wolf growled.

"'You jerks are being so loud that we can't even hunt!'" Chopper translated for the wolf. "'Why don't you dumb-ass humans go to hell and sleep already?'"

"WHOSE A DUMB-ASS?" Luffy and Sanji yelled at Chopper.

"I didn't say it!" Chopper defended himself, "It was the wolf!"

"Growff! Rowwrr ruff raaarrhh!" The wolf continued to growl.

"'You rotten two-leggers better not be trying to muscle in and take what doesn't belong to you!'" Chopper translated the wolf's threat.

"No, we're not like that!" Chopper attempted to reassure the wolf. "We were brought here against our will!"

"'This is our forest!'" Chopper snapped at the wolf. "'You think you can just come in and start building fires?'"

"Sorry…" Chopper apologized sheepishly.

"'Everything here belongs to us!'" Chopper continued to translate while the wolf kept growling, "'The land, the trees and the air!'"

**BONK! **"Aaaaah!" Chopper gasped as Nami stood over the wolf with her fist raised while the wolf was left whimpering and nursing a large lump on his head.

"NOTHING'S KEEPING ME FROM THAT TREASURE!" Nami snapped at the wolf.

**GRRRR… **The rest of the wolf's pack emerged from the shadows of the trees and began closing in on the Straw Hats.

"Great!" Usopp whimpered, "Everything's gotten worse again! Now we'll get eaten by wolves!"

"Ricky! Do something!" Nami exclaimed as she ran back behind him.

"Why me?" Ricky questioned, "You're the one who punched their leader."

"GROOWRRR!" the lead wolf howled as he got back up. The other wolves quickly became docile as it was clear that this wolf was the alpha. "Rowwrr graaah greeeh…"

"'Back down, boys,'" Chopper translated the alpha wolf's orders "We may have the numbers but they've got the raw power. It's not worth it." The alpha wolf gave Nami a wolfish grin. "Girl, you pack one mean punch there, gotta say, you're my kind of angry.'"

Both Nami and the wolf grinned at each other.

"So that's what a happy ending looks like," Usopp observed.

"I guess so," Zoro agreed.

Ricky grinned as he patted Nami on the back, "Well what do you know, Nami," he remarked, "You've got an admirer."

"Aw, what's the matter Ricky?" Nami teased him, "You're not jealous are you?"

"Ruhruhruhruh!" The wolf seemingly laughed, "Rawwrr ruuuff roowwrr!"

"'You stupid fox-human!'" Chopper translated, "'You know you can't compare to a big strong alpha wolf like me!'"

"Watch it, _fluffy_," Ricky retorted, "You challenge me and you'll end up embarrassed in front your pack there."

"Growwrr rooowff!" the alpha wolf snapped.

"'Bring it on, two-legs!'" Chopper supplied.

"Guys, guys," Nami slipped between them, "There's no need to fight over me. I know a better way you can settle this…"

"OH! OH! ME TOO!" Luffy shouted, "CAAAAMPFIIIIIREEEEE!"

This was met with loud cheers from humans, the reindeer, and the wolves and just like that the Straw Hats found themselves having a campfire party with a pack of white wolves.

Zoro's and Sanji's huge sack of firewood was lit and Luffy, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper found themselves dancing around the fire with the pack of wolves.

"IT'S THE FESTIVAL ON THE NIGHT BEFORE THE GOLD HUNTING!" Usopp cheered as he beat a barrel drum that he'd thrown together.

"HOOOWRR!" Luffy howled as he did a wolf impression.

"RROOOOO!" a wolf howl back as he did a Luffy-impression.

"Wow, this is delicious!" Nami remarked as she tasted a purple drink that the wolves had provided, "And you guys really make this stuff?"

"Ruff," one of the wolves barked and nodded.

"Who knew wolves knew how to make alcohol," Ricky commented as he faced off against the alpha wolf in an inter-species drinking contest. Ricky threw his mug and drank it down. "What's the matter, fluffy? Don't tell me you're starting to feel it already!"

The alpha wolf stopped swaying and shook his head then growled at Ricky "Rooowrrr!" The wolf somehow lifted his own mug with his paws and drank it down.

"Hmm…" Zoro grunted as he sat to the side on a root and drank from a purple bottle of the wolves' special drink. He glanced beside him and spotted a wolf sitting next to him drinking from his own cup. "Huh?"

The wolf grinned and knocked his cup against Zoro and the two of them drank.

"Teeheehee!" Chopper laughed as he rode on the back of one of the dancing wolves.

"Wahahaha!" Sanji laughed with Chopper while a wolf rode on his back while _he _danced.

"Fufufufufu," Robin laughed softly as she sat to the side and watched the Straw Hats party with the wolves.

**FWUMP! **The alpha wolf collapsed to the ground while Ricky finished off his latest mug.

"Told ya you'd wind up embarrassed," Ricky taunted, he had a slight flush on his face. "I win."

"Oh yeah, so what do you win then?" Nami inquired as she finished off her own drink. Anyone paying attention would have noticed that she'd kept up with Ricky and the wolf through the whole contest.

"We decided that the winner gets to dance with you," Ricky answered with a smile as he held out his hand to her.

"Oh," Nami said. Then she smiled and took his hand and allowed Ricky to pull her up to her feet and then lead her out into the crowd of dancing wolves and pirates.

"TOMORROW THE TREASURE IS OURS!" Luffy hollered.

"TREASURE!" Chopper cheered.

"TOMORROW!" Sanji exclaimed.

"**I'm surprised you're getting along so well with the cloud wolves," **a voice came from behind Robin. She turned and saw that Gan Fall had woken up and was making his way towards her. "I know of no one else who could have such raucous festivities on Eneru's land."

"It's good to see that you're awake," Robin remarked, "Are you feeling any better?"

"I apologize for being such a burden to you all," Gan Fall replied.

"Hey, you're too hard on yourself, old man," Zoro reassured him, "You saved Ricky and Chopper and you kept our ship from being blown to a thousand pieces."

"That's my duty," the Sky Knight stated.

"There's plenty of stew left, would you like some?" Robin offered.

"Thank you, but no, not right now," Gan Fall answered as he took a seat between the two serious Straw Hats.

Luffy turned and noticed the old man sitting between Zoro and Robin. "HEY!" he called out. "THANKS FOR EVERYTHING SKY KNIGHT GUY!"

Ricky used his close hold on Nami to maneuver them around so he could give Gan Fall a brief nod of gratitude.

"LET'S DANCE, OLD GUY!" Luffy shouted.

"C'MON! DANCE WITH US GAN FALL!" Chopper chimed in.

"Chopper, have you been drinking?" Zoro asked, looking concerned at the reindeer.

"Shishi!" Luffy laughed but was cut off when a drunken cloud wolf jumped on his back.

But then the cloud wolf was caught off guard when a drunken Sanji jumped on _its _back.

"Hey old man," Sanji called out, "I've got a question, Conis… is she okay?"

"Very much so," Gan Fall replied, "I've sheltered her and her father at my house. They're fine."

"Great," Sanji said as he let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried she'd never see me again!" Then a cloud wolf jumped on Sanji's back but that was quickly followed by Usopp jumping on the wolf's back.

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp laughed, "I'm so happy that both of them are safe! Let's celebrate by tossing Chopper!"

"Why me?" Chopper asked. But Usopp and Sanji still grabbed him and tossed him up into the air then caught the reindeer on the way down. "TEEHEEHEEHEE!"

Ricky spun Nami around and pulled her back to him but along the way Nami stumbled and tripped and fell against his chest.

"Looks like you've had enough," Ricky commented as he helped her back up.

"Nope, guess again," Nami told him, "That means I'm losing my buzz and we need to go and get some _more_." Nami grabbed Ricky's hand and led him away from the fire to get another drink.

Meanwhile, Usopp and Sanji had stopped throwing Chopper and the cook was instead swinging the laughing reindeer around in circles.

Gan Fall smiled as he watched the pirates and the wolves continue the joyous celebration.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping," Gan Fall apologized, "But I heard your earlier conversation about how this island was known long ago by the name 'Jaya'."

"Yeah, that's right," Robin confirmed.

"But I believe you have yet to hear the story of how this island on which we sit came to be known as such holy ground," Gan Fall informed her.

**-x-**

The mood went from joyful to tense and angry when Wyper tore Aisa's bag away from Laki.

"Is this what was so distracting for you in battle, Laki?" Wyper demanded. "Are you here to sabotage us? Get in our way and slow us down?"

"No I'm not," Laki answered, "I feel awful for Kamakiri."

"We were fighting the Priests," Wyper reminded her, "We can't afford to be off task at all if we plan to make it to God's shrine!"

"Apologizing won't fix anything, I know that," Laki retorted as she stared at the bag in Wyper's hand, "So give that back to me now. It belongs to Aisa. It's hers." Laki desperately grabbed the bag and attempted to pull it away from Wyper. "I promised I would bring back some Vearth for her! Give it back to me, please! You have to let me have it!"

"Stop…" Wyper growled as he continued to fight against Laki for the bag.

**SWISH! **Wyper and Laki were thrown apart and a heavily bandaged Kamakiri was left standing in between them.

"Kamakiri!" Laki gasped, "You shouldn't even be standing right now!"

"I can still fight," the wounded warrior assured her. The Vearth fell from Wyper's hand to the clouds they were standing on. "Wyper, you're right about this being our best time to strike the Upper Yard. With Satori and Shura gone, we proved today that we can defeat the remaining Priests. I say we attack again tomorrow at first light."

**-x-**

"The ground of Upper Yard must remind you Blue Sea People of your home below," Gan Fall commented to Zoro and Robin. "It is similar, right?"

"It is," Zoro confirmed.

"Yes, you're lucky," Gan Fall informed him, "What you see all around us and beneath our feet is something that does not naturally exist in the sky." Gan Fall slowly scooped up a handful of dirt. "Island Cloud can support plant life but it can't generate its own. Greenery and soil are both foreign things to our life here." Gan Fall stared down at the dirt in his hand. "Our people have our own name for this, it's Vearth." Gan Fall tilted his hand and allowed the dirt to spill back down to the ground. "Those living here on the clouds hold this sacred. It's what they all desire."

**-x-**

"Once we kill Eneru there will be no need for you to sneak around obsessing over a single bag of Vearth," Kamakiri told Laki after she'd reclaimed the fallen bag of dirt. "The time is now. We will return after four hundred years of exile to the true home of the Shandians."

**-x-**

**Enter Eneru:**

**-x-**

The party had finally ended and most of the Straw Hats and the wolves had passed out around the fire. Pierre had even joined the party at one point because he was now lying amidst the unconscious wolves and pirates. Robin was sleeping in a private tent that Sanji had happily pitched for her. It was supposed to be for Nami too but she had made other arrangements.

Everyone was sleeping except for two pirates.

"Go take a leak by yourself!" Zoro complained.

"Ugghh… that's cold Zoro!" Usopp groaned. "That's really cold!"

Seeing how Zoro wasn't going to accompany him, Usopp trudged off on his own. He climbed over the large roots, stumbled a bit and eventually came to the shore of the Sea Clouds that surrounded the sacrificial altar.

**Konk! **A loud thud broke the silence and caused Usopp to jump and let out a whimper.

"What was that noise?" he wondered.

**Konk! Konk! **

It sounded like someone hammering something, a sound that Usopp was fairly familiar with given all the times he'd repaired the ship himself.

**Konk! Konk!**

The sound was coming from the Going Merry but there was fog surrounding the altar so it was hard to make out the ship.

**Konk! Konk!**

Usopp stared through the fog at the Going Merry. _"There shouldn't be anyone on the ship at this hour," _Usopp thought to himself, "Geez, the fog is so thick I can't see who it is." Usopp crept closed to the shore and peered through the fog and strained his sharp eyes.

**KONK! KONK!**

He spotted a silhouette pounding the hull of the Going Merry with a hammer. But when Usopp tried to make out the features of the person to figure out who it was he came to a shocking realization. HE COULD SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT!

**KONK!**

The figure turned towards Usopp and a wide ghostly smile spread across its previously featureless face.

**KONK!**

Usopp's mind went blank and he did what he normally did instinctively.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

**FWUMP!**

Drawn by Usopp scream, Zoro stumbled upon the scene a moment later and found Usopp lying on the ground twitching. The Going Merry was silent and there was no ghostly figure in sight.

"What's your problem?" Zoro asked as he stared down at the twitching sniper.

"Gah… gah…"

"Moron," Zoro scolded him, "Did you fall asleep mid-piss? That's pathetic."

"I… I… saw…"

"Hey Usopp!" Zoro growled, "Would you snap out of it?"

"I… saw… gah… gah… host…"

"Ugghhh…" Zoro grumbled. He stalked away since the sniper was making no sense.

That meant he didn't hear Usopp when he called out, "Gah… ghooooooost…"

**-x-**

Back at the camp, Nami had been woken by Usopp's scream. She wiggled against her large fleshy pillow for a moment. Then she remembered exactly what her pillow was and her eyes flew opened and she found herself cuddled up along Ricky's left side.

She sat up and stared down at him then slowly nudged his shoulder, "Ricky…" She shook him again but got no response. For someone who had previously claimed to be an extremely light sleeper, he was sleeping rather deeply at the moment. But then again, they'd had a lot to drink.

"Ricky…" she called out again and shook him with a little more force but she still received no reaction. **Whump! **She 'accidently' drove her elbow into his side.

"Uuugghh…" Ricky groaned.

"Ricky, are you awake?" Nami asked.

"I am now," he grumbled. He slowly sat up and held his head. "What's the matter?"

"I wanted to tell you something," Nami answered, "About when I gave you such a hard time earlier on the ship."

"Oh that?" Ricky questioned. "For some reason it seems like that happened ages ago."

"You're smart but I don't think you realize why I got so angry at you," Nami explained, "Ricky… when you sent us off earlier we all knew what your plan was. You didn't know what you were getting into or if you could handle it on your own. You were _sacrificing yourself _to save us. I know in that stupid noble heart of yours that you thought you were doing the right thing to keep us safe."

"But Ricky…" Nami continued in a soft voice, "You need to realize how much you mean to all of us… And… how much you mean to me. I know you'd give your life to protect us… but you have to know that we'd all do the same for you. So next time you're coming up with a plan to get us all to safety, you'd better make sure that it includes you too because sacrificing yourself is _not _a proper solution to a problem. Are we clear?"

"Yeah we're clear," Ricky replied.

"Are you sure?" Nami inquired, "Because I can think of a way to make myself clearer."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Ricky countered.

Nami smirked and swung her leg over him so she was straddling him. "I can give you a demonstration that'll make the 'how much you mean to me' part _very_ clear."

Ricky grinned, "I'm listening."

**-x-**

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours Ohm and Gedatsu found themselves standing outside the doors to God's shrine.

"Why are we—mmmffmmmm…" Gedatsu trailed off when he bit down on his lower lip.

"If you're trying to say something spit it out," Ohm snapped, "I've had enough of your foolishness for one day."

Gedatsu spat out his lip and gasped, "How careless."

"If you're done wasting time," Ohm said, "I'd like to find out why God summoned us just when I was about to finish off the last of the Sandians."

"**Hmph…" **came a grunt, **"As usual, you're filled with hot air."**

Ohm and Gedatsu spun around and saw a heavily bandaged Shura staggering towards them.

"Well look who the bird dragged in," Ohm remarked, "I'm surprised you had the nerve to show your face here after your defeat at the hands of that Blue Sea Dweller."

"At least I managed to take out that old fossil Gan Fall," Shura pointed out.

"Yes," Ohm admitted, "but we were specifically ordered to apprehend that one-eyed Blue Sea Dweller and you _failed_ to do so."

"God Eneru should have let me deal with him," Gedatsu boasted, "I could have taken care of him and I would be reaping the rewards from my victory right now instead of standing here with you two fools awaiting Eneru's punishment."

"Please Gedatsu," Shura scoffed, "There no way you could have handled him. You're stupid."

"I'M WHAT?" Gedatsu roared… before he bit down on his lip again and cut himself off.

"As for you, Ohm!" Shura growled, "If you doubt my strength then I'll show you that I'm still capable of defeating you!" Shura raised his lance and swung it around at his side.

"You think you're hot stuff, do you Shura?" Ohm questioned as he drew his sword. "I'll show you why my Mantra is superior to yours!"

"Amusing!" Gedatsu exclaimed as he raised his arm and got into a fighting stance.

**KREEEEEK! **The Priests were so caught up in their bickering that they didn't notice when the doors to God's shrine swung opened.

"RAAAAHH!"The three Priests roared and charged each other and began to wage a three-way battle. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **The Priests used their Mantra to avoid each other's attacks. The three Priests fought their way through the opened doors to God's shrine and into the wide opened courtyard.

Yama stood by watching and scoffed at the Priests' behavior. "What are you doing? This is disgraceful! You should be ashamed!"

"Shut up!" Shura snarled at him. He, Ohm and Gedatsu had stopped fighting and were waiting for each other to make the next move. "These two have held me back for far too long! I'll show them that even injured that they're no match for my power!"

"That's some big talk, Shura!" Ohm retorted, "Maybe it's time for me to teach you what the true meaning of power is! Come get me if you've got the guts! Let's see if you can handle the Ordeal of Iron!"

"Your Ordeal of Iron couldn't even test the strength of a child!" Gedatsu taunted as he tried and failed to cross his arms. "My Ordeal of Swamp is the ultimate challenge. Try that if you're not too afraid!"

"Priest Gedatsu, that looks extremely tiring," one of Eneru's servants remarked, "If you're trying to cross your arms then you need to hold them like this and rest them on your chest." The bearded man demonstrated the proper way to fold his arms.

"ENOUGH!" Yama shouted, "Cease this chatter! You are standing in the presence of God!"

"All I see is an empty chair," Shura pointed out, as he motioned to Eneru's empty throne. "This is the same thing that happened last time."

"Yes, if He really wanted to speak with us, then He'd be here," Ohm insisted.

**FWOOOSSH! **Lightning flashed and Eneru appeared in the middle of this three Priests. "SURPRISE BOYS!" **FWISH! BA-ZAP-ZAP! **Lightning flew off of Eneru's body and his Priests were sent flying away from him. **Fwip-fwip-fwip-FWUP! **Eneru did an impressive series of slips that eventually ended when he landed in his throne.

"You asked, so here I am," Eneru announced, "You're out of practice if that pathetic display is any indication you're all well on your way to ending up dismal failures like Satori."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Gedatsu demanded.

"Why God?" Ohm asked, "Did you summon us here just to mock us?"

"I do have a point," Eneru assured him, "And I'll get to it in due time. But first…" Eneru turned his attention on Shura. "I don't recall summoning you here, Shura. I gave you one task: bring the Blue Sea Dweller to me… and you failed. Tell me why I shouldn't put you out of My misery."

"God Eneru, I came here to apologize for failing You," Shura explained, "I underestimated him and he caught me by surprise. If You'll give me another chance, I promise I will not let You down again. At the very least I managed to kill Gan Fall."

"And you even failed at that, Shura," Eneru replied, "Gan Fall still lives."

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Shura insisted, "I tell You I killed the man himself!"

"You injured him certainly," Eneru informed him, "But he's far from dead. What's more he seems to be hitting it off quite well with the Blue Sea Dwellers. So it seems that even your greatest success has ended in failure."

"I… I…" Shura sputtered.

"I have half a mind to get rid of you right here and now," Eneru stated, "But at the very least, your battle against that Blue Sea Dweller allowed me to gauge his skills so I've decided to endure your incompetence for one more night."

"I… thank you, God," Shura said. "I will not fail you again."

"We'll see," Eneru answered, "If you fail again, it will result in your death. Now sit down."

The three priests approached Eneru's throne and sat down in front of it. Shura removed his aviator cap to reveal his short black hair.

"God Eneru, why are the Blue Sea Dwellers here anyway?" Ohm asked.

"Why they're looking for gold," Eneru informed him, "That's obvious."

"What? Gold?" Gedatsu questioned.

"Impossible," Ohm said, "How did they know?"

"This island was originally part of the Blue Sea," Eneru explained, "It's not so odd that they should know about it. Of course, they'll move tomorrow… as will that Shandians. And that _Shura _is why I've decided to keep you around. All three of you will be on hand to deal with the Shandians and the Blue Sea Dwellers tomorrow morning. Now normally, the rules state that each of you run an area of Upper Yard and you're not allowed to enter each other's areas or interfere with one another in any way. Tomorrow, I'll allow you to go where you will. You may set up your Ordeals wherever you want with no restrictions, get as vicious as you like."

"What are you being so generous all of a sudden?" Gedatsu inquired.

"Because, My friends, I'm pleased to announce that the Maxim is almost complete," Eneru told them, "So it's time for us to put an end to the wretched island and set forth on our journey to the world of dreams."

**-x-**

**The Merry Retrieval Plan:**

**-x-**

Gan Fall was lying in his bed surveying the sleeping Straw Hats. Luffy was using a cloud wolf as a pillow, Zoro was sleeping against his swords, Usopp had fainted after his ghostly encounter, Sanji and Chopper were using large roots as beds while Robin was still sleeping in her actual bed in her tent. Nami had finished 'convincing' Ricky and was cuddled up on Ricky's left side, both of them were fast asleep.

"_To think that these children could defeat Satori and Shura," _Gan Fall thought to himself. _"They've managed to set Eneru against them for sure. And if I know the Shandians they won't pass up this chance for another attack. Eneru, I wish I could figure out what it is you want."_

**-x-**

Wyper sat alone outside the Shandian camp. His fire had long since gone out but he couldn't sleep due to being too caught up in his thoughts of their planned attack in the morning.

"_We did put up a good fight,"_ Wyper thought to himself. _"And today we will break into God's shrine. And then… Eneru…"_

**-x-**

And so the night went by and became morning. Zoro, despite being the last Straw Hat to go to sleep the night before was the first one to wake up that morning.

Zoro quietly made his way over to Ricky and Nami and kicked Ricky in the side. **Thwak!**

"Ugghh…" Ricky grunted, "You people have got to find better ways to wake me up…"

"I noticed that you seemed to have had an interesting night," Zoro pointed out as he motioned to Nami who was still cuddled up against Ricky's side. "I thought maybe you'd want to move before the others wake up and cause a commotion."

"Oh, thanks for that," Ricky replied.

"So… are you guys together now, or what?" Zoro asked.

Ricky sat up stretched. "You know, that actually came up at one point," Ricky informed him, "But Nami specifically said 'not tonight'."

"Why the heck not?" Zoro pressed.

A smirk spread across the 'sleeping' Nami's face. "Why so curious, Zoro?" Nami asked as she sat up beside Ricky. "You seemed oddly fixated on the two of us getting together in a rather specific way."

Zoro tensed. Oh crap. She knew about the pool.

Ricky frowned, "Nami, what did you do?" he scolded her, "I thought we agreed that we'd let them have their little pool."

"Yeah, _you_ said you'd leave them alone," Nami pointed out, "_I _got curious and investigated."

"You're unbelievable," Ricky muttered as he stood up, "Oh well, it's no real concern of mine since I didn't have any money on it. If you'll excuse me, nature calls." Ricky headed off leaving Zoro and Nami glaring at each other behind him.

"You kept from getting together just to spite me, devil woman!" Zoro snapped.

"Now why would I do that?" Nami teased him.

"Because you're evil and heartless!" Zoro growled.

"Well Ricky certainly doesn't seem to think so," Nami countered.

"I've gotta tell the others that you know about our bets!" Zoro realized.

"Yeah, you _could_," Nami admitted, "But then I'd have to tell them how you were trying to ensure that we got together due to a… what was the phrasing… 'drunken confession'. That seems awfully underhanded of you. What do you think they'd be more concerned about… you – the honorable swordsman – trying to swindle them out of their money… or an unbiased party having knowledge of their wagers?"

"Unbiased my ass!" Zoro retorted, "You just intentionally sabotaged me!"

"You guys have to have set up some rules that say you can't influence us," Nami reminded him, "I'd hate for everyone to think that the honorable swordsman Roronoa Zoro was a cheater."

"You… you…" Zoro sputtered.

"That's what you get for thinking you could get something passed me," Nami taunted.

Zoro glared at her, "Maybe Usopp'll let me change my bet to 'No – Ricky realizes she's a lying, cheating, underhanded, manipulative bitch."

"Hehehehe," Nami laughed in response, "Unfortunately for you, that's one of the things he likes _best_ about me."

Zoro sent her once last glare and stomped off.

**-x-**

Ricky made it to the shore and immediately noticed Usopp lying on the ground.

"Oi Usopp," he called out as he walked over to the sleeping sniper. "Usopp! Usopp!" But the sniper still wouldn't wake. "Maybe they _were _onto something with the nudging thing." Ricky glanced around him then jabbed Usopp in the side with his foot. **Thwak!**

"Ugghh…" Usopp groaned, the last night came flooding back and he sat up and screamed. "AAAAAAAHH!"

"Oh come on, I didn't kick you that hard," Ricky defended himself.

"I SAW A GHOST!" Usopp shrieked.

"You saw… a ghost?" Ricky repeated, "Look Usopp, if this is another one of your stories…"

"No, I swear I saw it!" Usopp insisted. "I came here to take a leak last night and I saw a ghost doing something to the Going Merry! I swear I'm not lying!"

Ricky glanced over at the caravel that was sitting silently and seemingly untouched on the altar "I don't see anything," he stated.

Usopp looked over at the Going Merry but there was no sign of the ghost he'd seen last night. "All I know is that I saw _something _messing with the ship last night," Usopp insisted.

"If it means that much to you, I'll take you over there to have a look around," Ricky offered. Ricky led Usopp over to the Crow and they got in. "Um… do you mind driving? I still haven't figured out how these Sky Island ships work."

"Yeah, I can drive this thing," Usopp replied as he sat in the driver's seat and pressed the pedal. **Vrooooom… **The dial-powered engine fired up and the Crow pushed off from the shore and headed for the Going Merry and the Altar.

"I guess I'll keep my eye out for sharks," Ricky offered as he stared off the sides of the ship for any signs of familiar purple fins.

"So… you actually believe me?" Usopp asked.

"No offense, but you're a terrible liar," Ricky told him as they approached the altar. "Everyone but Chopper can easily tell when you're lying. I don't know what you saw last night. But I know that at the very least you saw _something_."

They made it over to the altar and climbed out of the Crow and headed up the steps to the Merry.

Ricky stopped short of the top, "Didn't we leave the mast lying next to the ship?"

"Yeah… I think so," Usopp answered.

"Then why's it back on the ship?" Ricky wondered. "You weren't here fixing it were you?"

"I had planned to," Usopp admitted, "Then Zoro reminded me about the sharks."

"So someone snuck over here and fixed our ship in the middle of the night?" Ricky questioned.

"The ghost must've done it!" Usopp realized. "It's the only thing that makes sense!"

"A _ghost_… snuck over here in the middle of the night… and fixed our ship…" Rick reiterated. "_That's _the only thing that makes sense?"

"Well what do _you_ think happened?" Usopp countered.

"I don't know," Ricky confessed, "But I know I don't believe in ghosts."

"**HEY RICKY! USOPP!" **came the loud call of their Captain. **"WHAT'RE YOU GUYS DOING OVER THERE?"**

"Might as well tell them what we found," Ricky reasoned.

**-x-**

A few trips back and forth from the altar in the Crow and one 'supernatural' explanation later, all the Straw Hats were standing on the Going Merry having been filled in about the 'ghost'.

"I know I'm not insane!" Usopp insisted, "I saw a ghost fixing our ship last night!"

"I don't believe it… the mast is fixed," Nami realized as she ran her hand down the mast. Chopper had torn it off to keep the fire Shura had set from spreading to the rest of the ship. But now it was reattached looking like it did after Usopp tacked it back on after Luffy had used it a weapon to battle Laboon the whale. "Hey, now that's service."

"Fufufufu," Robin laughed lightly, "You can say that again. Can you imagine what a chore it was just to stand something that heavy upright."

"Well, I hate to say it," Sanji said as he surveyed the repairs, "but they did a lousy job."

"Whoever did it sure is nice," Luffy remarked, "Shishishi!"

"There _was _somebody here!" Usopp insisted as he paced back and forth on the deck. "I knew I saw him!"

"But who would risk crossing a river full of sky sharks to come all the way out here and fix our ship for us?" Zoro attempted to rationalize, "I mean, as far as we can tell, the only ones here on Upper Yard are us and our enemies."

"Did any of you guys notice that they took the flying stuff off the ship," Ricky pointed out.

The wings that the Saruyama Alliance had added to their ship had been removed and chicken plumage that they'd added to the figurehead was gone too.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that since we came over here," Usopp told him, "And it's really got me wondering. How could this phantom repairman know what the Going Merry is supposed to look like? How did he know that she didn't always have wings or tail?"

"Who'd you see, Usopp?" Chopper asked as he swung back and forth on a length or rope. "Who was it?"

"Like I said before, it was a ghost," Usopp repeated for what seemed like the fifth time.

"Well _I _still say that you were partying too hard and had a nightmare," Zoro stated. "GAH!" Chopper let go of his rope and landed on Zoro's face. **WHUP!**

"Will you two quit goofing off," Nami scolded them. "Or did you forget?" Zoro glared at her.

"But Nami, aren't you even a little bit curious?" Chopper questioned.

"About what?"

"About who fixed the Going Merry for us," Chopper replied as he slid down Zoro to the floor, "What else?"

"Who cares," Nami resolved, "If they wrecked it, that would be another case. But it's fixed. What, do you want to track them down and thank them?"

"Well no," Chopper said, "But I…"

"How could he possibly have known?" Usopp wondered as he thought back to the ghostly silhouette he'd seen hammering on the hull of the ship. Usopp glanced over at the figurehead, "Come on Merry, just tell me who I saw."

The sheep figurehead remained silent. But its smile seemed a bit wider than normal.

**-x-**

A little bit later, Ricky, Usopp and Chopper were sailing around the altar on the Crow.

"Right," Usopp boasted as he stood at the head of the ship, "Watch as I, Usopp the Mighty, Chief Operating Officer of Operation Get-the-Going-Merry-Off-That-Stupid-Altar swing into action."

"I'm Assistant Chief Operating Officer of Operation Get-the-Going-Merry-Off-That-Stupid-Altar," Chopper called out, thinking they were taking roll. "Everyone's counting on me."

"And I'm just here to watch and be amazed," Ricky dead-panned as he sat under the umbrella.

"HEY! WHAT'RE YOU GUYS DOING?" Nami called out to them from near the bottom of the Altar stairs. "YOU GOT A PLAN USOPP?"

"He does," Ricky confirmed, "And that's why I'm here… to clean up in case it goes bad."

"Chopper!" Usopp called out as he moved to the side, Chopper saluted and took the driver's seat.

Usopp moved to the side of the Crow and grabbed his grappling hook belt that he'd used during the battle against Satori in the Lost Forest. **BANG! **The grappling hook shot out of Usopp's belt and dropped down on the figurehead of the Going Merry. **Whup! **The hook swung around the figurehead a few times before it finally hooked on the rest of the rope. **Shwuk!**

The other Straw Hats – minus Robin – cheered at Usopp's success.

"Okay Chopper, give her all you've got!" Usopp encouraged him.

"Right!" Chopper agreed as he pushed down on the pedal. "You're awesome, Usopp!"

**VROOOOM! **The Crow shot off across the Sea Clouds while the Straw Hats on the altar ducked down as the rope pulled taut and swung over their heads.

**WHING! **The Straw Hats' cheers faded as the Crow flew up into the air and pulled futilely on the much bigger Going Merry which wasn't budging a bit.

**WHAP! **The rope split and the Crow went flying and crashed down on the shore. **THUD!**

"It didn't work Usopp," Chopper pointed out.

"You got a Plan B, Chief Operating Officer?" Ricky inquired.

"Of course," Usopp assured his 'loyal crew' "I've devised a cunning back-up plan for just such an emergency."

"Oh boy!" Chopper cheered, "Can you tell me what it is?"

"Sure," Usopp replied as he pulled out a long pole, "This river is full of huge sky sharks, right?"

"I'll say," Chopper agreed, "There are whole swarms of 'em!"

"So, what if we use their power," Usopp suggested.

"The shark's power?" Chopper repeated, "That's a great idea! They've got lots of power!"

Ricky touched his finger to his nose, "Not it."

"Then in that case," Usopp said, "I've got a special job for you, Chopper."

"Just name it, you can count on me," Chopper assured him, "I'll do anything!"

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp laughed, "That's the spirit." He turned around and revealed that the pole he was holding was a fishing pole.

**-x-**

A moment later, Chopper was hanging off the back of the Crow from Usopp's fishing line.

"Usopp… did I miss something?" Chopper asked.

"No, you're doing great," Usopp reassured him as he stood at the driver's seat while holding the end of the fishing pole. "The sharks will try to eat you."

"YOU MEAN I'M BAIT?" Chopper shrieked. "NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA BE BAIT! I DON'T WANNA BE EATEN!"

"Don't worry, Chopper…" Ricky said, he'd relocated to the other side of the gondola pole so he was closer to Chopper. "I'll make sure they _don't _eat you."

**Sploosh… **A purple shark fin went passed the ship.

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed in terror.

"Usopp, this plan had _better _work," Ricky warned the C.O.O. of the operation. "I don't wanna put Chopper through this for nothing."

"It'll work… at least I hope so," Usopp agreed.

"AAAAAAH! AAAAAH! AAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed.

**SPLOOOSH! **A sky shark dove out of the Sea Clouds and launched itself at Chopper.

"LET 'ER RIP SANJI!" Usopp hollered back to the altar then he floored it. **VROOOOOM!**

**THWAK! **Sanji kicked a stick that was tied with a rope and sent it flying towards the shark.

"WAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed as the sky shark dove at him.

**Woooosh! **The stick turned out to be a spear. It swung around and sank through the sky shark's purple dorsal fin. **SHUNK!**

"WAAAAAH! WAAAAH! WOOOOO!" Chopper screamed.

The rope pulled tight as the sky shark reached the end of the rope. **YOINK! **The sky shark was yanked backwards away from Chopper and dropped down into the Sea Clouds. **SPLASH!**

"Aaaaah…haaaa… haaaaa…" Chopper whimpered, his throat hoarse from screaming.

"Okay shark, time for dinner," Usopp called out as he pressed down on the pedal again. **VROOOOM! **The Crow shot forward and pulled Chopper along with it.

**SPLOOSH! **The shark came flying out of the Sea Clouds for another attack but Chopper was yanked right out of its opened mouth. **YOINK!**

"AAAAH! AAAAH!" Chopper found himself suddenly able to scream again as the shark came after him.

**Krek… krek… krek… **The sky shark swam after Chopper and the rope going through its fin yanked on the figurehead of the Going Merry that it was tied to and started to drag the Merry after it. **KROOOSH! **The Going Merry slid along the top of the altar to the top of the stairs.

"WAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed.

"Don't worry Chopper," Ricky tried to reassure the terrified reindeer. "It's almost over."

Zoro ran down the steps and slashed the rope tying the shark to the ship with his sword. **SLISH! **

**WOOOSH!** Since the line snapped, the shark went flying passed Chopper and the Crow and crashed back down into the Sea Clouds. **SPLASH!**

"THATTA WAY USOPP!" Luffy cheered, "YOU SHOW 'EM BUDDY!"

**KROOSH!** The Going Merry slid down the altar stairs and crashed down into the clouds below. **SPLOOSH!**

"THAT'S THE WAY YOU GET A SHIP OFF THE STUPID ALTAR!" Usopp bragged.

"Uughh… uughh…" Chopper whimpered as he hung limply from the fishing line. "Um… uh…"

**SHOOM! **The sky shark lunged out of the clouds for one last attempt to eat Chopper.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed again.

**SKISH! **Ricky leapt off of the Crow and drove his feet into the shark's snout. **THWHAM!**

**TMP! **Ricky landed back on the Crow and grabbed the line and pulled Chopper to him.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Ricky asked.

"Yeah… no sweat…" Chopper whimpered. "I hate being bait…"

"But you're so good at it!" Usopp assured him. "Thanks to you, we got the Merry off the altar."

Chopper glanced over at the Going Merry, "Yaaaayyy…" he sighed.

**-x-**

"Okay, let's look at the map," Nami addressed the crew a little bit later, "The Exploration Team will be taking this route, moving south." Nami ran her fingers along the map. "There should be some ruins in the skull's right eye, keep an eye out for enemies, and bring back that gold."

"Hmph, you make it sound so easy," Zoro grunted.

"I'm looking forward to investigating those ruins," Robin remarked.

"Hold on," Luffy said as he stared hard at Nami, "You're the one who keeps going on about gold and more gold, but you're not coming?"

"Well of course not, it's way too scary," Nami replied. "Besides, Ricky will be leading your group as my representative so I get my cut." Nami glanced over at Ricky, "Right?"

"Uh… right," Ricky agreed.

"What the hell happened to you?" Zoro grumbled, "You used to stand up to her."

Even Chopper voiced his annoyance, "She wants the gold but she doens't want to risk anything to get it! That's not fair!"

"Did you say something?" Nami growled at him.

"Um… no," Chopper squeaked and shook his head.

"We'll be in danger too, you know," Nami informed him, "We'll be taking the Merry down river through the island. Then we'll head for the beach near the ruins as fast as possible." Nami traced a line through the map and pointed to the shore. "We can meet here and then we can escape this stupid Sky Island. At long last, we'll be a rich and powerful pirate crew able to buy anything."

"Do you I really need to remind you about the turtle _filled with treasure_ that we left behind?" Ricky inquired.

"Does that mean you don't need your cut of the gold then?" Nami asked.

"No!" Ricky snapped, "If I've gotta find the gold then I'm gonna keep it."

"OH YEAH!" Luffy cheered, "ALL THE MEAT I CAN EAT!"

"Escape…" Usopp whimpered, "That sounds great…"

"Just don't make me the bait," Chopper whined.

"Look, the weather's perfect," Usopp pointed out.

"Sure, we're on top of the clouds," Sanji reminded him.

"Okay, we'll all meet safely on the east coast," Zoro resolved.

"LET'S GET GOING THEN!" Luffy exclaimed.

"YEAH!" Chopper cheered.

And so the Straw Hats split up. Luffy, Ricky, Zoro, Chopper and Robin headed off into the forest to find the gold while Nami, Usopp and Sanji stayed back with Gan Fall and Pierre to steer the Going Merry through the island to the meeting point.

**-x-**

The Straw Hats weren't the only ones preparing for a big day. The three priests Gedatsu, Ohm and Shura had all spent the night preparing their Ordeals for the upcoming attack.

Eneru sat back on his throne and grinned to himself, "And so the Survival Game begins. Magnificent, today will be great day."

**-x-**

Next chapter, which is already underway, the Survival Game begins and a snake bears its fangs.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	22. A Snake Bears Its Fangs

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**A Snake Bares Its Fangs:**

**-x-**

"HEY! THAT'S THE WRONG WAY, ZORO!" Luffy shouted to the wayward swordsman as he wandered along a large winding root. "We're supposed to go this way! West! You know, _west_!" Luffy turned and walked along another root in a different direction.

"But he's going east," Chopper pointed out to Ricky and Robin who had lagged behind them.

"Use your head for something besides a hat rack for a change," Zoro grumbled then turned to Luffy, "We're heading for the skull's right eye so we've gotta go _right_ you rubber-head!"

"They've lost their minds," Chopper commented.

"Those two have the worst sense of direction out of the whole crew," Ricky stated, "Remind me again why we decided to let them lead us?"

Robin knelt down next to Chopper, "Why don't you tell those two _heroes_ that we're supposed to be heading _south_," she suggested.

"Sure thing, Robin," Chopper agreed as he ran to get Luffy and Zoro.

"Are your adventures always like this?" Robin inquired as she stood back up.

"Unfortunately yes," Ricky answered, "You should've seen us when we were trying to cross the Sandora desert back in Alabasta."

Luffy grinned as he bent down to pick up a stick. "Shishishi!" he chuckled.

"LUFFY! ZORO!" Chopper called out as he ran after Luffy and Zoro, "Wait up guys!"

"South, huh?" Luffy questioned once he'd been filled in, "You should've said so sooner."

Luffy, Zoro and Chopper turned and followed after Ricky and Robin.

Chopper watched Luffy enviously as he knocked his stick against the giant trees and roots they went passed and casually dragged it on the ground.

"Luffy, that's a pretty neat stick you've got there," Chopper remarked.

"Shishishi, isn't it?" Luffy laughed, "Its mine, though. You've gotta to get your own."

"Aww… I want one," Chopper pouted. Then he turned and ran off looking for a stick of his own. "Stick! Stick! Where's a stick?"

"What's up with sticks?" Zoro wondered.

"You know," Chopper said as he caught up to the others with his new stick. "I thought this forest would be scarier. But so far it's been nice and peaceful."

"Don't jinx us, Chopper," Ricky warned him, "Nobody's attacked us yet and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Hey Chopper, you're in a pretty good mood today," Luffy noted as he grinned and looked back at him, "Are you feeling courageous for a change?"

"You betcha!" Chopper replied, "Teeheehee!" _"I feel so safe with these guys."_

"You're right, this forest really has been a big disappointment," Zoro grumbled. "Nothing but birds and trees for two whole days makes me wanna scream I'm so bored. We haven't even seen one of Eneru's Priests so I know exactly how you feel, Chopper."

"Just listen to you," Robin remarked, "Are you that eager for something dangerous to happen?"

"I'm not," Ricky insisted, "If I never see any of those Priests again, I'll count it as a good thing."

"Teeheehee!" Chopper laughed.

**Kreesshhh… **Chopper's eyes darted to the side as he spotted movement. A large blue root with dark stripes moved through the trees nearby.

"Huh?" Chopper questioned. He turned around and his eyes widened when he spotted an identical blue root with dark stripes going across the path that they'd just walked passed. "Where'd that weird stripy root come from?"

**Kreesshhhh… **The weird stripy root moved again and slipped further into the trees behind them.

"Ah, it's moving!" Chopper gasped.

"You see anything back there, Chopper?" Luffy asked.

"Umm… its nothing," Chopper tried to reassure him and put on a brave front. _"If I tell them I saw a moving root, they'll laugh at me for getting scared over nothing. I'm supposed to be brave today. It was probably my imagination anyway."_

"There's something eerie about this place," Robin stated.

"Don't jinx it, don't jinx it," Ricky muttered.

"Chopper, why do you keep looking behind us?" Zoro inquired.

"Um, no reason, no reason at all," Chopper insisted.

"Hey, what's that weird stripy-looking root back there?" Luffy wondered as he looked back at the root that was moving through the trees behind Chopper.

"Oh that? You mean you guys can see it?" Chopper questioned.

"I've never heard of roots moving before," Zoro admitted.

"OH NO! YOU SEE THAT TOO!" Chopper shrieked, "I THOUGHT I WAS JUST IMAGINING THINGS!"

"I thought we were all just ignoring it," Ricky admitted.

**Kreeessshhh… **The five Straw Hats eyed the stripy root. It was longer than expected and didn't just have them walled in from behind but it also ran alongside them and turned in towards the southward path they were heading down.

**KROOSH! **They finally found the end of the root as it burst out from the trees in front of them. Seeing how the 'root' had a wide opened mouth that was framed by four long white fangs and had a long serpentine tongue that meant that it wasn't a root at all and was instead… A MASSIVE SNAKE!

Now out of the shadows of the trees and in the middle of the clearing, the Straw Hats could see that the snake was actually light blue in color. The top half had dark blue stripes running down its body while the bottom half was a few shades lighter. The snake had relatively small yellow eyes that were still easily the size of Zoro and two long catfish-like whiskers above its mouth that looked like a mustache.

"And there it is…" Ricky resolved, "You guys jinxed us."

**-x-**

Meanwhile, Nami, Usopp and Sanji were heading along the Milky Road in the Going Merry.

"Wind: good!" Usopp announced as he stood on front deck and stared off ahead of them as the Going Merry slowly drifted down the white river, "Helm: good! Aaah, this is so nice. It's just like a pleasure cruise. But we're making bad time. NAVIGATOR! Pick up the pace!"

"I'm afraid we can't, Captain Usopp," Nami reported.

"Say that again?" Usopp requested.

"I'm afraid we can't," Nami repeated.

"No, the Captain part," Usopp clarified.

"The Milky Road gets pretty steep in places," Nami explained, she'd only been humoring him, "So we have to rely on Dial Power to get by."

The Going Merry was only moving the way it was because they had the Crow strapped to the back of it with its pedal tied down. The small bird-themed gondola was pushing the much larger sheep-themed caravel along the white river.

"POUR IT ON LITTLE CROW!" Usopp encouraged the small ship. "Sanij! You're my official bodyguard! The Captain… is afraid of this creepy forest…"

"For crying out loud," Sanji complained as he lugged a barrel out of storage, "Knock it off with the Captain-business. The only person I plan on protecting is Miss Nami."

"Hey," Nami called out, "It's about time for that weird knight's medicine. Do you have remember where Chopper said he put it?"

"Excuse me, my dear, my name is Gan Fall," Gan Fall reminded her as he sat against the rear railing of the front deck along behind Usopp with Pierre beside him, "That's Gan… Fall…"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Sanji answered Nami, "I think he said he left it on a barrel in the galley. Could you please grab my dear sweet Miss Nami?"

"Well, well old man, looks like you're better," Usopp remarked as he turned to face Gan Fall.

"Yes, I'm very grateful to you all," Gan Fall replied.

"Hey, if anyone deserves thanks, it's our ship's doctor," Usopp told the Sky Knight, "When it comes to medicine that Chopper is a real miracle worker. There's no doubt about it. But, now that I think about it, you saved Chopper and Ricky from the Priest guy. So I guess you're even then! Ahahahaha!"

"…"

"Old man?" Usopp questioned.

"Shall I tell you a little of this land's history?" Gan Fall offered. Since Usopp didn't refuse, he took that as permission to continue, "Until six years ago, I was God."

"Uh… did you hit your head old man?" Usopp asked.

**CHOMP! **Pierre turned into a horse and bit Usopp on top of the head in response to his rude comment towards the former God.

"As you have no doubt learned," Gan Fall continued, "It is believed that the Upper Yard first appeared in Skypeia abruptly, a good four hundred years ago. Until then, Skypeia had always been a peaceful Sky Island. Items from the Blue Sea that were occasionally brought here by the Knock-Up Stream were rare and valuable treasures to the Sky People. Likewise, all of the Vearth on the Sky Islands was brought here by the Knock-Up Stream. But a quantity of Vearth as large as the Upper Yard appearing in the sky seemed like an unimaginable miracle. The Sky People were understandably overjoyed and worshiped it as holy ground, a gift from Heaven itself."

Sanji and Nami came up the stairs to the front deck with the latter bringing along Gan Fall's medicine. She silently placed they tray she had it on down in front of him and sat down near him while he continued his story of the Sky Island's history.

"But the original inhabitants were still on that Vearth," Gan Fall told them, "And a war erupted over its possession. Those in habitants were the Shandians."

"Then they're the guerrillas?" Usopp questioned.

"Mmm-hmm," Gan Fall confirmed.

"So you're saying that the Shandians used to live on Jaya when it was still in the Blue Sea," Sanji realized.

"That's right," Gan Fall answered, "The current blasted them into the sky against their will."

"Hold on, does that mean that you just stole that land that was rightfully theirs?" Nami inquired. That was low, even by her standards.

Gan Fall nodded, "The Sky People's greed drove them to steal the Shandians' homeland. And for the last four hundred years, the war between the Shandians and the Sky People has gone on without a break. The Shandians are simply trying to regain their lost home."

"How sad," Nami sympathized, "All those lives lost."

"WAIT A SECOND!" Usopp and Sanji shouted, "DOESN'T THAT MAKE _YOU _THE BAD GUYS HERE!" **CHOMP! **Pierre turned into a horse again and this time bit down on both of their heads to quiet them.

"I'm sorry," Gan Fall apologized, "But I'm afraid that's correct." He glanced down and noticed the tray with the medicine and glass of water that Nami had placed in front of him. "Oh, my medicine, excuse me I almost forgot to take it." Gan Fall proceeded to ingest the medicine that Chopper had left behind for him then drank the water to wash it down.

"What about Eneru?" Nami inquired. The suddenly question almost caused Gan Fall to make a spit-take. "What's his story?"

Gan Fall's eyes narrowed, "While I was still God, he appeared from another Sky Island leading a group of warriors. They dealt a heavy blow to my divine squad known as 'God's Enforcers' and to the Shandians as well. Then they seized control of the Upper Yard. That was six years ago. Since then, all of God's Enforcers have been enslaved and forced to perform some mysterious labor. I don't know what it is. But the Shandians don't care who God is. They want what they've always wanted, the return of their homeland."

"Yeah right," Sanji scoffed, "If all these Shandians are interested in is getting their homeland back then why did they attack us the minute we showed up?" Sanji thought back to when Wyper had attacked the Going Merry mere moments after they'd arrived on the White Sea.

"The members of God's Enforcers sometimes steal ships in hopes of escaping from Eneru," Gan Fall informed him. "However, the Shandians still consider them enemies and they will eliminate them on sight. They must have mistaken you for them."

"Ooh, oof coouurse," Sanji said sarcastically, "That makes it aaall better."

"One reason I became the Sky Knight was to help these escapees make it safely away to other Sky Islands," Gan Fall said. "There's no place on the Upper Yard where such outlaws would be able to avoid Eneru's eyes."

"To hear the way you tell it," Sanji remarked, "this Eneru guy sounds like he must be the Devil himself."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Usopp scolded Sanji as he chopped him on the arm. "For all we know, he's out there listening to every word we're saying and taking notes!"

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Sanji complained as Usopp continued to chop him, "Don't tell me you've suddenly become a convert."

"Hey, you heard what the old man said!" Usopp timidly protested, "Scary!"

"The Devil himself," Gan Fall repeated, "No, but he comes very close. Eneru has decreed that all outsiders like yourselves are criminals. What's more, he's made the inhabitants of Skypeia responsible for leading them to judgment. This gives rise to the Islanders' sense of guilt." Usopp and Sanji immediately thought back to when Conis had tried to warn them away and how terrified the other Sky People had sounded at the thought of facing God's Judgment. "When the people believe they are committing a criminal act they become overwhelmed by it and it weakens their will. Eneru knows this and exploits it. He has created a flock of helpless lambs to rule over. The lives of the people are like playthings to him, the Devil indeed."

"Hm," Nami sighed, "When we landed on Angel Beach we thought we'd found something like a paradise. Boy, were we wrong. Of all the places that ancient City of Gold could have ended up being, this is just our luck."

"Oh, that's right," Gan Fall suddenly recalled, "This city… you sure were excited about it. But please tell me something… What is 'gold'?"

"Eh?" the Straw Hats gasped in surprise. The former God didn't even know what gold was when there was supposed to be a whole city full of it in the middle of his land's sacred ground.

**-x-**

**The Survival Game Begins:**

**-Over Six Years Ago-**

"You back again old man?" Wyper growled. Over six years ago, instead of a Mohawk, he had shaggy black hair and wore an orange bandana over it. "Get out. Now."

Gan Fall, the reigning God, stood with God's Enforcers outside of the Shandian camp down in the clouds on the White Sea.

"Enough Wyper!" the Shandian Chief scolded the young warrior. "Gan Fall is here to negotiate."

"Negotiate what?" Wyper snapped, "No chief, we're through. We're not going to stand by while two old men negotiate way everything we've fought for our whole lives!" Wyper glared at God. "Listen _Gan Fall_! You can forget about any kind of treaty! If you want compromise so badly, then give it all back! For generations we've watched you Sky People slaughter us like little pigs! ENOUGH! And now you're saying that you want to make peace? HA!"

"I can not give it all back to you," Gan Fall calmly informed the angry warrior. "The power of the Upper Yard's Vearth is of the utmost importance to every man and woman now living in Skypeia. All are grateful for its many blessings. I have no right to take that away. These people are, after all, innocent."

"Oh, so the Sky People are innocent are they?" Wyper demanded. "I guess you can call them that since they let you do their fighting for them and never bloody their own hands! Maybe it's time we involved a few innocent people!"

"I won't allow that," Gan Fall insisted. It was his duty to protect his people.

"You want peace so badly?" Wyper snarled as he stalked up to God and got in his face. "Then make a sacrifice! Execute a hundred of your own innocent people on the ancient altar and bring us their heads!"

"You're mad," Gan Fall responded, "I won't."

"Then we're done talking!" Wyper resolved as he turned and stalked back to his people, "Get lost, or I'll take _your head_ as a down payment!"

"Wait! Wyper!" Gan Fall called after him.

Wyper turned and glared at him, "Be careful when you use my name, old man," he threatened.

"I am quite fond of the juice made from your pumpkins," Gan Fall stated.

The God's seemingly innocent statement set something off in Wyper and the Shandian Warrior charged Gan Fall in a vicious rage. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared.

"WYPER, STOP!" the Shandian Chief called after him. "Warriors, restrain him!"

**WHUMP!** Shandian Warriors ran out and tackled Wyper to the ground while God's Enforcers ran forward to defend their God.

"What is this?" the Chief exclaimed, "Kiko! Kamakiri! Braham! Not you too!"

The three other warriors ran after Wyper and started throwing rocks at God's Enforcers. **KONK! KONK! **Before long, the confrontation had escalated to a huge fight.

Behind them, in the Shandian village, Laki watched the commotion from the opening of a tent.

"WAAAAAAAHH!" Laki turned and saw a baby crying in the arms of a nurse.

"Aisa cries a lot, doesn't she nurse?" Laki noted. Even as a baby, Aisa's Mantra was highly developed and the confrontation happening outside was clearly the cause of her crying.

"Yes, she always cries when there's a disturbance in the village," the nurse confirmed as she rocked Aisa and tried to sooth her.

"It's Wyper, right?" Laki asked while Wyper continued to fight against God's Enforcers.

"I really don't know," the nurse admitted, "but you have to admit, when there are problems in the village, he's always right in the middle of them. Why? What do you think of him, Laki?"

"I think that he frightens me, as well," Laki confessed._ "He's like a demon!"_

**-Back to Present Time-**

Laki watched from a distance as Wyper once again rallied their forces before a battle. She grabbed her rifle and slowly headed toward them.

But she stopped short when she saw Aisa's bag of Vearth on the ground at Wyper's feet. A large portion of the dirt had been spilled and was covering the clouds.

"The Vearth!" Laki exclaimed as she ran toward Wyper and the bag, "Wyper! I told you before that's Aisa's treasure! You have no right to it!"

"**Enough,"** Braham stepped in front of her and kept Laki from getting into another confrontation with Wyper over the bag of Vearth.

"We can't assume we'll get another chance like this," Wyper addressed the warriors. Kiko, Braham, Genbo and even the wounded Kamakiri were all their preparing for battle. "I won't let this opportunity pass! If you don't think you're up to it, stay behind! I won't hold it against you!"

"We all want to be here, Wyper!" Kiko growled, "And you know we're up to it!"

"Are you?" Wyper questioned. "Are you up to abandoning anyone who falls during the battle? If you can step over the bodies of your dying comrades and keep fighting, then follow me! Now I swear, Eneru's head is mine!"

**-x-**

"RUN FOR IT!" Luffy shouted as he, Ricky, Zoro, Chopper and Robin found themselves faced with the massive snake. "IT'S A GIANT SNAKE!"

"WAAAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed as they ran from the snake.

"Why'd it have to be snakes?" Ricky muttered as he broke away from the others and darted around a tree.

"What's the matter, Mr. One Eye?" Robin inquired as she ran alongside him, "Don't tell me you're afraid of snakes."

"I'm not afraid of them," Ricky insisted, "I've just spent enough time dealing with them lately."

"Since when?" Robin questioned.

"Just for that, I'm bringing you on the next disclaimer hunt," Ricky decided.

Zoro stopped running and turned to face the monster snake. "Okay, catfish-face!" he growled, "It's time for you to get filleted!"

**HISSSS! **The snake lunged at him. **SKISH! **Zoro jumped up out of the way.

But the snake's kept going and it flew towards Luffy and Chopper.

"WHOOAA!" Luffy gasped as he stared into the snake's massive opened mouth while Chopper screamed beside him. **SKISH! **Luffy jumped up over the snake's massive head while Chopper stumbled to the side and just managed to dodge its mouth. **FWUMP!**

**SKISH! SKISH! **Zoro leapt up onto a tree branch overhead, "How can something so big, move so freakin' fast?" he wondered.

"Oh great, now it's coming for us," Ricky dead-panned as the snake came around the tree, he and Robin had been standing behind.

**Skish! Skish! Skish! **Robin sprouted a ladder of legs out of a tree trunk and jumped up them to a high branch over the snake's head.

Ricky turned and ran from the snake which barreled through the trees after him. **Skish! **Ricky jumped up and planted his feet on a tree trunk then launch himself off. **SHOOM!** Ricky flew passed the snake's head but it kept going and bit down on the trunk of the tree that Ricky had jumped off of. **CHOMP! **The snake's mouth was so enormous that its jaw completely encircled the trunk of the gigantic tree.

"Hmm… that's odd," Ricky remarked as he backed away from the occupied snake, "I'm sensing some treasure inside the snake. But considering how huge it is, it doesn't surprise me that it might've accidentally eaten something valuable that it came across."

"I wouldn't suggest going in this one, Mr. One Eye," Robin advised from her perch overhead.

**Fsshh…** "AH!" Zoro gasped in alarm as he watched purple steam float out of the snake's mouth. **SHUNK! **The snake pulled its mouth off of the tree to reveal that it's clearly powerful venom had withered it down to a mere stick.

"AAAHH! AAACIIIID!" Chopper screamed.

"Uhh… change of plan… we're running away!" Zoro decided. "DON'T LET THAT VENOM TOUCH YOU! IT'S DEATH!"

"Actually, I've got an idea," Ricky announced. **Skish! **Ricky jumped up onto a tree then launched himself back at the snake. **SHOOM! **Ricky stuck his legs out ahead of him, "FLYING… ARROW KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky slammed feet-first into the snake's face. **KROOM! **The snake's head slammed into a tree trunk but it recovered and came back at Ricky. "Come get some, snaky!" Ricky ran off through the trees while the snake slithered after him.

**HISSSS!** The snake began to gain on Ricky.

"Luffy! Gimme a lift!" Ricky called out to his brother who was off to the side.

**WOING! **Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed Ricky's arm then pulled him towards him. **SHOOM! **"HEY SNAKE! COME ON! YOUR DINNER'S GETTING AWAY!"

"Luffy, its morning," Ricky pointed out, "Its closer to breakfast."

"SNAAAAKEEE! BREEEAAAKFAAAAST!" Luffy shouted. "COOOMEEE AND GEET IIIIT!"

**HISSSSS! **The snake turned to the left and followed after Ricky and he swung passed it.

"Luffy, Monkey-Style Escape!" Ricky instructed, "To the left!"

"Right!" Luffy agreed. **SHOOOM! **He shot his arm out to the left and grabbed a tree branch then swung himself and Ricky away from the snake. **SWOOOSH! **"THIS WAY WHISKERS! OVER HERE!"

**HIIIISSSSSS! **The snake changed direction again and followed after them.

"Once more Luffy!" Ricky called out.

**SHOOOM! **Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed another tree branch then swung them to the left through the trees again. **SWOOOSH!**

**HIIIISSSSSSS! **The snake whipped around a tree and barreled after them.

**WOING! **Luffy and Ricky swung through the trees and flew towards… the snake.

Ricky looked back at the snake and grinned, "Take this Ouroboros!" he taunted.

They swung over the snake's body while the snake's head flew after them. **SHOOOM! **But to Ricky's surprise, the snake's head launched up off of the ground and slithered over its body. **SWIISSHH!**

"Damn," Ricky cursed, "Okay then… Plan B. This is where I leave you, Luffy." Ricky let go of Luffy's hand and dropped downward. "BLUDGEON STOMP!" **WHOMP! **Ricky slammed feet first down onto the top of the snake's head and drove it into the ground. **KROOOM!**

**Skish! **Ricky jumped off of the snake's head and launched himself back the other way.

**HIIISSSS! **The snake recovered, swung around a tree and chased after him.

**SKISH! **Ricky jumped up over the snake's body as the head slithered over itself again.

"That should do it," Ricky resolved, he turned and sprinted off through the trees.

**HISSS! **The snake slithered faster and attempted to follow him. **SHUK! **But it stopped short.

With Luffy's help, Ricky had wrapped the snake's body around a cluster of trees then had led it over itself, around another tree and over itself again. The snake was gigantic but it was only so long and it eventually ran out of body.

"I guess that's a wrap," Zoro joked, as he looked on from his branch on a tree branch.

"YAY BIG BROTHER!" Chopper cheered.

"Classic snake-fighting strategy," Ricky stated, "Tie it in a knot."

**WOING!** Luffy dropped down out of a tree and landed next to Ricky.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed, "STUPID SNAKE!" Luffy grabbed the sides of his face and stretched them outward so he could make a face at the snake. **WHUP! **"NYYYYAAAAA!"

**HIIIISSSSS! SHOOOM! **The snake became enraged and lunged towards them. **KROOOOSH! **

Luffy and Ricky's three combined eyes widened in surprise as the snake uprooted the lone tree that it was wrapped around and then started forcing down the other cluster of trees. **KROOOOOM!**

"You just had to taunt it, didn't you?" Ricky asked as he and Luffy looked up at the suddenly falling forest.

"EVERYBODY RUUUUN!" Luffy shouted as he and Ricky took off and ran in different directions.

"WAAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed as the trees started falling. The shifted into his Walk Point form and took off running.

"THOSE IDIOTS!" Zoro yelled as he launched himself off through the trees. **SKISH!**

"Oh my," Robin sighed, "Cinco Fleur!" She sprouted a vine of five arms out of an overhead tree branch and used them to swing herself to safety.

"Speed Step!" **ZZZZOOOOOOM! **Ricky sped off through the toppling trees.

"AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAH!" Luffy cheered as he used his rubber arms to swing himself away. **SWOOOSH!**

**KROOOSH! KRAASH! KROOOOM! **The pirates and the snake all scrambled to avoid the falling trees.

**-x-**

"This is bad," Robin remarked as she stood staring at a pile of giant fallen trees. "I know I'm on the right path but where is everyone? Are they lost? Should I wait for them?"

**-x-**

Chopper stood in front of a pile of fallen trees in his Walk Point. He looked frantically around for the others.

"Aaah! Aaaah!" Chopper gasped, "I'M LOST GUYS! WAIT FOR ME!"

Chopper ran off in search for the others… in the wrong direction.

**-x—**

"Well it figures," Zoro remarked, "I turn my back for one second and they go and get lost on me. Oh well, they know how to take care of themselves. I've got most of the map memorized anyway. I go… right." Zoro shrugged and headed off… in the wrong direction.

**-x-**

"Where did everybody go?" Luffy wondered, "Did they get lost? I'd better keep moving. I'll catch up with them later at the ruins. They said we had to go south, and it always gets warmer when you go south. So I go… this way!" Luffy wandered off… also in the wrong direction.

**-x-**

Robin set off southward towards the City of Gold.

"**Oh, there you are!" **Robin spun around in time to see Ricky jump from a tree branch and land beside her. **TMP! **"I figured I'd at least find you here."

"Mr. One Eye," Robin greeted him, "What happened to the others?"

"They got lost," Ricky answered, "From what I can tell, they all went off in different directions, none of them the right one. It would take too long to climb around and over those trees to find them all so I figured the two of us could head for the City of Gold on our own. Besides, there's no gold there, so I wouldn't want to go through all that trouble only for them to be disappointed when we got there."

"Wait… there's no gold?" Robin questioned, "Then why are we heading there?"

"It's an ancient city that was blasted up into the sky four hundred years ago," Ricky answered. "Since you're an archaeologist, I figured that would be the sort of thing you'd be interested in."

Robin blinked, "You mean we set out on this expedition today… for me?"

"Of course," Ricky replied with a grin, "That's what friends do for each other."

Robin smiled a genuine smile, "Thank you."

"For the record, there _is _gold on this island somewhere, and I still intend to find it," Ricky informed her, "But for now, let's go find that ancient city." Ricky grabbed Robin by the hand ran off through the trees, pulling her along with him.

Due to having a bounty on her head at the early age of eight, Robin had never had a chance to have a real childhood and had been forced to mature quickly in order to survive on her own.

But just this once, Robin imagined herself twenty years younger and running hand-in-hand through the forest with a ten year younger Ricky towards this ancient historic city with what could only be considered child-like excitement.

**-x-**

Back at God's Shine, Eneru was casually lying sideways across his throne.

"It looks like our Shandian friends are making their move," Eneru observed using his Mantra, "How nice. And the Blue Sea Dwellers have split into two groups… and then split up again, that's interesting. Today is certainly shaping up to be a lively day. I wonder how many of our players will live to its end. Well then, let the Survival Game begin."

**-x-**

Wyper led the Shandian Warriors along the Milky Road toward Upper Yard.

"Our objective is God's Shrine!" Wyper addressed his men, "Don't let anything get in your way! Our only goal is to bring back his head!"

"YEEAAH!" the Shandians cheered as the charged towards Upper Yard.

**-x-**

**Sky Warfare:**

**-x-**

"When we first met, I acted as a soldier for hire to protect you," Gan Fall reminded the three Straw Hats as they continued along the Milky Road in the Going Merry, "Because you Blue Sea Dwellers are unfamiliar with the ways of Sky Warfare."

"Sky Warfare?" Usopp repeated, "What do you mean?"

"Perhaps if you move that barrel over here, I can demonstrate," Gan Fall suggested.

Sanji brought the barrel over and placed a small Dial on top of it. He was borrowing one of Usopp's comically large hammers for this demonstration.

"Now observe…" Gan Fall instructed.

"Can someone please explain to me why we're doing this?" Nami requested.

"All will be clear," Gan Fall assured her then he turned his attention to Sanji, "Now strike that shell with all of your might, young man."

"Take it easy, Sanji," Usopp warned him, he didn't want the Going Merry to be further damaged after it had been miraculously repaired over the night. "If you put a hole in my deck, I'll put enough holes in you to make a Swiss cheese jealous!"

"Hit it with all the strength you've got," Gan Fall instructed.

"GAAH!" Usopp shrieked. "HAVE A LITTLE MORE RESPECT FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY WHEN YOU'RE A GUEST, OLD MAN!"

"Well, it's your show, old timer," Sanji agreed as he prepared for Gan Fall's demonstration. He raised the mallet up over his head and wound up. He really was going to put all his monstrous strength into this swing.

"WAIT! WAIT!" Usopp protested, "DO YOU HAVE TO WIND UP INTO IT LIKE THAT?"

"RUUUGGHH!" Sanji grunted as he brought the hammer down. **Boing! **Despite his impressive wind up, Sanji powerful attack had absolutely no effect on the barrel and the Dial on top of it.

Nami and Usopp stared in surprise. They both knew Sanji to be one of the Monster Trio capable denting steel and crushing bedrock with his powerful kicks. So when his attack to did nothing, it caught them off guard.

"Huh?" Sanji goggled.

"AH!" Nami gasped.

"Whoa…" Usopp muttered, "That was just sad. I know I said take it easy, but you didn't have to be _that_ pathetic. You didn't even put a ding in the barrel." Usopp figured that _he _could've done more damage than the supposedly strong cook had.

"No, I gave that swing everything I had," Sanji insisted as he hoisted the hammer back up onto his shoulder and stared in confusion at the Dial on top of the barrel, "Like I was really trying to put a hole in the deck."

"Hey now!" Usopp scolded him. He knew he couldn't rely on some mysterious ship-repairing ghost to fix the ship for him again.

"It sounds crazy," Sanji said, "but it's like the shell absorbed all the force of the impact."

"Huh?" Nami and Usopp questioned.

"Now," Gan Fall prompted, "If you would be so good as to turn the shell's holes towards the barrel and lightly press the tip. You're familiar with the operation of Dial Power, yes?" Sanji picked up the Dial as instructed and turned it so all of the holes that were across the top were now pressed against the side of the barrel.

"Right here?" Sanji inquired before he pressed the apex. **Click! KA-BOOOOOOOM! **Sanji was blown backwards as the barrel exploded like it should have done when he'd smashed it with the hammer.

"AAAAAAAHH!" Usopp screamed as he and Nami ran for cover to avoid the flying debris.

**Tunk!** The barrel had been completely obliterated and the Dial dropped to the deck in the space that it had once occupied.

Nami cautiously peeked out from the stairs she'd taken shelter in while Usopp was clinging to the far side of the deck's railing.

"That, my friends, is an Impact Dial," Gan Fall explained. "It absorbs any impact it receives and then releases the energy when its pressed? It is frequently affixed to the palm of the hand with a glove or a bandage. A direct hit from one of these has more than enough power to kill a normal person easily."

Sanji and Usopp both thought back to their battle against Satori. Not only did they have to deal with the Priest's Mantra but when his open-palmed strikes where deceptively powerful. Fortunately for them, they weren't 'normal' people and could take a great deal of punishment.

"Oh, I know," Sanji replied, "Usopp?"

"Oh yeah," Usopp realized as he climbed over the railing and back onto the deck, "That's what that butterball Priest was using."

"Why didn't you warn us?" Sanji complained as he lightly chopped Gan Fall on the head to express his annoyance. "That scared the hell out of me, old man!"

Gan Fall ignored Sanji's chops and continued his exposition, "I have heard that in ancient times on other Sky Islands there existed Dials even more powerful than this one. The Reject Dial is said to be capable of magnifying the energy it absorbs and release ten-times than that of the Impact Dial. But, that incredible power was a double-edged sword, for it threatened the life of the attacker as well as his opponent. As a result, it was very rarely used."

"THESE LITTLE SHELLS ARE _THAT_ DANGEROUS?" Usopp exclaimed, "THEY'RE WORSE THAN ANY WEAPON I KNOW!"

"Yeah, I thought Dials were supposed to be common everyday objects," Nami added.

"So they are," Gan Fall confirmed, "But it seems that man has a talent for finding deadly uses for beneficial discoveries no matter how mundane they may seem to be. It all depends upon the user. Dials are very useful. And when applied in battle, their power for destruction can be awesome. For example, the Heat Dial used for cooking can be placed inside a lance and be used to generate thermal energy creating a deadly weapon known as the Heat Javelin. Or the Flame Dial, which stores fire, can be placed in the mouth of bird creating a creature that seems to breathe fire."

"Yeah, Chopper mentioned something like that," Usopp realized.

Just like that, Gan Fall had debunked the mystery behind Shura's abilities. His lance or 'Heat Javelin' created fire due to the Heat Dial creating thermal energy inside of it. And his bird Fuza only breathed fire because of the Flame Dial that Shura had placed in its mouth.

"And that's Sky Warfare?" Nami asked.

"It is," Gan Fall confirmed, "Blue Sea Dwellers who know nothing of Dials have no way of seeing through these tricks. The same holds true for our many types of artificial clouds. The Priests have forged these into forms they can control. If you don't understand them, you'll be helpless against them."

"Ricky managed it," Nami pointed out, "but then again, he's one of the craftiest people I know."

"Wait a second," Sanji said, "Then is there any truth to that 'Mantra'-thing that Tubby was talking about that let him to predict our moves?"

"Yes, Mantra," Gan Fall answered, "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I am unable to use it. So it's rather difficult for me to explain. Mantra is described as the ability to hear. The idea is that as long as a person lives, his or her body emits a 'voice'."

"A voice?" Sanji repeated. He'd stopped chopping Gan Fall and had used his explanation to quickly clean the broken bits of barrel off of the deck.

"Yes," Gan Fall told him, "By listening to the voice you're supposed to be able to know your opponent's next move. With practice and training you can hear these voices over a very large area. The Priests can hear over all of the Upper Yard. Eneru's powers extend across this entire land. The exact nature of those powers remains a mystery but because of them the people of this land can never know a moment's peace."

**-x-**

"I wonder if they've made it down yet," Eneru casually wondered as he relaxed on his throne back at God's Shrine.

"Yes, God," one of three bushy bearded men answered. The three were God's Advisors. Although, Eneru usually tended to ignore their opinions and just do what he wanted. "They are lying in wait as we speak. The three Priests have placed their Ordeals and Yama has taken fifty of our warriors with him. God, it looks as though this is becoming an all-out war. Is it really necessary to go to such extremes? The Shandians and a few Blue Sea Dwellers hardly seem worth it."

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed. "Come now, the more players there are the more fun the game." Eneru glanced at one of the bushy bearded advisors, "You, My hairy friend, underestimate the power of Sky Warfare."

"Sky Warfare, God?" the first advisor questioned.

"Yes, you'll see soon enough," Eneru assured him. "Yahahahaha!" He paused his laughter and directed his attention to the table filled with the fruit and the servant girl that was standing next to him tending the table. Eneru motioned to a banana. "Peal that for Me. Now let's see, there's Yama and the fifty warriors plus the three surly Priests and including Me that's fifty-four. There's Wyper and his twenty Sandians heading for the island, the five Blue Sea Dwellers in the forest and the four escaping down the Milky Road. No wait, that's only three… the old man can't fight anymore. Altogether, that's eighty-three. This battle will determine who will be left standing. Yahahahaha! Shall we guess who many will remain after three hours' time?"

"Pardon, God?" the second of Eneru's three advisers asked. "You choose to make a game out of death?"

"Oh, why don't you lighten up," Eneru chided him then he turned his attention back to the servant girl as she handed him the banana she'd peeled for him, "You, take a guess."

"Um… me, my Lord?" the nervous servant girl stammered. "But I don't know anything about it. I'm just a servant girl."

"Oh, come on," Eneru complained, "What's wrong with you people? It'll be fun. Just take a guess." Eneru pointed to the third advisor using his ring adorned big toe. "You, go ahead, guess."

"Well… um… the three Priests are all very strong, of course," the advisor reasoned, "And our warriors are all extremely powerful as well. I doubt many of them will be defeated. But the enemy has shown that their power rivals the Priests'. So in three hours I'd guess that thirty will fall leaving… eighty-three minus thirty… leaving fifty-three alive. How's that?"

"YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru seemed to find his advisor's guess hilarious. "Fifty-three, eh? That's your best guess? Don't you think you're being too optimistic or are you just squeamish? I think you're underestimating the results of this battle."

"Uuuuh… then what do You think, God?" the chastised advisor inquired, "If I may ask."

"Well, its obvious if only you give it a little thought," Eneru replied. "In three hours, of the eighty-three fighters now on this island… all that will be left are… **seven**."

**-x-**

Wyper and the Shandians finally reached the shore of Upper Yard and surged off of the Milky Road and shot off through the massive trees of the forest.

**SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM!**

The twenty-one Shandian Warriors sped through the trees on their dial-powered skis and boards. They all kept an eye out for the first sign of their enemies be they Eneru's Warriors, Priests, the Blue Sea Dwellers or Eneru himself.

**SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM… SHOOOM… SHOOM… SHOOM… Shoom…**

The warriors were caught off guard when they started losing speed. And they kept losing speed until they were forced to a complete stop.

**Shoom… shoom… ssshhhh…**

The twenty Shandians found themselves rooted in place. None of them could move. Some were on the ground others had stopped while flying through the air in mid-leap.

"What's going on?" Kamakiri questioned from the front of the group. "Why did I stop moving?"

"Grrraaahh…" Kiko growled as strained and fought against the seemingly invisible force that was rooting him in place.

"**Greetings, my Shandorian friends,"** came a familiar voice. The Shandians looked again and saw Shura and his bird Fuza perched on a large rock ahead of them. "You're looking well. I'm glad you could come to my party."

"CRAAAAWWW!" Fuza crowed then unleashed a torrent of fire up into the air. **FWOOOSH! **

"SHURA!" the Shandians shouted. If they were dealing with Skyrider Shura then that meant the reason they couldn't move is because they were already trapped in the Priest's string.

"Now, now, I appreciate your enthusiasm but I know my own name," Shura taunted, "Hahahaha! I'm afraid I have some bad news. There have been some changes here in Upper Yard since yesterday. You've wandered right into my new territory. Can't move can you? Too bad. You fools have charged right into my Ordeal of String. You only have a three percent chance of survival."

"Hmph…" Braham grunted, "We heard that some Blue Sea Dweller already beat you. That makes me think that this Ordeal of yours isn't all its cracked up to be."

"Grrr…" Shura growled, "That was a fluke! God Eneru understood that and He gave me another chance which I plan to use to redeem myself. Catching you insects was child's play and once I kill every last one of you, Fuza and I will go find that Blue Sea Dweller and finish him off for good this time. This Survival Game won't last long at all. I'll be the one to end it. And then I'll take my rightful place at the Almighty God Eneru's side."

"CAAWW!" Fuza crowed.

** -x-**

**Deadly Reject:**

**-x-**

Ricky and Robin continued along their southward bearing through the forest towards the ancient City of Gold. They'd stopped holding hands and running but there was a comfortable silence between the two of them.

"So…" Robin said in an attempt to start conversation, "I noticed you and Miss. Navigator got awfully close last night. Is there anything you'd like to share about your relationship status?"

"Not really," Ricky answered, "Nami pointedly said 'not tonight' last night so we didn't."

"I see," Robin remarked, "But what _did _you end up getting up to? I trust we don't have to worry about the ship being overrun by tiny pirates?"

"What? No!" Ricky sputtered, "We didn't—We've never even—We just kissed!"

"Oh, good to know," Robin noted.

Ricky took a deep breath to calm himself and then asked, "Any particular reason why you're so interested in my relationship with Nami?"

"I was under the impression that friends talked about that sort of thing," Robin replied.

"Oh, they do," Ricky quickly assured her, "And… we can… I guess."

"And besides," Robin added, "Back on Jaya, you involved me in your relationship. I can't help but feel a little personally invested in it."

"Well, it will please you to know that things are going well," Ricky informed her. "I have a feeling that we _could have _gotten together last night but we both agreed not to. Maybe it'll happen after I find that gold. You should've seen her when I showed her all the treasure I found inside Sheldon."

"From what I know of her, I'll bet she was excited," Robin remarked, "Out of curiosity, how much treasure was there inside of that snake?"

"A few million berries," Ricky answered, "I guess that snake didn't care what it ate. But it wasn't much compared to the huge amount of gold I was sensing earlier. I'm guessing that's the gold that was supposed to be in the City of Gold and that someone found it and moved it."

"Speaking of that snake," Robin said, "The way you and Mr. Straw Hat escaped from it seemed awfully rehearsed. Are you used to doing things like that?"

"Ever since we were kids," Ricky replied, "Have you ever heard of Goa Kingdom?"

"Of course," Robin confirmed, "It's located on Dawn Island and is the largest kingdom in the East Blue."

"Well, Luffy, Ace and I grew up in the mountains on Dawn Island," Ricky explained, "We occasionally went to the Goa Kingdom but to get there we had to go through this dangerous forest that was filled with all sorts of huge wild animals. Once we decided we were all going to be pirates, the three of us regularly trained in there. Luffy and I have been swinging away from monsters like that massive snake we just faced since we were little kids."

Robin smiled faintly, "It must have been nice."

Ricky glanced over at Robin. He could tell that she was envious of him growing up with siblings while she'd been forced to grow up all alone. But what he could also tell, was that she at least seemed interested when he spoke about his childhood. If she enjoyed hearing stories about his and his brothers' misadventures growing up, then he had plenty to share.

"The three of us used to get into so much trouble," Ricky commented, "We were considered the bane of Dawn Island. There must have been an island-wide party once all of us were gone. Luffy had this habit of sneaking into this one farmer's watermelon patch late at night and eating as many as he could. You know how he has a rubber stomach, right? Well this one time, he ate so many that his rubber body ended up shaped like a giant watermelon. His arms and legs stayed the same size though, so he couldn't move to get away. Ace and I eventually found him and we ended up having to roll him all the way home."

"Fufufufufu!" Robin laughed lightly as she visualized a watermelon-shaped Luffy being rolled home in the dead of night by a child-sized Ricky and Ace.

"I've got plenty more stories where that came from," Ricky told her, "This one time, Ace and I went into Goa Kingdom with only fifteen thousand berries. We were looking to have a big lunch of something other than wild animal meat so I took that fifteen thousand berries and with Ace's help managed to turn it into a quarter million which was more than enough to pay for that huge lunch. You see, it all started at this jewelry store in the Town Center…"

Oblivious to the war going on around them, Ricky continued to share stories of his childhood with Robin as they headed for the City of Gold.

**-x-**

"I would have warned you," Shura boasted to the trapped Shandians, "But then I thought, why ruin the surprise for them."

"Ugghhh… uugghhh…" Kamakiri growled as he struggled against Shura's string. Just then, sunlight shined down through the trees into the red lenses of Kamakiri's round glasses allowing him to briefly glimpse the thin string he was strapped in. "It's String Cloud!"

"Oh, very good," Shura smugly remarked, "I'm impressed. It's spread throughout my area and it's too thin to be seen but its so tough that even the strongest man can't break it once entangled. My mighty String Cloud, you fools have been wrapping yourselves up in it from the moment you set foot in this forest."

"RAAAH!" Kiko roared as he fought against the string binding him. He managed to move his arms a bit but like Shura said, even the strongest of men couldn't escape from the string once they were caught in it.

"Take a look around," Shura continued, "You're covered in string. You've all become my puppets, mere play things at my disposal."

"RAAAAAH!" Kiko managed to yank his left arm back and jammed his elbow into his side. **Whak! FWOOOOSH! **Flames erupted out of the gauntlet on his hand. But unlike the gauntlet on his right hand which he used to create a single whip-like blade of fire, the tube on his left arm was split and had three ends which produced three separate blades of fire. **Whip! **Kiko flicked his wrist and the three blades slashed through the String Clouds in front of him like a claw made of fire. **FWOOOOM! **Kiko dropped out of the air and landed on the ground. **TMP!**

"GET HIM FUZA!" Shura shouted.

"CRAAAWW!" **SHOOOM! **Fuza launched off of the rock and flew at the wild Shandian.

**SHOOOM! **Kiko spun around and sped off on his dial-powered board. **FWOOOM! **Kiko slashed the fire blade on his right gauntlet and used it to slice through the String Cloud ahead of him. **FWOOOOM-FWOOOM! **As Kiko burned a path through the String Cloud he used his whip-like flame blade to cut some of his fellow warriors free from the string.

"CRAAAW!" **WOOOSH!** Fuza flew after Kiko and unleashed torrents of fire at the fleeing Shandian. **FWOOOSH! FWOOOOSH! **

**SHOOOM! SHOOOM! **Kiko masterfully maneuvered his board and managed to avoid Fuza's blasts of fire. Kiko sped out of the clearing with Fuza flying in hot pursuit.

"Hm," Wyper grunted to himself from up in a tree overhead. He'd been the only one to avoid getting trapped in Shura's String Cloud and now that Kiko had lured Fuza away from Shura, he decided it was time to strike.

**SKISH!** Wyper leapt out of his tree and flew down at Shura with his cannon poised to attack.

"WYPER!" Kamikiri, Braham and Genbo cheered.

Wyper hoisted his cannon onto his shoulder and fired it at Shura as he flew down at him. **BOOOM!**

**SKISH!** Shura leapt up off of the rock and avoided Wyper's blast then drew back his lance.

"WYPER! THAT'S A HEAT JAVELIN!" Braham called out in warning.

But to his fellow warriors' surprise, Wyper dropped his cannon and his shield as well. Shura's eyes widened in momentary surprise but he kept going and drove his Heat Javelin into Wyper's unguarded right shoulder. **SHUNK! **

"UUUUGGHHH!" Wyper groaned in pain as the Heat Javelin seared into his shoulder.

"WHY DID YOU THROW AWAY YOUR SHIELD AND WEAPON?" Shura demanded. "ARE YOU INSANE?" **Fwooom… **The tip of Shura's lance lit up and burned started to burn from where it was lodged inside Shura's shoulder.

"WYPER! YOU WOULDN'T DARE!" Kamakiri shouted.

**WHAP!** Despite the literally _burning_ pain in his shoulder, Wyper used the close proximity between him and Shura to his advantage and grabbed onto Shura.

**FWOOM! **"Take it!" Wyper said as the flames coming out of Shura's lance grew in size and covered his entire right shoulder. "If all you want is a shoulder, it's yours."

Wyper reached out with his left hand which was covered in bandages and pointed the dial attached to his palm at Shura's chest.

Shura stared down at the Dial on Wyper's hand. "An Impact Dial?" Shura questioned, "But that won't kill me."

"Heh, no," Wyper scoffed, "TEN-TIMES THAT POWER! REJECT DIAL!" **BZOOOOOOM! **The legendary Reject Dial which instead of unleashing a regular high-impact attack, blasted Shura with ten-times that power and sent the Priest hurtling down to the ground.

**KROOM!** Shura slammed down into the ground and laid there motionless. His aviator cap had fallen off and without the goggles his glazed over eyes were now visible. The super-powered impact of the Reject Dial combined with his previous injuries at the hands of Ricky had finished the Priest off for good.

**TMP!** Wyper landed next to the former Priest and groaned in pain as he clutched his limp and bandaged left arm with is right hand. The rumors of the Reject Dial were true, while it was immensely more powerful than a regular Impact Dial, its usage harmed the wielder. But Wyper was a warrior through-and-through and he fought off the pain in his arm and remained standing.

**-x-**

"And the Upper Yard Survival Game has its first casualty," Eneru observed using his Mantra. "The first battle has ended in an upset. Shura is finished."

"Wh-what?" one of the three advisors sputtered, "But how?"

"Like you, Shura underestimated the power of Sky Warfare," Eneru explained, "Yahahahahaha!"

"But surely this is a disaster!" another advisor exclaimed, "No Priest has been defeated in six years! And suddenly two have fallen in two days! Three losses if You include Shura's defeat at the hands of that Blue Sea Dweller yesterday."

"Shura got what was coming to him," Eneru stated, "I knew he would meet his end out there in the Survival Game. That was the only reason I spared him anyway. This saves Me from having to expend of him Myself. Yahahahahaha!"

**-x-**

"Listen up, men," Yama addressed his forty-nine warriors in the forest. "We're up against twenty-one Shandians and eight Blue Sea Dwellers. They pose no threat. We don't need to trouble the Priests with them. Destroy them without mercy."

"BAAAH!" The warriors chorused like goats. They all wore white ropes, large wings, small goat-like horns from their temples, and long floppy ears that looked like goat ears.

**-x-**

Back at the Shandian camp, Laki was scooping the spilled Vearth back into Aisa's bag. She glanced over at the Milky Road that the other warriors had taken to Upper Yard. Wyper's earlier words echoed in her head.

"_If you can step over the bodies of your dying comrades and keep fighting, then follow me. Now, I swear, Eneru's head will be mine."_

As Laki continued scooping up the Vearth she remembered Kamakiri's words as well.

"_Once we kill Eneru, there will be no need for you to sneak around obsessing over a single bag of Vearth."_

**-x-**

"**CRAAAWW!"** Fuza burst out of the trees of Upper Yard, still chasing after Kiko.

**SHOOOM! **Kiko shot up into the air on his board and flipped up over Fuza's head and landed on the bird's back. **Whup! **

**FWOOOSH! **Kiko created a blade and flames and slashed it down on Fuza. **FWOOOM!**

"CRRRAAAAW!" Fuza cried.

The flames from Kiko's gauntlet extinguished as he grabbed Fuza's mane of red feathers.

"Your master has fallen, beast!" Kiko snarled, "You're gonna listen to me now!" Having now acquired a different method of transportation, Kiko took his board off of his feet and trapped it to his back.

**WOOOOSH! **Kiko spun Fuz around and they flew back into the trees and joined the other Shandians that had all been freed from the String Clouds and were standing around Wyper and the fallen Shura.

"WYPER! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Kamakiri scolded their leader for his recklessness. He'd allowed himself to be severely wounded by Shura's Heat Javelin and had injured his left arm using the Reject Dial. "Just try using that Reject Dial again! You'll blow your body to pieces!"

Wyper didn't respond and instead walked over to his dropped cannon and used his left arm to hoisted it up onto his shoulder. "It's my body, isn't it?" Wyper finally replied, "I warned you we'd have to take risks if we wanted victory. We'll never be able to beat them if we aren't willing to make sacrifices, understand?"

**SHOOOM! **With that, Wyper sped off into the forest on his skis.

"Damn fool," Kamakiri muttered.

"What are we still standing around for?" Braham asked. "We're in the middle of enemy territory, so let's split up. There are still two Priests out there to deal with. It looks like they've changed the location of their Ordeals. We can't have anyone getting caught in the same Ordeal again. We have to be smarter than that. I'm going ahead." **SHOOOM! **Braham sped off into the forest but took a different path from Wyper.

"Right," Kiko grunted, "GO BIRD!"

"CRRAAW!" Fuza angrily crowed and flew off into the forest. **WOOOOSH!**

"Fine the," Kamakiri resolved, "Do whatever you want. Just don't forget to pray for our safety." **SHOOOM! **Kamakiri sped off after Braham and Kiko.

"Alright men!" Genbo, the sole remaining officer, addressed the other Shandians Warriors. "Let's be careful! We'll meet at God's Shrine!"

**SHOOM!** Genbo sped off into the forest and the other Shandians split up and raced off as well.

**-x-**

Two Shandians sped along the Milky Road through the forest.

"**BAAAAH!" **One of Eneru's goat-like warriors leapt out of a tree from overhead and blasted the lead Shandian with a dial that was on his palm. **BING!** The lead Shandian was blasted off of the Milky Road and dropped to the ground far below.

"You're one of God's Enforcers!" the Shandian exclaimed.

"Co-o-orrect!" the Enforcer brayed like a goat, "By order of Almighty Eneru, we've been commanded to purge His enemies from the Upper Ya-a-ard! We are Lord Eneru's eli-i-ite! There is no place for you to hi-i-i-ide! We possess the power of the Ax Dial, which is not found in Skypeia!"

"OUT OF MY WAY!" The Shandian shouted as he fired his gun at the Enforcer. **BANG! BANG! BANG!**

**SWISH! SWISH!** The Enforcer avoided the blasts and sped towards the Shandian. "Your efforts are futile!" he taunted, "Your shots useless! AX DIAL!" The Shandian raised his shield and prepared to defend against the Enforcer's attack. "YOUR SHIELD WON'T HELP YOU!"

**SHOOOM! **While an Impact Dial store and released the blunt impact of a strike, an Ax Dial concentrated the blast into a thin blade. **SLISH! **The impact blade cleaved through the Shandian's shield and slashed into his stomach.

"UUUGGHHH!" The Shandian groaned and was blasted off of the Milky Road and dropped down to the ground with his fellow Shandian.

In a matter of moments, the eighty-three people involved in the Survival Game had dropped down to eighty.

**-x-**

Oblivious to the war going on around him, Luffy strolled through the forest with is stick slung over his shoulder and sung a song.

"Oo-oh, the is-lands in the south are wa-arm, and their heads get re-ally ho-ot, they grow-a pine-apples they grow-a coco-nuts, AAAND THEEY'REEE MOOOROOONS!"

"**BAAAHH!"**

Luffy stopped and glanced around him. "Huh? A goat? Was that a goat?" Luffy questioned. "Where is it?"

"**BAAAAHH!**" **SHOOOM! **An Enforcer leapt off of the Milky Road overhead and flew down at Luffy with his hand extended.

"HERE GOAT!" Luffy called out. Without even thinking about it, he lashed his arm out behind him and drove his fist into the Enforcer's face. **POW! **The Enforcer went flying and slammed into a tree branch. **WHAM!** He bounced off of the tree branch and slammed into another one. **WHAM! **The Enforcer plummeted to the ground and landed in a heap. **KRASH!**

"Hmph," Luffy grunted as he glared at the man he'd just knocked out, "Who's this jerk? Man, he got me all excited. I thought I was gonna get to see a goat."

And with that, Luffy walked off again.

"Next verse! Oo-oh, the is-lands in the north are snow-y, and their heads get re-ally co-old, they're very chilly-chilly, they're very willy-nilly, AAAND THEEYY'REEE IIDIIIOOOTS!"

Luffy stopped walking again when he spotted someone familiar standing on a root ahead of him, it was Wyper.

"It's you," Luffy noted.

"That's right," Wyper replied as he glared at Luffy, "And just what are _you_ doing here? I warned you to leave this island."

"Shut up!" Luffy snapped. "I can do whatever I want!"

"No you can't," Wyper growled, "This island belongs to us Shandians."

"Oh. Really?" Luffy asked, "It does? I thought it was God's. Well then, I beg your pardon." Luffy bowed to Wyper, and with that he headed off again. "Next verse! Oo-oh the islands in the east are…"

"HOLD IT!" Wyper interrupted.

"Now what?" Luffy complained.

"I'm through wasting words on you," Wyper stated, "And I'm sick and tired of listening to your idiotic babbling." Wyper readied his cannon. "So I'm gonna destroy you."

"I see," Luffy said simply. He didn't take the threat of being destroyed lightly and tossed his stick away and turned to face Wyper. Luffy cracked his knuckles and raised his fists, "If you wanted to fight, you just had to say so."

And so the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates prepared to face off with the Leader of the Shandian Warriors.

**-x-**

And there's another chapter in the books. Next chapter, it'll be not just Luffy vs. Wyper but also Zoro vs. Braham.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	23. Pirate Zoro versus Warrior Braham

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**Pirate Zoro vs. Warrior Braham:**

**-x-**

"Those Priests and those guerillas have powers that I can't measure up to," Zoro commented as he wandered in the direction he assumed was south. "So a close-quarters fight doesn't mean much. I guess I'll have to back off and take 'em down from a distance. If that's the case… I have a move that'll work."

_"I'm right here, come and get me," __Zoro__ taunted his opponent up near the top of the mountain._

_"I hate to disappoint you," Kyouken replied, "but I'm staying up here. And I'm going to keep you down there. EXPLODING STAR!" __**CHOO! **__Kyouken fired off a shot at Zoro using Usopp's slingshot. __**SLISH! **__Zoro sliced the projectile clean in half using__ Wado Ichimonji__. The ball flew past him, hit the ground and exploded. __**KA-BOOM-BOOM! **_

_"Fine," Zoro said, "If you're not gonna come down here then I'll just have to __bring__ you down! THIRTY-SIX CALIBER PHOENIX!"__**BOOOM! **__Zoro slashed his sword and fired a concentrated cannon blast of air at Kyouken. __**FWUMP! **__Kyouken dove to the side and the blast smashed into the mountain behind him. Rocks rained down from overhead but Usopp rolled out of the way of the falling rubble. __**KROOOSSHH!**_

"I never actually hit that guy," Zoro admitted, "but I doubt anyone up here will see it coming."

**Fwap! Fwap! Fwap! **Lost, both in thought and location, Zoro was seemingly oblivious to the large bird that had set its sights on him and had planned on making him its morning meal. **SWOOSH! **The bird dove down at Zoro with its beak and talons poised for attack.

But Zoro had known that the bird was there the whole time and now it had just volunteered itself for target practice.

**Clak! **With a flick of his wrist, Zoro drew his treasured sword _Wado Ichimonji _and slashed it in a circle. "THIRTY-SIX CALIBER PHOENIX!" **BOOOM! **Zoro fired a concentrated cannon blast of air at the bird and blasted it clear out of the sky. **KA-BOOOOOOOM!**

"Yup," Zoro stated, "After that test, I'm ready to show these sky-people my flying blade attack."

**-x-**

"BAAAAH!" one of Eneru's goat-like warriors bleated as he and two others chased after their latest target.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper – their unwilling target – screamed in terror as he ran through the massive forest of trees in his Walk Point reindeer form in a desperate attempt to avoid the three angry goat-warriors that were chasing him.

"BAAAH! BAAAH! BAAAH!" the three warriors continued shout out their 'battle cry' if only to further instill fear in their already beyound terrified target.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Chopper wailed when he suddenly found his way blocked by three equally unfriendly forces.

**SHOOM! **The three Shandians came speeding through the trees towards Chopper.

"WARRIORS!" the lead Shandian called out when he spotted the three men chasing Chopper.

"SHANDIANS!" one of the warriors hollered to his comrades when he spotted the trio.

**BOOOM! BOOOM! **The Shandians opened fire on the three goat warriors who sped out of the way to avoid the attacks and readied their Ax Dials as they prepared to make their counter-attack.

"YAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper bellowed as he veered to the side and raced onward, leaving the six men to fight behind him. "WAAAA-HAAA-HAAAA!" _"I WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER OFF EATEN ALIVE AT THE ALTAR!"_

**BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!**

**-x-**

**BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!**

The sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the island of Upper Yard and even reached Ricky and Robin who had stopped their trek through the giant forest when they came across some ruins.

"Sounds like the island's having its fair share of drama," Robin remarked.

"I guess that Survival Game that Eneru mentioned yesterday has started," Ricky reasoned as he eyed the ruins they'd found. "What do you make of this?"

Robin took a moment to observe the worn stone structures that looked like they could have once been houses. But time had taken its toll on the houses and they had been worn down to the point where they were missing their roofs and some of the stones that made up their walls. Massive roots from the nearby trees had overrun what could have once been a small town.

"I believe that these were once houses," Robin eventually explained. "They were built far out from the city in the hopes of bringing longevity to the crops. But it looks like all this brush swallowed up the mortar and brick. I hope the city is still there."

"**BAAAH!" **one of Eneru's warriors dropped down from overhead and landed on top of one of the former houses. **Krek-krek-krooosh! **As he landed, the goat-like man's dial-powered ski made contact with the top of the worn down ruin and broke part of it off. "What are you Blue Sea Dwellers doing here? You should be aware that this is the path to God's Shrine, proceeding any further would be insolent! Baaah!"

"Get down from there!" Robin ordered the goat-man. "Do you even have a clue as to the archeological significance of these ruins? They're priceless!"

"Not only are you talking back," the goat-man retorted, "but you have the audacity to order me around! I'm one of God's elite warriors!"

"Oh, well that explains why he doesn't care about these ruins," Ricky realized, "He's not from here so they hold no significance to _him_."

"I've been ordered by God to eliminate any Shandians or Blue Sea Dwellers that I encounter!" the man called out.

"So you're here to kill us, well that makes this easier on me," Ricky remarked. "Don't worry Robin, I'll…" Ricky trailed off in the process of drawing his sword when he noticed the murderous look in the former assassin's eyes. "…let you handle this one."

"Seis Fleur!" Six arms appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the man in Robin's signature hold. "TWIST!" Instead of wrenching backwards like they usually did, the four arms growing out of the man's body twisted to the side and snapped his neck and back in an instant. **KER-RACK! **The man dropped from the top of the ruin and landed in a broken heap next to the stone pieces he'd broken off of the ruin. **FWUMP!**

"You can be really scary sometimes…" Ricky said as he stared down at the broken man.

"I have no respect for those who don't respect history," Robin replied as picked up the broken bit of stone and showed more concern for it then the man who she'd just crippled.

**-x-**

**KA-BOOOOM! **A Shandian leapt out of the way of an explosion caused by an Ax Dial and smashed the attacking goat-warrior with his spear. **WHAM! **The man dropped to the ground unconscious and the Shandian dropped down in front of him.

"And you call yourself a 'Divine Warrior'," the Shandian taunted his fallen adversary but then muttered to himself. "These guys are gonna be the end of us. So far, they've managed to kill a lot more of us than we have of them."

"**South should be to the right…" **Zoro muttered to himself as he wandered behind the tree the Shandian was standing in front of.

"That's one of those Blue Sea People that Wyper was talking about!" the Shandian growled as he glared after Zoro, who was still both lost and lost to the world. "Better go take him out!" The Shandian tightened his grip on his spear then leapt after Zoro on his dial-powered skis.** SHOOM! **"RAAAAAAHH!"

Zoro was drawn from his thoughts by the shout and turned to see the Shandian charging at him.

"A guerrilla!" Zoro exclaimed, "And he looks pissed!"

"DIE!" the Shandian hollered as he swung his spear at Zoro. **SWISH! **Zoro reacted quickly and ducked under the Shandian's swing?"

"What's your problem?" Zoro demanded as he drew _Wado Ichimonji_. **POW!** Zoro didn't slash the Shandian with the blade of his sword, instead he used the clenched fist that was gripping the handle of his sword to punch the man in the face. The Shandian went flying and landed in an unconscious heap on the ground. **THUD!**

"You guys have some serious anger management issues," Zoro said as he sheathed his sword.

"**Baaah! Baaah!" **Zoro turned to the side and saw a goat-warrior leapt out of the brush onto a nearby root. The goat-man looked terrified… but not of Zoro. "Please! No! I surrender! I give up! I lose! You win! Just… please… don't kill me!"

**BANG! **A light flashed out of the brush and slammed into the pleading warrior. He was knocked off of the root and dropped to the ground and skidded passed Zoro.

**SKISH! **Zoro grabbed the handle of his sword again as Braham leapt out of the brush and flew up overhead propelled by his dial-powered skis. **SHOOM!**

"Not again!" Zoro complained as he found another Shandian swiftly approaching him, "Listen nut-case, if you're not a Priest then go find another goat to shoot! I'm in a hurry here!"

**SKISH! **Braham landed a few feet in front of Zoro. His only response was to point his two guns at the swordsman and open fire. **BANG! BANG! **Light flashed out of the barrels of the two guns, Zoro dove out of the way to avoid the bullets that came out right after. **WHUMP!**

**SHOOM! **Braham launched himself off of the ground and leapt onto the trunk of a tree then shot himself off of it and flew up into the air overhead. **SHOOM! **Braham spun his guns around on his fingers then opened fire on Zoro again. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Zoro raised an arm to his forehead in an attempt to shield his eyes from the blinding light that emanated from the barrels of the two guns. The swordsman quickly bounded to the side to avoid Braham's barrage of bullets. **SKISH! SHISH!**

"Alright, what's the deal with those glowing pistols?" Zoro muttered as he stared up into the air. In his desperation to avoid getting shot, he'd lost track of Braham. "Where'd he go? He couldn't have gotten far…"

**Kresh… **Grass rustled and Zoro whirled around and found Braham right behind him.

Braham used his dial-powered skis to launch himself into a handstand then swung his metal-encased feet around at Zoro's head. **KLANK! KLANK! **Zoro lashed out with his sword and managed to deflect Braham's first dial-powered kick. **SHOOM! **But the skis fired off again and Braham spun around and slammed his foot into Zoro's stomach. **THWHAM!**

Zoro went flying across the clearing, slammed to the ground and skidded over to a large root.

**Fwip! **Braham flipped himself back onto his feet so he could survey his handiwork but all he was a groaning Zoro pushing himself up off of the ground.

"You put up a good fight," Braham remarked, "I'm almost sorry I underestimated you." Braham raised his guns and prepared to fight again.

At the same time, Zoro tossed his backpack to the side and readied his sword. "Well, thanks pal," he retorted. "But I should apologize to _you_. I took you for a loser."

**-x-**

**Midair Battle**

**-x-**

**KA-BOOOOM-BOOOOM-BOOOOM! KA-BOOOOM-BOOOOM-BOOOOM!**

Explosions rang out through Upper Yard as the battle between Eneru's forces and the Shandians continued wage on.

**SWISH!** A Shandian wearing a cowboy hat swerved to the side to avoid the blast of an Ax Dial then fired his cannon at the goat-man attacking him. **KA-BOOOM! **The warrior was blasted back into the tree behind him and dropped to the ground.

Nearby, another Shandian and another Divine Warrior met in midair. **Whak! **The warrior knocked the Shandian's rifle aside and drove the Dial on his hand into the Shandian's face. **BOOOM! **The Shandian was nearly decapitated by the blast and dropped to the ground next to the fallen warrior.

**-x-**

But while loud battles continued in the huge forest all around them, Zoro and Braham were silent as the pirate and the Shandian prepared to fight again.

Zoro had drawn _Yubashiri_ and was now wielding two swords as he kept his eyes locked on the Shandian and waited for him to make the first move.

**SHOOM! **Braham's skis whirred to life without him moving an inch and he was launched off of the ground and flipped up over Zoro's head.

"_He never moved his feet!" _Zoro exclaimed in his mind as Braham hung upside-down in midair and aimed his guns at him from behind. **BANG! BANG! **Braham's guns flashed as he fired at Zoro but the swordsman quickly leapt to avoid the gunfire. **SKISH! SKISH!**

**SHOOOM! **Braham landed and launched himself all the way to the other side of the clearing.

"_Pagaya said there were different kinds of Dials," _Zoro thought to himself as he stared at the brush that Braham had disappeared into. _"I wonder if this guy has one or two stuck to his shoes. When he moves, gusts of wind shoot from his feet. What else could it be? And those guns of his flash as bright as the sun. They blind me every time he fires. Where is he now?"_

**SKISH! BANG! BANG! **Braham popped out of the brush and fired at Zoro. **SWISH! **Zoro spun around and avoided the bullets then put the handle of _Wado Ichimonji _in his mouth as he finally drew his cursed sword _Kitetsu III_. Now in proper Santoryu Form, Zoro charged at Braham.

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **Braham fired his guns at the charging swordsman but Zoro was going fast enough that he was keeping one step ahead of Braham's bullets. Zoro reached Braham and lashed out with all three of his swords.

"_He's using all three?" _Braham questioned.

"TIGER HUNT!" **SWA-SWISH! **Zoro swung at Braham but the Shandian launched himself up into the air and avoided Zoro's attack.

Zoro spun around and stared up after Braham, "Aren't you a hot shot!" Zoro taunted around the handle of the sword he was clutching with his teeth.

Braham twirled his guns on his fingers until he reached the peak of his jump then pointed his guns downward and fired at Zoro again. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

**SKISH!** Zoro lunged to the side to avoid the bullets while Braham landed on part of the Milky Road that had been going through the trees up above their clearing.

Zoro quickly ran up the trunk of a giant tree until he was up higher than the Milky Road then he launched himself off at Braham. "RAAAH!" Zoro shouted as he prepared for an attack.

"Ha, this Blue Sea Idiot has no clue about using Dials," Braham scoffed. He pulled a white shell out of his pocket. "He doesn't even stand a chance." **Click! **Braham pushed down on the apex of his Dial and threw it towards Zoro. **FWOOOSH! **White cloud flew out from the Dial and created a white bridge that connected the Milky Road that Braham was standing on with the space that Zoro was about of fly through.

**SHOOOM! **"Hey! Guess what this is!" Braham called out as he sped along the bridge he'd made to meet Zoro in midair.

"OH SHIT!" Zoro cursed.

"It's called a Milky Dial!" Braham finished as he flew right up to Zoro, pointed his guns at Zoro's face and opened fire. **BANG! BANG!**

**SWISH! **Zoro snapped backwards and did a clumsy midair backflip to avoid the bullets.

"You know Aerial Combat isn't just leaping around out of desperation," Braham informed Zoro.

**SPLOOOSH! **An enormous eel shot up out of the Milky Road to meet Zoro and lunged at the swordsman as he was caught in free-fall.

**SLA-SLISH! **Zoro slashed his three swords and cleaved the eel clean in half. The two halves of the eel dropped back down onto the Milky Road. **SPLA-SPLOOSH! **Zoro maneuvered himself around in midair and landed on one half of the eel. **TMP!**

"A ton of wood and these things would make for a killer barbecue," Zoro remarked.

**SHOOOM! **Braham flew back up over the Milky Road on the clouds he was making with his Milky Dial and opened fire on Zoro. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **

**SKISH! **Zoro made a desperate leap to avoid Braham's bullets but this time he wasn't so lucky.

"UUUGGHH!" Zoro grunted as he felt one of the bullets sink into his leg but he didn't let it slow him down and quickly jumped down the eel's long body and launched himself off of it onto a tree, then leapt around it so he could avoid Braham and gain some momentary coverage.

**Tmp! **Braham stopped his Milky Dial and landed on the Milky Road. He'd lost track of Zoro.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Zoro gasped as he leaned back against a tree trunk and hid from Braham. "That was stupid! What's wrong with me? This guy's already faster than me and I hang myself out like an easy target. Now I've got a bullet in my leg. Genius. There's gotta be something I can do about those flashing guns. Hold on…" He had an idea!

Braham stood on the Milky Road and waited for Zoro to reveal himself again.

"**Those guns of yours are some pretty nice accessories," **Zoro called out as he came around the tree he was hiding behind and stood on a branch above Braham. Zoro made a show of pulling the goggles he was wearing down over his eyes. "But too bad for you, I've got my lucky goggles! Your little blinding trick won't work on me anymore! You might as well give up!"

"Those just look like regular goggles," Braham dead-panned.

"_Damn it, he found me out!" _Zoro cursed internally. He decided that from now on he'd leave the bluffing to Ricky and Usopp.

"You're not a big fan of my Flash Guns, are you?" Braham asked as he crossed his two guns in front of him. "Being a swordsman you need close-quarters to fight, which I won't give you. I don't understand your reasons for being here and I don't care. But I will say that your mere presence here defines you as an enemy of the Shandians. Now I'm telling you: surrender or die – which might happen sooner you we keep standing here. Your leg isn't getting any better."

"It doesn't hurt too bad," Zoro insisted. "Barely made a dent." _"Getting shot while I made smug comments about some big, dead eel just shows that I'm lacking in concentration." _Zoro reached up and lifted his goggles back up onto his forehead. "Alright, looks like this is the perfect situation to use my new technique again, let's give it a try."

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **Braham fired his Flash Guns at Zoro again but the swordsman quickly ran along the branch he was on to avoid them. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **Braham kept firing and Zoro kept running until he reached the end of the branch and jumped off. **SKISH! **

**TMP! Splurt! **Blood squirted out of the bullet hole in Zoro's leg as he dropped over twenty feet from the tree branch and landed on the ground.

"_UUGGHH!" _Zoro bit back a groan and grimaced as pain shot through his leg.

Braham capitalized on Zoro hesitation and rained a barrage of bullets down on him. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

**SKISH! **Zoro lunged to the side and dove into the brush to avoid getting shot again.

"Think you can run away?" Braham questioned.

"_I'm gonna use that old speech again," _Zoro decided as he came out of the brush and called up to Braham. "Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought. These six roots ground us by way of good, evil and peace."

"What are you talking about?" Braham demanded.

"And of course," Zoro continued his speech as if Braham hadn't interrupted him, "Each of these can be pure or impure. These are the thirty-six earthly desires. Three times that is one hundred and eight." Zoro turned and held all three of his blades parallel with the ground. "I've got three cannons aimed right at your head. All you have are a couple of guns. In both distance and power my weapons are superior. You've done very well, but you're still gonna die."

**Click! **Braham pushed down on his Milky Dial and lobbed it down at Zoro. **FWOOOSH! **The dial produced another bridge of cloud that went from the Milky Road that Braham was standing on to the ground in front of Zoro.

**SHOOOM! **Braham sped down the bridge on his skis.

"What cannons?" Braham scoffed. "You're out of your mind! All I see are three swords."

"Have you ever seen a flying blade attack?" Zoro asked.

"ATTACK THIS!" Braham shouted as he aimed his Flash Guns.

"Three sword style…"

"RAAAH!" Braham roared as he fired all his remaining bullets at Zoro. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **

"…ONE HUNDRED EIGHT CALIBER PHOENIX!" **KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! **Zoro slashed all three of his swords and sent three spiral air blades flying up to meet Braham. **BOOOOOOOM! **The three combined blades blasted Braham back up his bridge, over the Milky Road and into the leafy branches of the gigantic trees overhead. **Kresh-kresh-kresh-kresh! **

Braham nearly reached the top of the gargantuan tree before he fell… all the way back down. **KER-RASH! **Braham landed in a bloody heap on the far side of the clearing.

Zoro sheathed his swords and stood over him as the victor.

"That must've hurt," Zoro remarked as he picked his backpack up and put it back on. "Nothing personal, being natural enemies and all, but you're in the dirt because I hate being told what to do. No other reason."

With a trickle of blood going down his cheek from one of Braham's final shots, Zoro walked out of the clearing. "I'll survive. You watch."

**-x-**

"BAAAH! BAAAH! RUUUUUN!" one of Eneru's warriors screamed as he and three others sped frantically through the tree tops. "HE'S TURNED FUZA AGAINST US!"

"CAAAWWW!" Fuza crowed and unleashed a torrent of flames after its three former allies. **FWOOOOM!**

**SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! **The warriors leapt upward on their dial-powered skis and barely managed to avoid becoming roasted goats.

"You missed bird!" Kiko shouted from on Fuza's back. "NOW IT'S MY TURN!" **Wha-whak! **Kiko drove his elbows into his sides and ignited the two Flame Dials that were affixed to them. **FWOOOOOSH! **The flames shot through the tubes on his arms and came out in the form of four blades, three on the left arm and one on the right.

**FWOOOOOOOM! **Kiko snapped his arms downward and whipped the four fleeing warriors with his four blades and dove them all down into the ground. **KRASH-KRASH-KRASH-KRASH!**

"HOOOOOOOO!" Kiko howled. "THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE, STUPID BIRD!"

"GRAAAW!" Fuza shrieked in response.

"Don't talk back to me!" Kiko snarled as he yanked back on the feathers coming out of Fuza's neck, "I'm the one calling the shots now! KEEP GOING! TO GOD'S SHRINE!"

**-x-**

Gedatsu stood amidst some ruins and was holding up a Shandian by the head. Gedatsu let go and the Shandian dropped to the ground unconscious. **Fwump!**

"Hmph," Gedatsu grunted as he tried and failed to cross his arms.

"**Where am I?" **came a timid and terrified voice. Gedatsu turned in time to see Chopper wander out of the trees in his Brain Point form. "The trees are so tall I lost all sense of direction… I can't even see the sun… heeeellp… Big Brother… Luffy… Zoro… Robin… Please find me! I don't wanna be left on this stinking island just to die and turn to food for gigantic bugs!"

The crying and oblivious reindeer walked right past the Priest.

Gedatsu attempted to call out to Chopper but he was still caught up in his attempts to cross his arms and had forgotten that he couldn't call out to someone when he was chewing on his lip.

"And if I do die will there even be a doctor waiting for me?" Chopper continued to whine as tears and snot streaked down his furry face. "Wait, that doesn't matter, when you're dead you're dead and no doctor can save you. But I don't wanna die! I'm stuck in this awful place thinking about death and doctors and bugs… why can't I think of something else… well… at least I've got my stick!"

Gedatsu continued his pathetic attempts at crossing his arms and continued to chew on his lip and prevented himself from interrupting the reindeer's whiny monologue.

"Wait! Maybe I've already died and gone to heaven!" Chopper exclaimed. He opened his eye and finally took in his surroundings. Of course, by this point he was well passed Gedatsu and failed to notice him. "Hey, these look like ruins! We were supposed to meet at ruins! Teeheehee! Maybe the others are already here waiting for me! And maybe I was so fast that I beat them! I'm so impressed with my navigational skills! They led me to just the right place! This is awesome!"

Chopper still failed to realize that 'just the right place' was right passed one of God's Priests.

And Gedatsu still failed to announce his presence to the oblivious reindeer.

"TEEHEEHEE!" Chopper laughed, "I'm right! I'm the first one here!"

"_A raccoon-dog?" _Gedatsu tried to say out loud but messed up and just ended up thinking it.

**-x-**

**BOOOM! **Wyper fired his cannon at Luffy.

"GUUM… GUUM… BAAALLOOON!" **FWOOSH! **Luffy inflated himself and the cannonball sank into his stomach and was prompted launched back the way it came. **BOING!**

**SHOOM! **The cannonball whizzed right by Wyper's head and exploded on a tree behind him. **KA-BOOOOOM!**

"You'll never be able to hurt me with that thing!" Luffy taunted the leader of the Shandians as he shrunk back down to his normal size.

Wyper ignored Luffy's taunt and fired his cannon another two times. **BOOOM! BOOOM!**

"GUUUM… GUUUM… BAAAALLOOOON!" **FWOOOSH! **Luffy swelled up again and once again deflected Wyper's cannonballs. **BOING! BOING! **

The cannonballs smashed into trees and exploded. **KA-BOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

Usopp and Nami stared at the front of the Going Merry in horror.

"RAAAAH!" Sanji roared and swung his leg. "YOU BASTARD!" **SWISH!**

**BA-ZOOOOOOM! **Light flashed on the front of the Going Merry. One second, Sanji in the middle of an attack, the next, he was on the ground charred and covered in burns. **FWUMP!**

"SANJI!" Nami and Usopp shrieked in horror.

"Sanji… get up please…" Usopp pleaded as he shook the unconscious cook.

"PIIIEE!" Pierre cried and dove back onto the main deck in terror.

"This is really bad!" Usopp exclaimed, "Sanji! I… I can't even hear his heartbeat!"

"IT CAN'T BE!" Nami shouted.

"…" Gan Fall silently glared at the figure across the front deck from him.

Eneru had found the Going Merry.

"Yahahaha!" Eneru laughed as he surveyed the two scarred Straw Hats as they tended to the scarred Straw Hat. "What a foolishly angry man. If I had come here today and brought with Me pain and destruction that would have been the first thing you felt."

"Then why are you here, Eneru?" Gan Fall growled.

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed again, "I was expecting a warmer 'hello'. It has been six years now, My former god, Gan Fall. Yahahahahahaha!"

Eneru had entered the Survival Game. And his sights were currently set on the Straw Hats.

**-x-**

**Pirate Luffy vs. Warrior Wyper:**

**-x-**

"AAAAAAAH-HAAAAAAA-HAAAAAA!" Usopp screamed on board the Going Merry as he stared down at the charred, unmoving form of Sanji. He looked up at Eneru with tears in his eyes and yelled at him, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? YOU KILLED OUR SANJI!" Usopp shook Sanji's seemingly lifeless body. "It's no use… I wish Chopper were here he'd know what to do. Sanji! SANJI! IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY!"

"Hold on Usopp!" Nami cut in, "You're checking his right side for a heartbeat! The left side is where his heart is!"

Usopp sweat-dropped and slid his hand to the side. It took him a couple second to find the comforting beat of the cook's heart. "HE'S ALIVE! Back from the dead! I can't believe it!"

"But he's still not well," Nami pointed out, "Just look at him."

"NOOOO!" Usopp shouted, "YOU CAN'T DIE AGAIN! I NEED YOU HERE!"

Gan Fall cast a quick glance at his pirate friends then turned and glared at Eneru.

"Eneru…" he growled.

"There's no reason for you to be so resentful," Eneru said. "It's spoiling our beautiful reunion, don't you think? It would serve us both well if you cheered up, just a little, eh Gan Fall? Yahahaha!"

Usopp heard Eneru laughing and wasn't going to stand for it. He shot up and shouted at the God. "HEY! YOU!" The effect was lost due to the fact that Usopp's entire body was shaking. "I don't know what you did to him! But you'd better not try anymore monkey-business! Or else my eight thousand followers will rip you to shreds!" Eneru stared silently and was unimpressed by Usopp's bravado. "I'll tell you what, I'll forgive you and call off my hordes of angry followers if you just leave… right now! How's that? Sound good? This is your final warning!"

**SKISH!**

"AH!" Nami yelped when Eneru leapt off of the front railing so fast that it looked like he just disappeared. Gan Fall tensed while Usopp left standing in the middle of the front deck alone.

"Huh?" Usopp gasped. "He left…"

**BA-ZZOOOOOTTT! **Eneru appeared in front of Usopp and jabbed him with a finger which caused electricity to course through the sniper's body and char him from within. Smoke wafted off of Usopp's body as he fell on top of Sanji's. **Fwump!**

"EEEEK!" Nami shrieked.

"DAMN YOU!" Gan Fall yelled.

**Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! **Electricity danced around Eneru's still-extended finger as he stood over the two fallen Straw Hats.

"You will stay quiet," Eneru warned Nami. "Or join your friends. Am I being clear?"

Terrified by the brief display of power, Nami clamped her hands over her mouth so she wouldn't even make in involuntary sound. She managed to nod to show she understood.

"Very good," Eneru remarked.

"_Who is this guy?" _Nami thought to herself. _"How did he do that?"_

"What do you want, Eneru?" Gan Fall questioned. "What wicked reason could you possibly have for coming aboard."

"During the six years I've been on this island, I've kept your former subordinates very busy," Eneru informed him. "They've been slaving away for Me all these long years and hardly had a minute to rest."

"My warriors have been reduced to slaves?" Gan Fall repeated in disgust.

"They are quite extraordinary," Eneru told him, "Truly they are of great talent. But it appears as though their years of hard labor are over. You see, this island is no longer useful to Me. Consequently, I no longer require the services of your former warriors, perhaps you suspect that I have sinister motives in coming here. But I have simply come to bid you farewell. That is all. I will say this, sometimes I envy the blissful, innocent stupidity of Skypeia's people. The fools here can only see this island here as nothing more than a clump of Vearth in the sky."

"What are you talking about?" Gan Fall demanded.

"Stupid old man," Eneru replied, "All these years you never guessed the true reason why we seized this island, the reason that the Blue Sea Flies are here meddling in Sky Island's affairs, and the reason the Shandians fight so bravely to return to their sacred homeland. You see, all this is happening for one purpose and one alone, there is something here that they all seek, the great treasures of Shandora the Legendary City of Gold that prospered on the Blue Sea so many years ago. Gold is what brings us all here."

"What is 'gold'?" Gan Fall asked. "And why is it so important to them?"

"YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "Your ignorance never ceases to amaze! The only people in the world who know nothing of gold or its value, live in the midst of untold fortune. You didn't even know what the gold was, so how could you have won this game? Interestingly enough, our game of survival is in its final play. Whoever wins, gets the gold. Yahahahahaha!" Eneru walked over to the railing and climbed onto it so he was looking off the side of the ship and facing away from Gan Fall and Nami. "Can you hear it now? The sounds of our lively little competition?"

**BOOOM! BOOOM! BANG! BANG! "AAAAAHH!" KA-BOOOM!**

The distant sounds of explosions and combat drifted through the trees and reached the Merry.

"As a matter of fact, I'm a contestant myself," Eneru announced. "So I must be off."

"Wait Eneru!" Gan Fall called after him. "My warriors! Are you going to set them free?"

Eneru smirked. "God only knows," Eneru replied. "And He's not telling." **FWASH! **There was a flash of bright light and Eneru was gone in an instant.

"ENERU WAIT!" Gan Fall shouted after him. But the God was already long gone.

Nami finally took her hands off of her mouth. "He disappeared…" she whispered.

**Koff! **A faint cough drew her attention.

"USOPP!" Nami exclaimed. "YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!"

Nami and Gan Fall were so busy looking over Usopp and Sanji that they didn't notice the Surprise Cloud that drifted by overhead. Nor did they notice the two people that were on it until they jumped off and landed on the railing of the Going Merry. **Tmp! Tmp!**

"**HOH-HOH-HOO!" **the first man let out a laugh that was eerily similar to Satori's.

"**HOH-HOH-HOO!" **the second man let out the same laugh.

**-x-**

**KA-BOOOM!** Once again, Wyper fired his cannon.

"GUUUM… GUUUM… BAALLOOOON!" Luffy jumped up off of the root he was standing on and once again inflated himself. **FWOOM!**

**BOING! **And once again, Luffy's rubber body reflected Wyper's blast back the way it came.

**WZZT!** The cannonball whizzed right by Wyper's head as he glared at Luffy. The cannonball hit a tree behind Wyper and exploded. **KA-BOOOOOM!**

"I can do this all day if you want," Luffy called out to Wyper as he landed on his root. "But you can't win. Rifles and cannons won't leave a scratch on me. I've got a rubber body."

Wyper continued to stare at him. Not sure of what to make of Luffy's 'rubber' body.

"So it would seem," Wyper eventually stated. "Time for a change of tactics." **Ptoi! **Wyper spat out the tobacco he'd been chewing on and popped opened a compartment on the top of his bazooka. He pulled out a new silver round and loaded it into the compartment. **Click! **Wyper flipped the flap to the compartment closed then pumped the barrel of the bazooka once it was loaded. **CHUK! **

**BANG! **Wyper fired his bazooka but instead of an explosion being fired from the barrel a stream of gas burst out and washed passed Luffy.

"WAAH!" Luffy gagged and clamped his hands over his mouth to keep from inhaling the gas. "Koff! Koff! Groooss! What is that smell?"

"This weapon is called the Burn Bazooka," Wyper explained. "By igniting the gas released from the Breath Dial inside, a deadly blue flame is created which will incinerate anything in its path instantly. Let's see if you can bounce this back at me."

**KA-FWOOOOM! **A blast of brilliant blue flames shot out of the barrel of the cannon and flew along the stream of gas towards Luffy.

"YAAH!" Luffy yelped as he lunged out of the way.

The blues flames kept going and blasted straight through the large tree that Luffy had been standing on and then kept going. **BOOOOOOOOM!**

**Fwump! **Luffy's dive brought him down to the ground. He stood up and looked up at the tree he'd been standing on and saw the massive hole that had been blasted through its trunk.

"_What the heck is that thing?" _Luffy wondered. _"It burned right through that tree!" _Luffy glanced back at his opponent and saw the Wyper had vanished. "Where'd he go? He disappeared?"

**SHOOOM! **Wyper flew at Luffy from behind on his dial-powered skis and swung his leg around at Luffy's head. **SWISH! **Luffy only barely managed to duck the dial-powered kick.

**SKISH! **Luffy continued his backflip and launched himself up into the air then swung his fist at Wyper. "GUUM… GUUUM… PIIISTOOOOL!" **WHOOOM! **Luffy shot his fist out at Wyper's face but the Shandian Warrior managed to weave out of the way. **WOOSH!**

**SKISH! **Wyper launched himself away from Luffy while at the same time Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed a tree and shot to the other side of the clearing. **SHOOM! **But Luffy kept going and swung around the tree trunk and launched himself back at Wyper. **WHING!**

"GUUUM… GUUUM… STAAMP!" Luffy shot his foot out at Wyper as he flew through the air. **WHAK! **Wyper raised his leg and caught Luffy's extended leg on the bottom of his ski. **SHOOM! **But Luffy kept flying at Wyper and lashed out with his leg. "SICKLE!" **WOOSH!**

Luffy flew by Wyper then touched down on the ground and skidded to a stop. **Skiiissshhhh…**

"GUUUM… GUUUM… GATLING!" **SHOOM! **Luffy shot out a barrage of fast punches which Wyper managed to avoid or deflect with the barrel of his bazooka. **WOOSH! WOOSH! WHUP! WHUP!**

**SKISH!** Wyper launched himself passed Luffy then turned and fired his Burn Bazoka at him. **BANG!** The face flew out of the barrel into Luffy's face and then ignited. **KA-FWOOOOOM!**

**SHOOM! **Luffy reacted instantly and shot his arm up and used an overhead branch to pull himself to safety. "That was close!" Luffy exclaimed. **SHOOM! **Luffy flew up over the branch he'd grabbed onto and spun around in midair so he was staring down at Wyper. "GUUUM… GUUUM… SPEEEEAAAAAR!" **WHOOOM! **Luffy shot both of his legs down at Wyper who quickly leapt out of the way. **BOOOM! **Luffy's legs slammed into the empty ground as Wyper shot off and skied up a branch. **SHOOOM!**

Luffy dropped downward after his latest attack then Wyper launched himself off of a giant tree and dropped down after him. **Whup! **Wyper grabbed Luffy in midair and flipped end-over-end then threw Luffy down on the ground below him. **WHUMP! **Luffy landed on his back while Wyper aimed his Burn Bazooka and fired. **BANG! KA-FWOOOOOM! **The blast of blue flames shot down out of the sky at Luffy but he quickly stretched his arms to the side and grabbed onto a tree. **SHOOM! **Luffy stretched himself out of the way as the blue flames lowed into the ground where he'd just been lying. **BOOOOOOOM!**

**SKISH! **Luffy launched himself off of the tree at Wyper. "So you like bazookas, huh?" Luffy taunted. "GET A LOAD OF THIS!"

**SHOOM! **Wyper launched himself at Luffy. "NOW YOU DIE!" he yelled.

"GUUUM… GUUUM… " Luffy stretched his arms out behind him.

"BUUUURN…" **BANG! **Wyper fired the gas from his bazooka then lowered his orange shield.

"**BAAAAZOOOOKAAAAAA!" **They both roared.

**KA-FWOOOOOM! WHOOOOOM!**

Wyper's blue flames slammed into Luffy while Luffy's fists smashed through Wyper's shield and slammed into him. Both men were blasted backwards through the huge forest.

**FWUMP! **Wyper hit the ground then slowly sat up and slammed his bazooka down beside him.

"Strrraaaww Haaat…" Wyper growled.

**FWUMP! **Luffy landed on his back then flipped himself forward so he was sitting..

"That bastard's dead!" Luffy snapped.

**-x-**

**Ruins:**

**-x-**

Wyper stood up and took a couple seconds to catch his breath as he stared through the trees in search of any sign of Luffy.

"WHERE ARE YOU STRAW HAT?" Wyper yelled. "I'LL FIND YOU! I KNOW YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!"

"YEAH!" Luffy shouted back as he stood up too. "AND I PLAN ON STAYING THAT WAY!"

**CLICK! **Wyper readied his Burn Bazooka at the sound of Luffy's shout.

Luffy started to make his way back towards Wyper but didn't notice something that was snaking through the giant trees behind him.** KRESH! HIIISSSSS!**

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy turned and yelped before everything went dark.

**KRASH!** Wyper's attention was drawn to Luffy's location when something large slammed into the ground.

"WWAAAAAHHHHH!" Luffy screamed as he fell, spinning down a long, dark tunnel. "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE? WAAAAAAHHH!"

**KREEEESSSSHH… **Wyper squinted as the watched a long, massive body slither through the trees ahead of him. "What is that?" he wondered. "Where could that kid have run off to?"

**KA-BOOOOM! **A loud explosion broke out and reminded Wyper that the Blue Sea Dweller he'd been fighting was only a momentary distraction from the war he was leading the Shandians in against Eneru and his forces.

"Strange," Wyper muttered, "But no matter. I shouldn't be wasting my energy on him, anyhow. I have a more important battle." Wyper glanced down at the deadly Reject Dial what was strapped to the palm of his right hand underneath the white bandages that went all the way up his arm. "All of my strength needs to be saved if I'm going to win my fight with Eneru. And I'm certain, if I use the Reject Dial one more time, my body will be reduced to pile of ashes. It's the end of the line. Eneru."

**-x-**

**KA-BOOOOM! **An explosion rang out in the midst of a bunch of ruins as the Shandian Genbo faced off against a large group of fifteen Divine Warriors… but was actually winning.

"So have you had enough yet?" Genbo taunted the fallen group of Eneru's warriors.

"Don't give up now!" one of the warriors urged the others as they forced themselves back up to their feet. "We must not let him get any further!"

"Shut up!" Genbo snapped. "I'm after Eneru's head! MAAKEEE WAAAYYY!" **KA-BOOOM! **Genbo fired his bazooka at the warriors and his large cannonball tore through their ranks and dropped nearly half of them. **KA-BOOOOOM! **Genbo fired again and blasted through the remaining warriors before it embedded in the trunk of a large tree. The large group of fifteen warriors was left lying at Genbo's feet.

"Hmph," Genbo grunted, "These weaklings aren't worth my time."

**TMP! TMP! **A large mountain of a man came out from behind the even larger stone ruins. Commander Yama had entered the battle.

"What exquisite ammunition you have there," Yama remarked, "Matter that dense does not usually exist here in the sky. The earth mineral called 'iron', isn't it?" Genbo tensed as the large, imposing form of Yama loomed over him. "You have managed to make quick work of my men, which is a difficult task to say the least. My guess is that you are the Shandian Warrior Genbo."

"Commander Yama," Genbo growled as he readied himself for another battle. He knew that this massive man wasn't going to go down as easily has his men had. "Good guess. NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!" **KA-BOOOOM! **

The iron cannonball whizzed through the air towards Yama. **SKISH! **The huge man showed surprising agility when he flipped in midair and caught the cannonball between his feet. **WHAP! **Yama landed and placed the cannonball down on the ground, then he pulled back his leg and punted it back towards Genbo. **THWHAM! **

**BOOOM! **Genbo was caught off guard when his own cannonball slammed into his large belly and blasted him backwards into a tree. **KRASH! **"AUUUGGHHH!" the warrior groaned as he dropped to the ground.

"Hmph," Yama grunted.

"Uugghh… no…" Genbo moaned as he forced his wounded body up off of the ground and shakily got to his feet. "Uuugghhh… I refuse to die! Uuummmm… Not like this! Not here!"

"Ah, still alive I see," Yama noted, "You _are _tough. Very well, as a show of respect for your warrior spirit, I will end your suffering with my secret technique.

**FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!** The huge man again displayed his surprising agility as he launched himself towards Genbo with a series of flips then launched himself up into the air. **SHOOM! **

Yama pulled out a string of ten Ax Dials and fired them off at Genbo. "TEN AX ATTACK!"

"DAMN YOU, YAMA!" Genbo bellowed. **SLISH-SLISH-SLISH-SLISH-SLISH! **The concentrated impact of the ten Ax Dials riddled Genbo's broad body with bloody x-marks.

"AX MOUNTAIN!" Yama shouted as his even large body slammed into Genbo and smashed him back into the tree. **WHAAAM!**

**SKISH! **Yama leapt backwards and allowed Genbo's body to slid down from the tree where it left behind a series of deep scratches from Yama's Ax Dials that resembled a chain link fence. **FWUMP!** Genbo's body hit the ground and laid still.

"So very close, yet so very far away," Yama stated before he threw his arms up and cried out in victory. "YAAAAAA HAAAHAAAHAAA!"

**-x-**

"**YAAAAAA HAAAHAAAHAAA!" **

"Did you hear that?" Ricky asked as he and Robin trekked through a small patch of Sea Clouds. Robin had removed her shoes and was making notes in her journal so she could keep track of what she had managed to translate in the ruins that they had found. As a result, she was lost in her own world of archeology and history and didn't respond to Ricky's question. "The battles might be getting closer…"

"A memorial to the city itself…" Robin noted while she scanned the slanted, stone block that they were now faced with. It had faces carved into the top and symbols in between them and what looked like a large map. "Its descendants built it after the great city fell, Shandora… that was the name of this ancient place." Robin traced her fingers along one of the symbols. "402SE… this was at its peak eleven hundred years ago… but then it toppled… around eight hundred years ago."

**FWAP! FWAP! **Ricky tensed as nearby birds shot from their perches and flew up into the sky.

"Robin…" Ricky called out to his companion while he turned and scanned the surrounding area for any signs of what had disturbed the birds. "I don't think we're alone here…"

Robin was too caught up with her own discover to notice. "That time frame almost perfectly matches the hundred years of history that vanished from the world. Perhaps this island holds the key… the key to a long, forgotten history that was veiled from the world below."

Ricky spotted movement out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned so he was back-to-back with Robin. He frowned when a large figure made its way into the clearing.

"This is a complete map of Shandora," Robin realized as she attempted to sketch the map from the monument in her journal. "Perhaps I'll learn more about the Void Century is I go to the center of the city…"

**Crunch! **A large foot crushed a twig and Robin's attention was finally torn from the monument and the map she'd just drawn into her journal. Robin whipped around and found Ricky standing right in front of her while he stared down a large mountain of a man.

"Glad you could join us," Ricky remarked, "It seems that we have company."

"I know who you are," Yama announced, "You're that Blue Sea Dweller that has caught God Eneru's interest. You're the one who defeated Shura."

"Well, I'm afraid you have me at a loss," Ricky replied, "Because I don't know who you are."

"My name is Yama," Yama told him, "I'm the Commander of Eneru's Warriors. I should be thanking you. Now that you've disgraced Shura, and your crew killed Satori, Eneru will need a new Priest and I'm the prime candidate."

"Oh, you're welcome then," Ricky said.

"And what exactly do you want with us, Commander Yama?" Robin inquired.

"I don't want to talk," Yama stated. "Once I defeat you and your pretty friend, Eneru will have no choice but to make me the commander of His remaining Priests."

"I've always considered myself more roguishly handsome than pretty," Ricky remarked.

"Mr. One Eye, I believe he was referring to me," Robin corrected him.

"That's a relief," Ricky commented, "For a second I thought he was coming onto me and I have to tell you, I'm not really into overly-ambitious big fat guys."

"I'm fully aware of what kind of girl you're into, Mr. One Eye," Robin reminded him, "Although, I probably would have preferred it if he _was_ coming onto you."

"WHY YOOUUU!?" Yama roared. "I'LL CRUSH YOU, YOU INSOLENT LITTLE PESTS!"

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" the two Satori sound-alikes crowed as they danced on the front deck of the Going Merry.

"Who are you guys?" Nami asked as she backed away from the dancing duo.

"That's a stupid question!" the one on the right exclaimed.

"We're Deputy Divine Commanders!" the two cried in unison.

"You killed our brother Satori!" the one of the left stated.

"Now you're pay!" the one on the right insisted.

"Brother?" Nami repeated, "What're you talking about? I haven't killed anybody? What do you mean? I haven't killed anybody!"

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" the two laughed.

"Hoo! You can call me Hotori!" the one on the right announced and struck a pose.

"Haa! And you can call me Kotori!" the one of the left chimed in and struck a similar pose.

"And you guys killed our beloved big brother Satori!" the two said as they posed together. "HOH-HOH-HOO!"

"Sorry to burst you bubble, but I don't know you're brother!" Nami protested.

"I believe that Satori was one of the four Priests that served under Eneru," Gan Fall clarified as he stood up beside Nami. "That Lost Forest was once their brother's domain."

"Then… that must be the Priest that Luffy and the guys took out," Nami realized.

"Yes," Gan Fall replied, "It seems they want revenge."

"Haa! See!" Hotori shrieked, "You liars knew who he was this whole time!"

"NOW YOU'RE ALL GONNA PAY!" the two shouted together.

"PIERRE!" Gan Fall called out.

"PIIEE!" Pierre cried out as he picked up Gan Fall lance and tossed it to the Sky Knight.

"We must deal with these two quickly and return to the business at hand," Gan Fall resolved. "We need to find Eneru and rescue my divine warriors before the unthinkable happens!"

Nami glanced down at the charred and motionless bodies of Usopp and Sanji and realized that it came down to her and Gan Fall to defend them. Nami quickly flipped the three blue parts of her ClimaTact off of her waist and slid them together in a staff all in one motion. Nami spun her weapon around her a couple times then stood next to Gan Fall poised for battle.

"Now stand back, young lady," Gan Fall instructed, "I may be injured, but I'd never lose to the likes of those two!"

"No," Nami refused and cast another glance down at Usopp and Sanji. "I won't stand back this time. Cause this time it's my job to protect my Nakama!"

"Very well then," Gan Fall agreed. "First we need to determine which Dials they possess."

Hotori and Kotori locked arms and danced around the deck while loudly chanting, "TIME TO AVENGE OUR BROTHER! TIME TO AVENGE OUR BROTHER! TIME TO AVENGE OUR BROTHER! HOH-HOH-HOO!"

The two Depute Commanders of Eneru's forces may have come to the Going Merry for revenge but they clearly weren't taking this battle as seriously as Nami was.

**-x-**

"Nnnnggghhh… nnnggghhh…" Luffy let out muffled groans as he struggled to pull his head out of the ground. **POP! **His head finally came out and shot up into the air which caused his neck to stretch before it slammed back down on his shoulders. **WHUP!**

"Hey everything stopped," Luffy noted as he sat up and glanced around him and oddly-enough found himself sitting in the middle of a bunch of broken, moss and vine-covered, stone ruins. Luffy spotted a couple pieces of gold and treasures scattered throughout the ruins. Luffy pulled something lumpy out from underneath him and goggled at the fact that it was a human skull… before it crumbled.

Luffy pushed himself back up to his feet and stared around him in wonder, "Where am I?"

**-x-**

"HEEEELLOOOOO!" Chopper called out as he walked through the ruins. "COME ON GUYS! ITS ME! ARE YOU THERE? JUST ANSWER ME, PLEEEAAASEEE!"

"I wonder how long it's going to take the rest of them," Chopper muttered. "This is boring."

"_Where is it?"_ Gedatsu thought to himself as he searched for Chopper with his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Baah!" one of Eneru's warriors suddenly had a face-full of Priest as he found Gedatsu's face pressed against his. We'll call this poor soul Billy the goat warrior.

"Where did it go?" Gedatsu asked.

"Uh… Gedatsu, your eyes are rolled all the way to the back of your head," Billy helpfully informed him. "Honestly, how can you expect to see anything like that?"

"SO CARELESS!" Gedatsu exclaimed.

"Now how's your vision?" Billy asked as he held up the picture that Amazon had taken of the Straw Hats when they were at Heaven's Gate. "Can you see this?" Billy pointed to Chopper in the picture. "Here it is, that puny creature. He's one of those Blue Sea Dwellers."

"Is that right?" Gedatsu questioned. "I just thought it was a raccoon-dog."

"Raccoon-dog?" Billy repeated, "No, he's nothing like a wild animal. See, he walks upright, that is unquestionably a creature that comes from the Blue Sea."

"BIG BROTHER! WHERE'D YOU GO? I WANT TO FIND THE TREASURE TOO!" Chopper called out. "LUUUFFYYY! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING! COME ON! WAKE UP ALREADY ZORO! ROBIIIN! HURRY UP! THIS IS GETTING LAME!"

"Awww…" Chopper whined to himself, "Where is everybody? THIS IS WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO MEET! GUYS! I'M LONELY AND I'M GETTING A LITTLE FREAKED OUT HERE!"

Chopper tensed and suddenly realized that he actually _wasn't _alone. There was someone standing right behind him. Chopper slowly turned around and found Gedatsu looming over him as he struggled to cross his arms properly.

"Where'd you go?" Gedatsu asked out loud with his eyes once again rolled back in his head.

Chopper gaped at the weird man then did what any sensible pers—animal would do in that situation. Poke him with his stick. **Poke! Poke! **Chopper tentatively prodded the side of the non-responsive Priest's face. Gedatsu didn't seem to notice it until it went up his nose. **Slik!**

"GRRR!" Gedatsu growled, which prompted Chopper to scramble away from him and 'hide' behind a ruin. "COME OUT RIGHT NOW!" Gedatsu tried to keep talking but his bit down on his lip which prevented any understandable sounds from coming out. "Mmmhhpphh! Mmpphh! But it was still enough to terrify Chopper.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH! SCARY-CREEPY NOISE-MAN!" Chopper screamed.

**-x-**

Next chapter, Nami and Gan Fall square off against Hotori and Hotori while Ricky and Robin take on Commander Yama and Chopper has to face Sky Boss Gedatsu and the Ordeal of Swamp.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	24. Pirate Chopper versus Priest Gedatsu

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**Pirate Chopper vs. Priest Gedatsu:**

**-x-**

**BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! **Explosions continued to ring through the giant forest of Upper Yard as the war between Eneru's warriors and the Shandians waged on.

Ricky and Robin stood across the clearing from Yama the Commander of Eneru's forces. Robin looked over her shoulder at the tablet behind them that stated that the City of Gold that they had been searching for was just ahead through the forest.

**BOOOM! BOOOM!**

The explosions told Robin how much destruction the war between the Shandian's and Eneru's forces was causing to the giant forest on Upper Yard.

"We need to keep this battle confined to this clearing," Robin whispered to Ricky, "If he ends up in the City of Gold he could end up destroying everything without thinking anything of it."

"Right," Ricky quietly agreed, "He doesn't seem very smart, so let's take him down quickly. You hold him and I'll hit him."

"ENOUGH WHISPERING!" Yama shouted. "I'll finish the two of you off now! RAAAAH!" The huge man displayed his impressive agility and launched himself into the clearing with a series of handsprings. **Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip!**

"Now!" Ricky prompted just as Yama came out of another handspring and his feet touched the ground ten feet away from them.

"Ocho Fleur!" Eight arms grew out of the ground and grabbed Yama's feet.

"WAAAH!" Yama yelped. He was caught off guard and off balance by Robin's sudden display of her Devil Fruit abilities. He flailed his arms around and attempted to stay on his feet.

**SKISH! **Ricky sprang forward and jumped up into the air then lashed out his leg, "Jumping… LANCE KICK!" **THWAK! **Ricky's foot smashed into Yama's face. The huge man was knocked backwards and Robin released her hold on his feet which allow the man to fall over and roll back the way he came in a much less impressive manner from before. **Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! **Yama eventually came to a stop in an undignified heap.

"Why… you…" Yama growled as he rolled over and pushed himself off of the ground.

**-x-**

Chopper stared up at Gedatsu in terror. But Gedatsu seemed to have lost track of him due to the fact that he had rolled his eyes back into his head again. The inept priest cast random unseeing glances around the clearing in an attempt to find his target.

"WHERE DID YOU GO?" Gedatsu demanded.

"GAH!" Chopper yelped.

"_A concealing technique no doubt," _Gedatsu attempted to reason with himself.

"Eh? His eyes are rolled back in his head." Chopper finally realized. "And it's really spooky!"

"Gedatsu!" Billy the helpful divine warrior called out to the priest, "You can't see the enemy with your eyes rolled back like that!"

"GAH! SO CARELESS!" Gedatsu exclaimed.

"_WHAT A DIMWIT!" _Chopper thought to himself.

"An enemy, huh?" Chopper noted, "I get it now. You must be one of Eneru's Priests!"

Gedatsu tried and failed to cross his properly before he responded… in his head. _"Indeed I am. Let me introduce myself. My name is Gedatsu, Priest in the service of the Almighty Eneru. And I command the Upper Yard's Ordeal of the Swamp."_

"Come on, say something you jerk!" Chopper complained.

"Gedatsu!" Billy the helpful goat-warrior called out. "He can't hear you unless you start speaking out loud!"

"SO CARELESS!" Gedatsu exclaimed again.

"YOU DON'T NORMALLY FORGET THAT!" Chopper berated his idiotic opponent.

"Hmph," Gedatsu grunted, then cracked his neck as he got into a fighting stance. "I advise you to watch where you step. This entire area is my territory to control. There are Swamp Clouds all around us and once you find yourself trapped by one there's no hope of escape. The survival rate here is fifty percent! It's almost tragic! ORDEAL OF THE SWAMP!"

"Ordeal of the Swamp?" Chopper repeated.

"Best of luck," Gedatsu said… as he started sinking into one of his own Swamp Clouds.

"HEY YOU'RE SINKING!" Chopper shouted at the Priest who had sunk waist-deep into his own trap.

"FOOL! IT HAS NO EFFECT ON ME!" Gedatsu insisted. "Swamp Cloud… MILKY DIAL!" **FOOOM! **White Cloud shot out of the base of Gedatsu boots and shot him out of the clouds he had been sinking into and up into the air. **SHOOM! **Gedatsu flew high up above the ruins while Chopper was left trying to peer through the thick white fog that the Milky Dials on Gedatsu's feet had left behind.

"OH! NO WAY!" Chopper gasped as Gedatsu rocketed up towards the tops of the giant tree tops that surrounded the ruin-filled clearing that he had been standing in. "He's shooting something out of his feet that makes him fly! THAT'S SO COOL!"

**FSSSHHH! **White cloud sprayed out from Gedatsu's sleeves as he raised his hands up overhead.

"Huh… there's something coming out of his hands…" Chopper observed.

"One stinking raccoon-dog is hardly worth my precious time," Gedatsu stated. "TAKE THIS!" The cloud that had sprayed out of Gedatsu's sleeves had form a small purple-tinted cloud above his head. Gedatsu grabbed the cloud that he had just created and threw it down at Chopper. "SWAMP CLOUD BURGER! A DEADLY SWAMP WITH THE WEIGHT OF A CLOUD! ONCE TOUCHED NOTHING CAN SURVIVE!"

Chopper stared transfixed as the purple-tinted cloud started to fly down at him but then veered off… and flew towards Billy.

"WAIT GEDATSU!" Billy shrieked and waved his arms in alarm. "DON'T AIM IT AT ME! PLEASE STOP!" **SHUNK! **The purple cloud flew down and engulfed Billy's head and shoulders. Billy suddenly found himself unable to breathe inside the cloud and struggled helplessly to push the cloud off of him as he slowly began to choke and run out of breath.

"_He can't escape!"_ Chopper realized as he watched Billy helplessly bat at the cloud that was suffocating him. When Billy hit the cloud his hands sunk into it and left him unable to move it. _"I see, it's a cloud so if you try to lift it your hands will just pass right through it." _**SHUNK! **Billy's efforts finally had an effect and the cloud sank further down his body and now trapped his upper-arms, chest and wings inside it along with his head and shoulders. _"The more you struggle to get free, the deeper you're dragged inside of it!"_ **FWUMP! **Billy grew light headed from the lack of air and fell to the ground. The cloud had now consumed the rest of his arms as well as his stomach and waist. His legs stuck out of the cloud and kicked frantically for a moment before they dropped to the ground and laid still. **TMP!**

"_I have to help him!" _Chopper decided as he watched Billy suffocate on the cloud.

"THERE YOU ARE, RACCOON-DOG!" Gedatsu shouted from overhead. **FSSSHH! **Purple cloud sprayed out of Gedatsu's sleeves and created another purple-tinted cloud over his head. "SWAMP CLOUD BURGER!"

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed as Gedatsu threw the cloud at him. The reindeer scampered out of the way and the cloud hit the spot where he'd just been standing. "IF ONE OF THOSE THINGS HITS ME I'LL BE DEAD FOR SURE!" Chopper ran away across the clearing towards the prone form of Billy and grabbed his ankles above his feet. "IF YOU'RE STILL ALIVE, HANG ON!" Since Chopper had grabbed onto something solid – Billy's ankles – and Billy on the ground, that gave the reindeer the leverage he needed to pull the unconscious goat warrior out of the purple-tinted cloud that had suffocated him.

"HEY!" Chopper called out to Billy but received no response. He rolled Billy over onto his back then transformed into his hulky Heavy Point form and raised his burly arms over his head. "YOU'VE GOTTA BREATHE!" **WHAM! **Chopper slammed his fists down onto Billy's chest which forcibly expelled the cloud that Billy had swallowed. "DON'T DIIIEEE!" **WHAM! **Chopper slammed his fists down onto Billy's chest a second time. Billy spat out more cloud and started coughing.

"KOFF! KOFF!" Billy wheezed.

"Oh good, you're alive!" Chopper cheered, happy to see Billy breathing again.

"Uugghh… thank you," Billy groaned as he forced himself to sit up. "You saved my life…"

**TMP! **Gedatsu landed on a chunk of stone ruin nearby. "Hah, being saved by the enemy," the Priest scoffed. "Pathetic."

"Uh oh!" Chopper called out in alarm.

"And you call yourself one of Eneru's warriors?" Gedatsu berated Billy as he unsuccessfully tried to cross his arms again. "You're not worthy of such a title!"

"HOW DARE YOU GEDATSU!" Billy yelled at him. "I WAS ONLY SAVED BY THE ENEMY BECAUSE _YOU _TRIED TO KILL ME! YOU'RE GONNA PAY! I'LL NEVER SERVE YOU AGAIN!"

"Hmph," Gedatsu grunted, he hardly considered Billy a threat.

Billy stood up and extended his arm with his Ax Dial poised for attack. "Watch as my Ax Dial drains the life from you just like you tried to do to me!"

"YEAH!" Chopper chimed in as he got in a fighting stance of his own. Now that he had someone on his side, he felt a lot braver. "We'll team up and together we'll defeat him! WAAAH! BRING IT ON! WE'RE NOT SCARED OF YOU!"

"Hmph, hahahaha," Gedatsu grunted then chuckled. "Very well, this one is called my Jet Dial."

**WHAM! **Gedatsu finally flew forward and his fist collided with Billy face. Billy went flying and smashed through a stone ruin. **KRASH! **Billy hit the ground and laid still. Despite all his incompetence, Gedatsu had managed to dispose of him in a matter of seconds. That showed the difference of strength between one of Eneru's regular warriors and one of Eneru's Priests.

"Ah... ah… ah…" Chopper gaped in shock as his new friend was disposed of so suddenly. But then Chopper realized that he had something to be even more scared about. GEDATSU WAS STANDING RIGHT BESIDE HIM! Billy had been standing next to Chopper but in an instant Gedatsu had shot forward and took out Billy. The Priest was left standing where Billy once was.

"The lethal Jet Dial," Gedatsu explained what he'd just done to the terrified reindeer next to him. "My punch is accelerated with it which allows me to destroy an enemy before he even knows the fight has begun." Gedatsu turned around and showed Chopper the smoking hole on his purple right sleeve. The smoke came from a dial that had been affixed to Gedatsu's elbow. "The only real defect is that it also destroys my clothes."

"_This… is a Priest…"_ Chopper whimpered to himself. When he was serious like this, Gedatsu was terrifying. If he was like this all the time he'd be a lot more competent and his Ordeal of Swamp would have a five percent survival rate but because of his own incompetence the survival rate was a much more comfortable fifty percent. _"If I don't get out of here right now I'll end up like that guy…"_

Gedatsu turned to face Chopper and Chopper turned… AND RAN!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Chopper screamed as he ran away from the suddenly much scarier Priest. _"I've gotta keep my feet off the clouds!" _Chopper thought to himself as he ran in a zigzag pattern through the ruins. _"Those Swamp Tramp things are everywhere! If I run on top of the ruins only, I can make it back to the forest and solid ground!"_

"Hmph," Gedatsu grunted attempted to cross his arms and he blocked Chopper's path. "And just where do you think you're running off too, raccoon?" Chopper skidded to a stop and glared at the Priest. "Here's another Jet Punch!"

While Gedatsu wasted time when he declared his attack, Chopper fished a Rumble Ball out of his pocket and tossed it into his mouth. "Rumble!" **CHOMP! **Chopper bit down on the ball.

**SHOOOM! **Gedatsu surged towards Chopper with fist extended.

"JUMPING POINT!" Chopper transformed into his tall and thin Jumping Point form then launched himself up into the air right before Gedatsu reached him. **SHOOOM! SWOOOSH!**

Gedatsu's fist went through empty air while Chopper's jump caused him to fly up overhead to a height that matched Gedatsu when he had flown with his Milky Dials before. Speaking of Gedatsu's Milky Dials, Gedatsu glanced up after Chopper then activated his Milky Dials. **SHOOOM! **Gedatsu flew up into the air after Chopper.

"_Rumble Balls last for three minutes," _Chopper reminded himself, _"If I don't escape within that time then I __**will **__be killed!"_

"**So, you have Zoan-type Powers!" **came an unwelcomed voice. Chopper turned and found Gedatsu next to him as the two of them floated high up above the ruin-filed clearing. "Too bad!"

"AAAAH!" Chopper yelped in alarm.

"How about another one?" Gedatsu taunted, "Jet Punch!"

"WAAH! HEAVY POINT!" Chopper transformed from his skinny Jumping Point form to his big, bulky Heavy Point form. The extra weight and muscle mass allowed Chopper to drop out of the way of Gedatsu's punch. **SWOOOSH! **

Gedatsu glared down at Chopper as he fell towards the ground. "SWAMP CLOUD BURGER!" Gedatsu quickly created another purple-tinted cloud and threw it down after Chopper.

"That again? GUARD POINT!" Chopper's body shrunk and his fur started to grow as he transformed from his Heavy Point form to the big ball of fur that was his Guard Point form. **BOING! **Gedatsu's Swamp Cloud bounced off of Chopper as he continued his course towards the ground.

"Why that insolent little…" Gedatsu growled and leaned forward then activated his Milky Dials. **SHOOOM! **Gedatsu flew down after Chopper.

"BRAIN POINT!" The fur disappeared as Chopper reverted back to his normal human-reindeer hybrid form. He turned around in midair and held his hooves together in front of his face. "RUMBLE SCOPE!" Chopper stared through his hooves as he scanned Gedatsu and attempted to find his weak spot. "A weak point… he's got to have a weak point… Anything will do, I need to find a weakness and escape!"

"JET PUNCH!" Gedatsu shot down towards Chopper for another super-fast punch. "Contact!" **WHAM! **This time, Chopper had no time to dodge out of the way and Gedatsu's fist smashed into his face. Chopper flew the rest of the way down to the ground and smashed through the stone ruins that were in his path. **KROOOM!**

"Mmmm…" Gedatsu attempted to make some witty battle banter but ended up just chewing on his lip instead.

"Ughh…" Chopper groaned as he laid in the middle of the rubble in his Guard Point form. His thick fur had absorbed a lot of the damage from when he'd smashed through the ruins but he'd still felt the impact of Gedatsu's Jet Punch._ "Even with my guard up… its useless…"_

**-x-**

**Ordeal of Swamp:**

**-x-**

"Heads up!" Ricky called out as Yama leapt towards them.

"STOMACH MOUNTAIN!" Yama roared.

**SKISH! **Ricky dove the side but Robin stayed where she was. There was a precious artifact behind her that she wouldn't allow to be destroyed.

"Doce Fleur… WEB!" Twelve arms grew out of Robin's body and reached out together to catch Yama's incoming attack. **WHAM! **Yama dropped on Robin for a huge body splash. Yama's large size made him too big for Robin to catch and he overpowered her defenses and smashed her back into the stone tablet she was trying to protect. **KRESH!**

"Robin!" Ricky exclaimed from where he was crouched after his dive. Yama's attack had only taken a couple of seconds, he hadn't expected Robin to try and take the attack when she could have easily avoided it.

**Skiisshh… **Ricky slid towards Yama and swung his legs around at Yama's feet, "Quarterstaff SWEEP!" **FWUMP! **Yama once again showed his surprising agility when he flipped backwards over Ricky's foot and then did another two flips to create some space between them.

Ricky stood up and pulled Robin out of the Robin-shaped indent she'd made in the tablet.

Robin dropped to her knees and glared at Yama. "You big oaf! Can't you see that you're destroying valuable artifacts?"

"Hahaha!" Yama chortled in response, "You should probably concern yourself with preserving your own life, instead of the crumbing heap of rubble!"

Ricky turned around and stood in front of Robin, "With that attitude you should probably think about preserving yours," he stated. "Now you've just pissed off a trained assassin."

**-x-**

"Hmph," Luffy grunted as jumped down from a ledge in the long dark, ruin-filled tunnel that found himself in. "It seems like this cave goes on forever. No matter how far I walk, I can't seem to find a way out." Clearly, Luffy had forgotten that the reason his was in this 'cave' was because he'd been swallowed by a giant snake. "I wonder how the others are doing. I hope they don't go to the City of Gold without me."

**-x-**

**WHAM! KRASH! **Chopper laid on the ground in his Jump Point form. He'd just taken another one of Gedatsu's Jet Punches and was now covered in bruises and wounds that he got when he smashed through another part of the ruins.

But Chopper's efforts hadn't been for nothing. "His feet… That's the… weak spot…"

"WALK POINT!" Chopper transformed into his reindeer form and used his four legs to push himself up to his feet. The reindeer's red blood dripped onto the white cloud as he struggled just to stand. _"Can I escape? I can't even see straight…"_

"Still think you can win?" Gedatsu taunted from on top of a large piece of ruin as Chopper staggered towards him.

"_My legs are shaky at best," _Chopper continued to note his injuries. _"The Rumble Ball is about to wear off…" _Chopper reached the ruin that Gedatsu was on and collapsed at the bottom of it.

"Hmph," Gedatsu grunted as he watched the reindeer struggle to stay conscious.

Chopper vision was blurry as he stared up at the dark form that was perched on top of the ruin. Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point form and began to slowly climb up towards Gedatsu.

Gedatsu wasn't sure what to make of Chopper's efforts so he just stood and watched as Chopper finally reached the top of the ruin where he was.

"_Alright, it's time to stop running," _Chopper resolved. **WHAP!** Chopper reached out and grabbed onto Gedatsu's ankle. _"You can beat him!"_

"Grrr…" Gedatsu growled as he struggled to free himself from Chopper's grip. "What do you think you're doing?" Chopper pulled himself the rest of the way onto the ruin and grabbed used his other hand to grab onto the same ankle. **WHUP! **Gedatsu couldn't pull his leg free from Chopper's two-handed grip so he lashed out his leg and kicked him in the face. **THWAK! **Chopper fell from the top of ruin and crashed down to the ground again.

"SWAMP CLOUD BURGER!" Gedatsu shouted as he raised his arms over his head and made another purple-tinted cloud.

"_I'm always the first to run away," _Chopper thought to himself, _"So everyone thinks that they have to protect me. That's why they can't rely on me." _Dr. Hiriluk's cherry blossom pirate flag flashed through Chopper's mind. It meant that nothing was impossible. _"I'm going to raise a pirate flag right here."_

**WHOOM! **Gedatsu threw his Swamp Cloud down at Chopper.

**SHOOM! **Chopper transformed into his Jumping Point form and shot up into the air to avoid it.

"Don't you know when you've lost?" Gedatsu called up to the flying reindeer. "Even the air is my territory to control! You can't escape!"

"_Come on…"_ Chopper urged the Priest to fall for his trap.

**SHOOOM! **Gedatsu activated his Milky Dial and flew up after Chopper.

**WHOOSH! **"WAAAH!" Gedatsu yelped as he suddenly lost control and spun around in circles in the air. Gedatsu glanced down at his feet and discovered the reason for his bad flying. He only had one shoe! "OH NO! HE TOOK IT OFF! THE RACCOON-DOG TOOK MY SHOE!" Chopper had pulled the Priest's shoe off his foot when he grabbed his ankle earlier.

Gedatsu struggled to control his single Milky Dial and eventually managed to position himself directly below Chopper.

"I'm a monster…" Chopper called out as he transformed into his muscular Heavy Point form, "I'M STOOOOOONNNGGG!"

"Hmph," Gedatsu scoffed, "The weakest beast roars the loudest! JET PUNCH!" **SWIIISHH! **Chopper jerked his head to the side as Gedatsu's fist flew passed his face. _"I let myself get carried away and almost lost control of my Mantra."_

"_He only grazed me," _Chopper noted. _"That was close."_ "ARM POINT!" The bulky body of Chopper's Heavy Point form slimmed down as all the muscles went into his arms which doubled in size and became even bulkier. _"I'm alive! My turn!"_ Chopper brought his hooves together at his side then lashed both of his huge arms out at Gedatsu. "CLOOOVEEEN CROOOSSSS!" **KER-WHAM! **Chopper's iron-like hooves smashed into Gedatsu's chest with all of his monster strength behind them.

"UUUGGHHH!" Gedatsu groaned as he flipped over in the air and was left with a pink X-shaped wound on his chest where Chopper had struck him.

At that second, the Rumble Ball gave out and Chopper shrunk back down into tiny hybrid form and screamed as he fell towards the ground. "WAAAAHHHH!" But Chopper managed to flip over in the air and landed on a ruin. **TMP! **"FINALLY!" Chopper shouted. "I'M ONE OF THE PIRATES TOO!"

**SHUNK! **Gedatsu fell out of the sky behind him and his top half sunk into the clouds.

Chopper turned and stared at Gedatsu's legs, "It looks like he fell right into a Swamp Cloud," Chopper noted. "Now you just stay here, you hear me? Don't come up! Just keep on sinking!"

Gedatsu's bare foot suddenly twitched.

"WAH!" Chopper yelped.

Then it twitched another two times before his legs began to kick as he struggled to escape from his own trap.

"WAAAAH! HE'S MOVING!" Chopper yelled in alarm. "He's still alive!"

"_I can't believe I lost to a raccoon-dog!" _Gedatsu berated himself below the surface. _"Of all the things I could never live down! How did I get stuck in my own Swamp Cloud? THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO ME!"_

Up on the surface, Gedatsu's legs continued to kick and terrify Chopper.

"YAAAH! PLEASE, OH PLEASE, JUST STAY DOOOOWN!" Chopper hollered. "SIIINK! SIIIIIIINNNKK!"

"_I can escape with a Milky Dial!" _Gedatsu realized. **SHOOM! **Gedatsu's Milky Dial activated. **SHUNK! **And his legs shot down into the Swamp Cloud after his body.

"Wow, he really sank," Chopper remarked.

Gedatsu's last muffled cry came out from the cloud, **"MH MHMMHMM!" **(SO CARELESS!)

Chopper stared at the hole that Gedatsu had sunk into. "Did I?" he asked out loud. There was no movement from the hole. "I DID! I REALLY BEAT HIM! TEEHEEHEE!"

**-x-**

Gedatsu's cry of, **"MH MHMMHMM!" **reached the powerful ears of Aisa as she sped along the Milky Road on a Waver.

"Another one of the Priests' voices just disappeared!" Aisa realized. "Something terrible must have happened! This is bad! I have to get to the others!"

**VROOOOOoooooommmmm… **The Dial that powered Aisa's waver have out and she slowed to a stop.

"Oh no!" she gasped in alarm. "You just had to break down now! Didn't you? NOOO! WORK!" The girl helplessly jiggled the handle bars then turned and pounded on the Dial engine. "I barely know how to ride this thing! How can I fix it? There's no way…"

And just when Aisa thought her situation couldn't get any worse… the large dark form of a Sky Shark swam underneath her waver.

The Milky Road was still as Aisa crouched down in her waver and warily glanced around her.

**SPLOOSH! **The Sky Shark surged out of the clouds ahead over and dove at the waver with its large tooth-filled mouth wide-opened.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Aisa screamed in terror. Everything froze as Aisa's Mantra screamed at her that the shark would come straight at her. Aisa dove to the side towards the handle bars. **CHOMP! **The Sky Shark's mouth snapped closed as it ate the other two thirds of Aisa's broken down waver.

**SPLOOSH!** The Sky Shark plunged back down into the clouds and the waves that resulted from the dive caused what was left of Aisa's waver to drift further along the Milky Road.

"WAAAAH! HEEEELP!" Aisa cried. "HELP ME PLEASE!"

The Sky Shark's purple fin emerged from the white clouds.

"DON'T EAT ME!" Aisa screamed. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

A horn rang out as Pagaya sailed along the Milky Road in a Dial-powered boat. It was twice the side of the normal waver and had a bull figurehead. Unlike-like handlebars that most wavers had, Pagaya's boat and long chopper motorcycle-like handle bars. The two seats on the boat had been outfitted with purple cloud-filled cushions. Conis and Suu in the backseat behind Pagaya.

"Please hurry father," Conis urged her father as stared ahead of them at the Shandian girl that was in desperate need of help.

"I'm trying, but I don't know if we'll make it at this speed," Pagaya replied, "I'm about to gun it! SO HANG ON!"

"Right!" Conis agreed.

"Suuu suuuu!" Suu cried out.

**VRROOOOM! **Pagaya's boat picked up speed and they raced towards Aisa and the Sky Shark that was about to attack her again. "NOW CONIS!"

Conis leaned over the side of the boat and held her hand out to Aisa as they approached, "Grab on! Reach out and take my hand!"

"Waaaa…" Aisa lunged towards Conis and grabbed her extended hands with both hands. Conis yanked the girl into the backseat of her father's boat with her and Suu just as the Sky Shark shot out of the clouds and devoured what was left of Aisa's waver. **SPLOOOSH!**

**VROOOOOM!** Pagaya kept up their high speed and the four of them sped further along the Milky Road and left the Sky Shark behind them.

"That was a risky move," Pagaya remarked.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," Conis reassured the girl who had her face planted in Conis' lap to hide the fact that she was crying. "You're a Shandian child, aren't you?"

Aisa popped up and brandished a Dial on stick like it was a weapon.

"You don't have to be afraid, little girl," Conis told her, "We're friendly."

"I'M NOT AFRAID!" Aisa insisted. "I'm one of the brave warriors of Shandora! I'm not afraid of you Skypieans!"

"Suuu…" Suu cooed as she stepped forward and rubbed herself along Aisa's legs.

"Her name is Suu," Conis introduced Aisa to her pet fox, "And she seems to like you quite a bit."

"Suuu…" Suu called out again.

Aisa's 'tough' expression softened as she reached forward to pet the friendly fox.

"You can call me Conis," Conis said as she continued the introductions.

"I'm Pagaya," Pagaya added from up front the driver's seat, "Conis' father. Pleased to meet you, little girl. We're very glad you're alright."

"So can you tell us your name?" Conis asked.

"Everyone calls me Aisa," Aisa replied. "Look, I know you just saved me, and I hate to ask anymore favors, but I need to go to the Upper Yard and I was wondering if you'd take me, because right now there are all kinds of peoples' voices disappearing more and more. It's the truth, I can hear their voices even from very far way. And they're gone."

"Actually, we're already on our way to the Upper Yard," Conis informed her. "So you can ride with us. We're trying to find the pirates from the Blue Sea World because we thought we should guide them safely out of Skypeia and get them to where they should go."

"You mean all those people on the ship?" Aisa questioned.

"Yes," Conis said in surprise.

"They're probably still trying to escape from the Upper Yard," Aisa told her.

Conis turned and placed her hands on Aisa's shoulders, "Do you know where their ship could be? It's very important."

"Mm-hmm," Aisa confirmed.

"Father," Conis prompted.

"I understand," Pagaya said, "All we need is for you to lead us there, little one."

"Sure," Aisa agreed.

**VRROOM!** Pagaya's boat picked up speed as the continued along the Milky Road towards the Upper Yard.

**-x-**

"Aaaah!" Chopper sighed in relief as he sat on a ruin and drank from a canteen. _"I'm finally a pirate," _Chopper thought to himself, _"I think instead of looking for the others, I'll just look for the gold. That would sure shock everybody."_

Chopper lowered his canteen and wiped the water off of his mouth. He glanced around him. "That place over there looks like a good spot for gold to hide. Who knows, maybe the others will end up there too."

**-x-**

**Unbeatable Powers:**

**-x-**

**Shooooom… **Kamakiri sped along the Milky Road on his dial-powered surfboard and scanned the surrounding trees of the Upper Yard for any signs of his enemies.

"Uggh…" Kamakiri groaned. Kamakiri was still bandaged and injured from the attack he had taken from Ohm when he saved Laki during the attack yesterday but he was a warrior so he wasn't going to let his injuries stop him from participating in his peoples' most important battle.

"Are you alright, Kamakiri?" a fat Shandian in a Viking helmet asked as he sped alongside him.

"Don't worry about me," Kamakiri told him, "Stay focused on the surroundings. He reached a gap in the trees and spotting something in a distance. "There, ahead of us! I can see Giant Jack!" The massive spiraling beanstalk towered above the Upper Yard and dwarfed the giant trees. "We're close to the roots of Shandora! Eneru's gotta be up there somewhere."

"**YAAAAHHH!" **Kamakiri skidded to a stop and suddenly realized that his companion was gone and that the scream he'd just heard had been his. Kamakiri spun around in search of his fellow warrior.

"**You called?" **came Eneru's calm voice. **"I'm right here behind you."**

Kamakiri spun around again and saw Eneru sitting on a branch that went over the Milky Road ahead of him. God held Kamakiri's companion's head in his hand as the warrior's charred and smoking body hung limply and dangled over the edge of the branch Eneru was seated on.

"Did you want something, brave Kamakiri of Shandora?" Eneru asked. He released his grip and watched carelessly as Kamakiri's fat companion dropped from the branch and crashed to the dirt ground of Upper Yard and laid still. **WHUMP!**

"ENERU! YOU BASTARD!" Kamakiri yelled.

"Have you forgotten to whom you are speaking?" Eneru inquired. His eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I am God, you know. And I know exactly what you're thinking, warrior. You're wondering why I came down here."

"Mantra?" Kamakiri questioned.

"Yahahaha!" Eneru laughed. "I don't need My Mantra to read what's written all over your face. Yahahaha! I don't blame you. Normally, I don't bother to fight. But this time, I'm a player in the Survival Game too. Besides, I'll be leaving this land soon. I was just saying goodbye to Gan Fall. Professional courtesy, you understand."

Kamakiri shook with rage, "A game?" he repeated. Is that was this sick, twisted freak considered the war that had already caused so many casualties. "A GAME?

"I also don't need My Mantra to tell Me that you really like to kill Me right now," Eneru noted. Kamakiri tightened his grip on his spear. "Very well. I must admit, you've shown great courage in reaching Me. So I'd say you're entitled to a reward. Call it a display of God's Mercy. So then… I'll give you five minutes. For five minutes, I won't move a muscle."

"Wh-what?" Kamakiri stammered.

"I won't dodge your attacks, and I won't fight back," Eneru explained. "Fry Me, skewer Me, I am at your mercy. Yahahahahaha!"

Kamakiri glared up at Eneru. God was openly mocking him. He was a great warrior and we was looked down upon as an insignificant fly.

"But once those five minutes are up," Eneru continued, "You will know what I means to face God in the very depths of your soul."

"RAAAH!" Kamakiri roared as he threw a Milky Dial ahead of him. **SHOOOOM! **The Dial sprayed cloud and created bridge that connected the Milky Road with the branch that Eneru was on. **VRRRR!** Kamakiri sped up the bridge on his surfboard. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" Kamakiri reached the top of the bridge and leapt off of his surfboard and pulled back his spear. "TIME TO DIE, ENERU!" Kamakiri spun and lashed out his spear. **SHUNK!**

**-x-**

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" Hotori and Kotori crowed out in synchronized laughter as they danced around on the front deck of the Going Merry.

"DAAMN YOOOUU!" Nami yelled as she rushed at them and swung her ClimaTact. **SWISH! **The round twins leapt backwards and both of them avoided her attack.

"YOU MISSED US!" Hotori shrieked. He lashed out and kicked Usopp. **THWAK!**

"NOOO!" Nami cried ask Kotori spun and kicked Sanji. **THWAK!**

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" Hotori and Kotori laughed as the spun around in a pirouetted and kicked the charred, unconscious forms of Usopp and Sanji back and forth between them.

"YOU'VE GOT TO STOP!" Nami shrieked.

"WE WON'T STOP!" Hotori insisted.

"WE WON'T STOP!" Kotori echoed his twin.

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" hey both laughed as they continued to kick the prone pirates back and forth like they were giant hacky sacks.

"I SAAAIIDD STOOOPP!" Nami screamed. "THEY'RE ALREADY UNCONSCIOUS!"

"WE DON'T CARE!" Hotori called out.

"WE DON'T CARE!" Kotori repeated.

"These guys killed our brother Satori!" Hotori exclaimed.

"They killed him!" Kotori added.

"THEY MUST PAY!" both of them shouted.

"RAAAAH!" Nami hollered as she ran in and swung her ClimaTact at Kotori.

**Swish! WHAP! **Kotori spun around and caught Nami's attack with his opened palm. "Thanks for the charge!" he taunted. **SWISH! **Kotori spun around and lashed out his hand and stopped it inches from Nami's face.

Nami flinched back in shock, "An Impact Dial?"

**POOOOOT! **There was a loud farting noise as a cloud of gas sprayed out of the Dial on Kotori's palm into Nami's face.

"KOFF! KOFF!" Nami coughed as she stumbled backwards out of the gas cloud.

"_Damn it!" _Nami cursed to herself, _"I can't afford to just stand here and let those fat idiots humiliated me and attack my friends! Attacking them is getting me nowhere. I've gotta think of something…"_

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" Kotori laughed, "I store my farts in a Flavor Dial! HOH-HOH-HOO!"

"So that's it," Gan Fall realized, "They have four different types of Dials they're using instead of just one."

"HOH-HOH-HOO!" Hotori laughed. "That's right!" He raised his hands up overhead and fired off his Dials. "Breath! Flame!"

"Impact! Flavor!" Kotori chimed in as he showed off his own Dials. "HOH-HOH-HOO!"

"You won't be able to keep track!" Hotori insisted as he joined hands with Kotori.

"Which one is Hotori and which one of Kotori?" Kotori asked out loud.

The two twins started to spin around in a circle that was intended to confuse their opponents.

"What dial is in what hand?" Hotori added from within the blur of round twins. "It's so much fun to guess!"

"SURPRISE DIAL ILLUSION!" the twins chorused. "HOH-HOH-HOO!"

"Now we know what they have," Gan Fall said as he swung his lance around at his side. "There's no time to waste."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan," Nami assured him. She pulled her ClimaTact apart and held the free pieces together in front of her. "RAIN TEMPO!" A small stream of water sprayed out from the hole in each of the blue tubes. **Spliish!** The three streams hit Hotori and did nothing but get him wet.

"You call that an attack?" Hotori scoffed.

Nami grinned, Hotori's voice was shriller than Kotori's so now she knew which was which. "No, but this is! SPRINKLER!" The small streams started to spin and spiraled together to create a spray with the power of a fire hose. **SPLOOSH! **Nami tilted her weapon to the side at the last second and spiral of water splashed into Kotori's face and knocked him over. **WHUMP!**

"WAAAH!" Kotori yelped as he fell to the ground.

"What's that? Blue Sea Water?" Hotori questioned, "TASTE MY FIRE!"

Nami grinned as Hotori lashed out with his Flame Dial. _"He took the bait."_

**FWOOOM! **A stream of flames sprayed out of Hotori's Flame Dial, not a big explosion like if he had used the gas in his Breath Dial for added power but enough that when he turned it to Nami's spray of water he managed to push it backwards.

**FWOOOSSSSSHHH! **Nami and Hotori's streams of fire and water dueled and produced just the result that Nami wanted. The fire and water created steamwhich quickly spread to cover the front deck and concealed everything from view.

"STEAM TEMPO!" Nami called out. She used that as her moment to strike and dashed into the thick cloud of steam.

"_Got 'em,"_ Nami thought to herself as she darted back out of the steam. Her yellow t-shirt was a little bulkier than it had been when she went in.

"All set," Nami informed Gan Fall, "Now they're sitting ducks."

"**HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON!" **Kotori shrieked from inside the steam.

"**I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!" **Hotori yelled.

"**I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!" **Kotori echoed his twin.

"But I can hear ya, just fine!" Nami called out as she stuck one part of her ClimaTact through another then attached the third piece and swung her weapon. "CYCLONE TEMPO!" The top two parts of her ClimaTact detached from the third and flew into the cloud of steam.

**Whap! **"Hey what's this?" Kotori called out. **WHHOOOOSSSHHH! **Wind blew out from the end of Nami's weapon and blasted Kotori back into the railing of the ship. **WHAM! **The other side-effect of Nami's attack was to blow away the cloud of steam.

The cloud cleared and Hotori stood stupidly on his own in the middle of the front deck.

"OH! THERE YOU ARE!" Hotori realized. "YOU'LL PAY FOR ATTACKING KOTORI!" Hotori charged at Nami and lashed out his hands… and did nothing. Hotori blinked and glanced at his hands and suddenly realized that they were bare. "MY DIALS? WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Lose something?" Nami taunted as she pulled her hands out from under her shirt and showed off her new gloves and the two Dials that were attached to them. "I'm a thief. I take what I want. NOW TAKE THIS! BREATH DIAL!" Nami lashed out her right hand and gas sprayed out of the Dial on her palm into Hotori's face. **Fssssshhh!**

"WAIT!" Hotori waited. "NO! NO! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

"FLAME DIAL!" Nami lashed out her left hand and ignited the Flame Dial. The initial spark from the Flame Dial met with the gas Nami had just sprayed in Hotori's face. **FWOOOOOOM! **A torrent of flames blew out from Nami's hand and blasted Hotori across the deck of the ship, over the railing and into the Milky Road below. **SPLOOSH!**

"One down!" Nami exclaimed.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Kotori yelled as he staggered back up. He glanced down at his hands and saw that Nami hadn't stolen his Dials. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

Kotori ran across the deck towards Nami. "He's all yours Sky Knight!" Nami prompted.

**SKISH! **Gan Fall surged forward and lashed out with his lance. **WHOOOM!** Gan Fall struck through and Kotori left a trail of blood in his wake as he flew off the side of the ship after his brother and plummeted into the Milky Road after him. **SPLOOSH!**

"Impressive, girl," Gan Fall noted as he turned to regard Nami. "Was that really your first time using Dials in combat?"

"Yeah, but they're idiots," Nami told him, "Down on the Blue Sea or up here in the clouds, an idiot is still and idiot. I've been outsmarting and stealing from guys like them all my life."

**(A/N: I felt like changing another battle around a bit. The Nami I like best is the one who spent the entire first season outsmarting and running circles around everyone else.)**

**-x-**

**Eneru's True Form Revealed:**

**-x-**

**Vrrrrooom… **Pagaya, Conis, Aisa and Suu continued along the Milky Road towards the massive forest of Upper Yard where the war between Eneru's forces and the Shandians waged on while the Straw Hats were caught in the middle of it.

"Uh… do you mind if I call you Aisa?" Pagaya asked their guest from the driver's seat. "Can you really tell which way the Blue Sea Dweller's ship is heading?"

"Yeah," Aisa answered meekly.

"That's amazing," Conis remarked as she held the suddenly timid Shandian girl next to her. "Even from this far away you can still hear their voices in the forest. But are you sure you're feeling alright? You've been trembling ever since we picked you up."

"It's just… it's just that I've never been this afraid before," Aisa told her. "Everyone's voices… everyone's voices keep disappearing one-by-one…"

"Yes, I am sorry," Pagaya apologized. "We've got to hurry, Conis."

"Yes, father," Conis agreed. They picked up speed and blared the horn and they finally began to make their way into the forest of Upper Yard.

**-x-**

"Hold on!" Nami exclaimed back on the Merry, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm sorry," Gan Fall apologized, he'd just finished putting his armor back on and had informed Nami that he was leaving. "But I've got to locate Eneru."

"You can't leave a girl like me all alone way out here!" Nami protested.

"I already said I was sorry," Gan Fall reminded her. "Besides, you handled yourself just fine against Hotori and Kotori. I'm certain that you'll be alright. For now, I must fine out why Eneru has chosen to come down here into the forest and take a personal hand in this. It could be…"

"It could be what?" Nami questioned.

"When Eneru first appeared he captured six hundred and fifty members of my Divine Squad," Gan Fall began to explain but then changed his mind. "I don't have time to explain my suspicion but I fear that my men's lives may be in great danger, no, this whole land may be in danger. Pierre, let's fly."

"PIIIEEE!" Pierre crowed. Gan Fall mounted his stead.

"WAIT!" Nami called after him.

"I've left you my gauntlet with an Impact Dial inside," Gan Fall informed her, "You should manage just fine."

"That's all?" Nami said. "HOLD ON!"

**WOOOSH! **Pierre launched off of the Going Merry and the Sky Knight flew off.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE YOU HEARTLESS BRUITE!" Nami shouted after him, "HOW COULD YOU? AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A GOD! GET BACK HERE! THINK THIS OVER!" Her pleas weren't working. One last chance, "I'LL CRY!"

Still nothing.

"Useless Sky Knight," Nami grumbled to herself. "What kind of jerk just flies off and leaves a girl alone in a forest filled where a war's going on." Nami grabbed Sanji and Usopp and started to drag them down the stairs to the main deck. "I might as well get these two some first aid. You guys are still alive, aren't you? I hope Chopper gets back soon."

**KA-BOOM!** Something exploded up ahead of the Going Merry which caused Nami to jump.

A bull figurehead appeared and a horn blared as Pagaya sped towards the Merry in his boat.

"HESO!" Conis called out as she waved to Nami from the backseat.

"Conis?" Nami questioned.

"HESO!" Pagaya called out from the front as he continued to blare the horn.

"And her dad?" Nami added. "What're you doing here? ANY WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF WITH THAT HORN ALREADY!"

"Hm," Aisa glared at the loud Blue Sea Dweller and made to leave the boat before Pagaya managed to catch her.

"Wait, hold it," Pagaya protested as he tried to pull the girl back into the boat. "You mustn't go. You can't go into the forest. You'll be killed! I promise, we'll only stay for a little while."

"I SAID LET GO!" Aisa snapped.

In the end, Aisa didn't get her way and joined Conis and Pagaya when they joined Nami on board the Going Merry.

"So who's this?" Nami asked as she stared at the small Shandian girl that was glaring at her while she brandished her Dial on a stick again.

"This young lady is Aisa," Pagaya introduced the girl.

"Stay back you Blue Sea Devil!" Aisa exclaimed as she pointed her weapon at Nami. "Or I'll smash you! I'm a brave warrior of Shandia!"

"That's nice, kid," Nami replied nonplussed as she held up her hand. "You don't wanna fight me. I've got a Flame Dial."

"This is terrible!" Conis cried as she stood over Usopp and Sanji. "They've been burned black! They need first aid at once!"

"At any rate, I'm sorry," Pagaya apologized. "Now quick, turn your ship up the path we just came on. We used a Milky Dial to create a new one." Nami grabbed Aisa's 'weapon' and pointed it away from her then turned to glance at the bridge that Pagaya had made between the part of the Milky Road that she was on in the Going Merry and the part that led out of the forest. "If you follow it, you can exit directly to the White White Sea. Now quick, before the enemy realizes we're here."

"Then shouldn't you have been a little quieter getting here?" Nami questioned.

"Oh, I just remembered that I had something else to give you," Pagaya informed her. He turned and motioned to the full-sized, fully restoted Waver that he'd brought onto the Going Merry.

"A Waver?" Nami inquired.

"I hope you don't mind," Pagaya said, "I repaired the Waver you brought alone with you when you came up from the Blue Sea. Please take it. It belongs to you after all."

"Oh really?" Nami cooed, overjoyed as she surveyed her good-as-new Waver. "Coool!"

"But I should warn you though," Pagaya told her, "This is no ordinary Waver. It's far more powerful than a normal Waver… I'm sorry…"

**-x-**

All around the Upper Yard the war waged on and the casualties both from Eneru's warrior and the Shandians continued to pile up.

"Yaaaah!" Eneru yawned and jerked awake from his four minute nap.

"RAAAAAAHH!" Kamakiri roared as he charged at Eneru again.

"Huh? Oh, are you still here?" Eneru questioned.

Kamkiri's only response was to lash out his spear. **SHUNK! **Kamakiri's spear went straight through Eneru's head. But Eneru just sat there with the same board expression on his face.

**Zzzzzaaap! **Electricity suddenly traveled along Kamakiril's spear and the warrior was shocked like he'd just stuck his finger in a power outlet.

"Aaaah! Uuuggh!" Kamakiri groaned as the electricity coursed through him.

"I'm sorry, I guess I must have dozed off," Eneru stated as he remained seated in the same spot on the tree branch with Kamakiri's spear going in one side of his head and coming out the other. The only one who seemed to be in pain was Kamakiri. "Is something wrong? You seem to be in pain, Kamakiri. I've kept My Promise, haven't I? I haven't moved a muscle."

The electric current going through Kamakiri's body finally stopped and he took a deep gasp.

"I can't… beat you…" Kamakiri wheezed as smoke wafted off of his body. "Can I?"

"No, you can't," Eneru replied. **Zzzaaap! **The electricity started up again Kamakiri let out another pained gasp as blood dripped out of his reopened wounds. "Do you understand now? I am living lightning. Try as you might, no mere man can defeat such Divine Power. Surely as a native of the sky you've seen it flashing in a distance, haven't you? Since ancient times, men have trembled before the unknown forces of nature and worshipped them as God. Anything the fools could not understand reduced them to abject terror. No matter what happens to mankind for good or for evil, it is always said to be the work of God. It's inevitable. Mankind accepts that they can never defeat the disasters of nature. I'm one of them. That's what makes Me, God. Do you understand?"

"RAAAAH!" Kamakiri leapt backwards and pulled out a Dial on a stick. He swung it and released the gas that was stored inside. **Fssssshh!**

"Amusing, a Breath Dial," Eneru noted.

Then Kamakiri turned up the heat and ignited the fire on his stick. **FWOOOOSH! **The stick became the handle of the long sword made out of pure fire. "BUUUURN BLAAADEEE!" Kamakiri swing his sword and cleaved Eneru in half along with the top of the tree that was behind him. **FWOOOOOM!**

**KRRAAASSHHH! **The top of the tree toppled and fell to the forest floor. But Eneru remained seated. His head and shoulders hovered above his legs and waist. His middle was simply gone. His head and legs glowed brightly as they turned into bright light, no, not light, _lightning_.

When faced with such a tremendous sight, Kamakiri did the only logical thing in that situation. He leapt from the tree branch and sped away as fast as his surfboard could take him. **VROOOM!**

Behind him, the two parts of Eneru joined together and reformed God's whole body. He was still seated in the same spot as before.

"_I have to tell Wyper!" _Kamakiri thought to himself, _"We can't win this battle! This is suicide! Even if he sacrifices himself, the Reject Dial won't work!"_

"It's too late to run now," Eneru stated as he stood up on the branch.

"_We've got to fall back and regroup!" _Kamakiri realized, _"Or else… or else…"_

**ZZZAP!** Lighting shot over Kamakiri's head and instantly Eneru was there in front of him.

Kamakiri skidded to a stop. "YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "Did you think that you could move faster than lightning? Yahahahahaha! Your five minutes are up. And now it's My Turn." Kamakiri turned to flee while electricity coursed all around Eneru's body. Eneru slowly extended his hand, "One Million Volt… VARI!"

"WYYYYYYYPEEEEEEERRRR!" Kamakiri hollered a desperate warning for his leader.

**BZZT-ZZZOOOOOOOM! **The sky light up as lighting flew out of Eneru's hand and engulfed Kamakiri's body as it continued its path down the Milky Road.

Kamakiri's fried body dropped to the forest floor, the fames of his shattered sunglasses fell beside him, the once proud warrior had been reduced to a charred husk by Eneru's power.

"Yahaha… oh…" Eneru started to chuckle but trailed off when he realized that his lightning was still going.

**-x-**

"Did you hear that?" one of Eneru's warriors asked from thirty feet down the Milky Road.

**BZZZZOOOOOOOMM! **The warrior and his companions along with the Shandians that they had been fighting were all electrified by the surge of lighting that was Eneru's attack.

**-x-**

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Aisa screamed on board the Going Merry. Nami jumped back in alarm.

"What? What's happening?" Nami questioned.

Aisa dropped to her knees and clamped her hands over her ears. She dropped her head to the deck and started bawling.

Nami ran over and knelt next to the girl that had just been 'threatening' her with a 'weapon', "What's wrong? Aisa?"

"This voices… they're disappearing…" Aisa whimpered.

**-x-**

"Damn," Eneru cursed to himself. "I guess My Electricity traveled down the Milky Road. Another twenty voices vanished after that lightning bolt. The stupid fools."

Eneru closed his eyes and focused his Mantra so he could take stock of who was left alive.

"On the Upper Yard, eighty-three people began the Survival Game," Eneru noted. "Two hours have passed. Of that eighty-three, fifty-eight have fallen. One priest and ten of My Divine Squad still remain, six members of the Blue Sea Pirates are still with us, and eight warriors of Shandora. That means there are twenty-five players still in the game. That's more than I predicted there would be. No matter, they'll all fall in their turn, one line after another. The only real question remaining is: who will come with me? Yahahahaaha…"

**-x-**

"Whoooaaa…" Luffy gasped as he held up a gold necklace that he had found in the… water in the… cave that he found himself trapped inside. "This necklace is solid gold! Does that mean the City of Gold is here inside this cave?"

**Gruumbllle… **Luffy's hungry stomach made itself known. **Whip!** Luffy tossed away the gold necklace as the focused of something more important… food.

But the only way he'd get food was if he found his way out of the stupid cave.

"I wish there was a barbeque shop in here too…" Luffy grumbled, "Aaaauuggh… booooo! Where am I? WHERE AM I?"

**-x-**

**Crumbling Mountain:**

**-x-**

**Vrrrrrrrmmmm… **Pagaya and Conis watched from the deck of the Going Merry as Nami sailed around the ship on her newly restored Jed Dial-powered Waver. When Pagaya repaired the broken Waver that the Straw Hats had found inside the sunken ship down on the Grand Line, he'd also added a new coat of blue paint.

"That's amazing!" Pagaya remarked.

"You're incredible, Nami!" Conis exclaimed. Nami's Waver was a lot faster than Pagaya's but the Straw Hats' Navigator was riding it like she'd been doing it her whole life.

**Vrrrrmmm… **Nami steered her Waver closer to the Going Merry and came up alongside it.

"She's all yours now," Pagaya called out to her, "And as good as new."

"Yeah, thanks!" Nami replied as she slowed to a stop, "I don't know what you did, but I love it! This thing is so fast it's crazy!"

"That's because Jet Dials went extinct years ago," Pagaya explained. "It's really quite amazing. Imagine how shocked I was to find one on board the Waver that you left."

Nami tied her Waver up to the Crow which was tied to the back of the Going Merry along with Pagaya's bull-themed boat.

"I fear we're running out of things to occupy ourselves with," Pagaya said when Nami was back on the Going Merry. "We had planned to lead all of you to the end of Skypeia."

"I guess the best thing to do is get the ship to the coast where we all agreed to meet," Nami reasoned. "There's really no reason to worry. I'm sure they're fine. With those five together, there's no stopping them."

"**There aren't any five-man groups,"** Aisa spoke up from over by the railing. She had her head rested against her knees which she was hugging to her chest.

"Huh?" Conis asked.

"Only two Blue Sea People are actually still together," Aisa stated, "A woman and the one with the weird voice that fought Shura."

"Woman… weird voice…" Nami repeated, "You mean Ricky and Robin?"

"I don't know their names, I just hear their voices," Aisa replied. "I can hear everyone's voice on this island."

"Is that… Mantra?" Nami questioned. "That's the power that Eneru and His Priests use, huh?"

"I was born able to use it," Aisa cried as tear spilled from her eyes, "That's why… that's why I'm so afraid. You have no idea how scary it is to hear voices disappear."

"You're not crying again, are you?" Nami complained.

Aisa wiped the tears from her eyes and yelled at Nami, "NO I'M NOT CRYING! YOU STUPID BLUE SEA PERSON!"

"Her Waver had broken down," Conis finally explained the Sandian girl's presence on the ship to Nami. "Luckily out boat had happened to pass by. If we hadn't gotten to her when we did, she would've been eaten by a Sky Shark."

"What were you thinking coming out here by yourself?" Nami scolded the girl. In a situation like this, she wasn't feeling very sympathetic.

"I don't know," Aisa admitted, "But… I couldn't keep sitting around doing nothing?" Aisa started to cry again. "Laki… and everybody…"

**KA-BOOOM!** An explosion rang out from further off in the forest.

"I hope everyone is alright," Nami said.

"Your two friends are fighting Commander Yama…" Aisa whimpered. "Their voices might be the next ones to disappear."

"Not a chance," Nami replied. "I don't know who this Commander Yama is, but he doesn't stand a chance against Ricky and Robin. You've gotta learn to have faith in your friends."

Aisa scowled at her, "It's easy to go on blind faith when you can't hear the truth!" she snapped. "Twenty-one of our warriors went into that forest… now there's only eight left…"

**-x-**

**Grrruummmblle… **Luffy stomach grumbled as he continued his trek along the long cave-like insides of the giant snake that had swallowed him.

"Uuughh…" Luffy groaned and kicked a skull that was in front of him. **Tunk! **The wannabe Pirate King had a golden crown that he had found on top of his hat. "What a day… This is crappy! I'm starving and I left by bag outside the stupid cave… And all the fruit trees in here are rotten. _And_ all I can think about is eating that yummy breakfast that Sanji made. What kind of messed-up cave did I wind up in anyway? I can't seem to find an exit anywhere!"

Luffy picked up a stick and whacked it against the stone ruins that he was walking through as he continued his trek along the 'cave'. "I wonder if everybody already made it to the City of Gold. I bet it's all pretty and shiny and golden and stuff and they probably make all kinds of good food there too… I can't wait to get there and find out…"

**-x-**

Elsewhere, Zoro wondered through the woods on his own.

"Uggh…" the swordsman groaned, "It feels like I've been walking forever. I think I'll have that lunch now." Zoro sat down and pulled out the beautifully prepared box lunch that Sanji had made for all of them before they'd left the ship. Zoro pulled out his chopsticks and started to eat from the box lunch. "This stuff ain't too shabby!"

**SHIFFF! **Nearby leaves rustled and Zoro was immediately on guard. He drew his sword and whirled around to face the source of the noise "Who's there?" he swordsman demanded.

Zoro blinked when he saw that his new 'company' was a huge South Bird that was four times the size of him.

"JOOOH!" the South Bird called out in greeting the held its beak opened.

"Sorry fella, but I don't speak bird," Zoro replied. Then he noted the bird's opened mouth. "And if its my food you're after… HEY!" Zoro pulled his box lunch away from the bird when it moved towards it. "You're not getting it!" Zoro sat back down and kept a wary eye on the bird as he went back to his box lunch. "Stop staring at me!"

"…" the South Bird continued to sit next to Zoro and watched as he finished the rest of his lunch. "Joooohh…" the bird cried when it realized that Zoro had finished it all.

Without a word to the bird, Zoro got up, shouldered his backpack and headed off again. Due to the bird, he had to eat his lunch a lot faster than he would have liked and hadn't been able to fully enjoy it.

"Grrr…" Zoro growled to himself when he realized that the South Bird was now following him. "WOULD YOU STOP FOLLOWING ME?"

"JOOOH!" the South Bird replied as it walked alongside Zoro with its head pointed backwards due to the fact that it always pointed south.

"Listen feather-brain!" Zoro scolded the bird, "I just ate all my food! I don't have any more okay? Besides, I would give you any even if I had some! Get lost before I lose my temper!"

"Jooooh…" the South Bird whined.

"What is your problem, anyhow?" Zoro demanded. "Walking all wear with your big, fat melon heat facing the wrong direction." Zoro turned and stopped. "I don't wanna have to fight you bird, but I will, got it?"

"Jooh…" was the bird's only response.

"You know what, Ricky's right," Zoro decided. "Now I hate birds too." He turned and trudged off and the South Bird continued to follow him.

**-x-**

"In three hours a mere seven of the remaining people on this island will remain standing," Eneru mused to himself as he casually made his way through the forest. "There's only one hour left until My proclaimed time is up and twenty-five survivors currently remain."

Up in a tree branch overhead, hidden behind the trunk of a huge tree, a Shandian glared down at God as he walked by the tree he was in.

"_This can't be,"_ the Shandian thought to himself. _"What's Eneru doing here? HE'S GOING DOWN!"_ With his decision made, the Shandian turned to attack God while his guard was down.

**ZZZZAP! **The Shandian whirled around and found Eneru seated on the branch behind him. **BAZOOOOM! **Lightning flashed as the Shandian was quickly disposed of.

"And now, twenty-four," Eneru amended.

**-x-**

**CHOOM! **The stone ground in the clearing was crushed under Yama's weight as the Commander of Eneru's forces launched himself up into the air. **Fwip! **He flipped in the air up above the clearing and once again set his sights on Robin who was still dutifully standing in front of the stone tablet she was trying to protect.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Yama roared. "DROP MOUNTAIN!"

"Veinte Fleur… Calendula!" Robin held out her arms and ten new arms grew out of them in a spiral that made Robin's arms look like the head and petals of two flowers. Robin raised her twenty-two arms and once again tried to catch Yama's attack.

"Not this time!" Ricky exclaimed.** SKISH! **In a flash, Ricky was in between Robin and Yama. "Steel Shield!" **THWHAM! **Yama slammed feet-first into Ricky's chest and used all the power in his huge frame to knock Ricky back into Robin and her twenty-two arms. The two of them slammed against the tablet but Ricky had taken the brunt of Yama's attack so they didn't do any additional damage to it. **THUD! **

"What are you doing?" Robin asked. Twenty of her arms vanished and left her holding Ricky with her original two. "You can't understand these tablets, they don't mean anything to you."

"You're right, I can't read them," Ricky agreed, "To me they're just a bunch of fancy, really old rocks that only you can read. I was being selfish, I was protecting the one thing in this clearing that's precious to me."

Robin blinked. "Mr. One Eye, Miss. Navigator is practically your girlfriend."

"Just because I care about you, doesn't mean I'm in love with you," Ricky corrected her, "You're Nakama. And to me, there's nothing more precious in the entire world."

"HAHAHA!" Yama laughed from the middle of the clearing. "Since you two are so close, I'll crush you AND YOUR STUPID ROCK TOO!"

"I think it's time that we switched from defense to offense," Ricky suggested. "The faster we take him down, the less time he'll have to destroy things. Let's stick to the original plan."

"TAKE THIS!" Yama yelled as he jumped up into the air again. **CHOOM!**

Ricky turned and jumped partway up the tablet then used the Robin-shaped hold in the front of it as a foot-hold to launch himself the rest of the way up to the top. **SKA-SKISH!**

Robin glared up at Yama and crossed her arms over her chest. "Dieciseis Fleur!" Sixteen arms grew out of Yama and pinned the huge warrior's tiny arms to his large round body.

"GRAAH!" Yama snarled as he struggled to break free from the hold that Robin's sixteen arms had on him. This time he only had the strength in his tiny arms to fight Robin's sixteen arms instead of all the power in his huge body. He couldn't break free. "WHY YOU!" Yama's struggles caused him to lose control of his dive and the Commander started to fall instead.

**SKISH! **Ricky shot off of the top of the tablet and flew at Yama. "Flying… ARROW KICK!" **THWHAM!** Both of Ricky's feet slammed into the large man's flailing body and he dropped out of the air and crashed to the ground. **WHAM!**

**Tmp!** Ricky landed in a crouch near Yama.

"You… you… I'll crush you!" Yama insisted as he pulled himself off of the ground. "RAAH!" **KREK!** Yama finally managed to overpower Robin's arms and broke free from their hold.

"AAAH!" Robin let out a short yelp as she felt the phantom pain of her arms being wrenched and her wrists being broken.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Yama shouted as he closed the distance between them and swung at Ricky. **SWISH! **Ricky ducked down and ran under Yama's strike. "WAAH!" Yama stumbled and went off balance.

Ricky dropped down behind Yama and whipped his leg around, "Quarterstaff… SWEEP!" **THWAK! **Ricky knocked Yama's legs out from under him but the large warrior managed to catch himself and only dropped to his knees.

"HOLD STILL!" Yama yelled as he whirled around to face Ricky while still on his knees.

"Dieciseis Fleur!" Once again, sixteen arms grew out of Yama's body and pinned down his arms. Robin's quick actions had cost the Commander of Eneru's force his chance to counter-attack and Ricky took full advantage.

**Whup! **Ricky jumped up and planted one foot in the middle of the kneeling warrior's large chest. "Jumping… GUILLOTINE KICK!" Ricky whipped his other leg around and smashed the steel on his boot into the back of Yama's head. **THWHAM! **Ricky rolled to the side as Yama dropped face-first to the ground. **THUD!**

"You… won't… BEAT ME!" Yama insisted as he forced himself back up onto his knees.

"JAVELIN KICK!" Before Yama could even blink, Ricky shot his foot out and drove it into the kneeling warrior's two chins. **CRUNCH! **Yama dropped to the ground again. **THUD!**

"Robin, let's get him away from these ruins and out into the forest," Ricky instructed.

"I can do that," Robin agreed, "Cein Fleur… DELPHINIUM!" Two lines of ten arms sprouted from under Yama and started to roll him. The two lines of arms grew longer and led out of the clearing and only stopped growing when there were fifty arms in each line, totaling one hundred. The arms worked together and rolled Yama out of the stone-filled clearing and eventually deposited the barely conscious warrior in a tree-filled clearing in the forest.

Robin's long road of arms disappeared as Ricky turned to face her and grinned, "And now that we don't have to worry about him crushing anything, the real fun can begin."

"I'm going to enjoy this," Robin stated as the two of them followed their prey into the forest.

**-x-**

"This thing's taller than the Drum Rockies…" Chopper mused to himself as he continued his slow climb up the enormous green spiral.

The spiral was an enormous beanstalk that the Shandians referred to as Giant Jack. It lived up to the 'giant' name as it towered over the surrounding ruins and dwarfed the enormous trees of Upper Yard.

"I bet the gold is at the top of this… The others will be really surprised when I'm the one that finds the treasure first…" Chopper was already two hundred feet above the ground but he still had a long way to go before he reached the top.

**-x-**

**Ancient City of Shandora:**

**-x-**

Yama pushed himself up to his feet and found himself alone in the giant forest of Upper Yard.

**Kressh…** A nearby bush rustled.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Yama demanded. "SHOW YOURSELVES!"

Hidden on a branch high up over Yama's head, Robin grinned as she whispered, "Boca Fleur!"

"**We're right here,"** came Ricky's voice from somewhere in the surrounding brush.

"**Right here…" **Robin's voice echoed from the opposite end of the clearing. **"Right here…" **And behind Yama. **"Right here…**" And to his left. **"Right here/Right here…" **And then two places at once.

Yama whirled around and frantically scanned the forest for any signs of movement.

**Kreeesh!** Another bush rustled. "GOT YOU!" Yama roared as he charged towards the bush and roughly ripped it out of the ground just as Robin made a pair of arms disappear. **CHUNK!** "YOU CAN'T HIDE NOW!" Yama looked down and found… nothing.

"**You're not going to find us over there," **Ricky's voice came from the brush on the opposite end of the clearing.

"THERE!" Yama exclaimed as he dropped the bush and ran across the clearing. He jumped and drove his foot into the bush. **SWISH! **And hit nothing.

"**Too slow," **Ricky voice came from the other side of a large tree while at the same time a bush on the other side of another tree rustled like someone was moving through it. **Kreeesshhh!**

"**Over here…"** Robin's voice called out from a bush on the opposite side of the clearing.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Yama yelled as he jumped away from the talking bushes and into the middle of the clearing. "SHOW YOURSELVES!"

"**Not yet," **Robin's voice came from his left. **"I'm still trying to enjoy this."**

"**It's too late for you," **Robin's voice came from his right now. **"Even if you choose to repent, I won't forgive you."**

"You won't forgive me?" Yama retorted, "All because I smashed some shabby old ruins? They're just a pile of rubble that don't even belong to you!"

"**You simpleton," **Robin's voice came from a bush behind him. **"All you do is charge around like an angry bull! With no regard for all the history that you nearly destroyed!"**

"I'M NOT PLAYING GAMES!" Yama bellowed. "IF ALL YOU'RE GOING TO DO IS HIDE, THEN I'LL GO SMASH THOSE CHUNKS OF RUBBLE UNTIL YOU _DO _COME OUT!" Yama turned and ran to the edge of clearing in the direction of the ruins he'd just come from.

**SKISH! "Surprise!" **Ricky called out as he popped out of bush and blocked Yama's way out of the clearing. "One Eye Ricky Kick Barrage!" Ricky jumped up and turned to the side then lashed his leg out and drove it into Yama's face. "SIDE!" **THWAK! **"BACK!" Ricky spun around shot his leg back into Yama's face for another hard kick to the head. **THWAK! **Ricky dropped the ground then jumped back up and shot his foot straight up into Yama's two chins. "HIGH!" **THWAP! **Ricky brought his legs together and drove them both into the reeling Yama's chest. "BACKFLIP!" **THWHAM! **Groggy and dizzy from all the kicks he'd just taken to the head, Yama fell over and rolled backwards into the middle of the clearing. **Whup… whup… whup…**

"Uuugghhh…" Yama groaned and pushed himself up off of the ground. He looked around him for Ricky but the one-eyed pirate and disappeared into the brush again.

"**Those 'chunks of rubble' that you were threatening to destroy are priceless treasures," **Robin's voice came from somewhere overhead, **"Relics so rare that it would be next to impossible to measure their actual worth."**

Yama stood up and scanned the trees from any sign of his two opponents.

"**History can repeat itself,"** Robin's voice came from three places at once. **"But people can't go back in time. Destroy those relics and there's no getting them back."**

"You won't make a fool out of me…" Yama growled, "I'll crush you both and then I'll pulverize those ruins! THERE'LL BE NOTHING LEFT WHEN I'M DONE WITH THEM!"

"**I can see that an oaf like you could never understand the historic value of those ruins," **Robin observed, **"I'm done talking to you."**

"JUST WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR!" Yama shouted. "IF THEY MEAN SO MUCH TO YOU, THEN COME OUT AND FIGHT FOR THEM! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"**No need to shout. **_**I'm**_** right behind you," **Ricky's voice came from right behind Yama.

**SKISH!** Yama whirled around and found… nothing.

"WHERE'D YOU GO?" Yama bellowed.

"Up here genius!" Ricky's voice came from above. Yama looked up and saw Ricky's boots. "BLUDGEON STOMP!"** WHOMP! **Ricky's feet slammed into Yama's face then he flipped off of the huge man and landed in a crouch in front of him.

Yama stumbled backwards but remained on his feet. "THERE YOU ARE!" Yama shouted. "NOW THAT YOU'RE FIGHTING LIKE A MAN, I'LL SQUISH YOU LIKE A BUG!" **SHOOM! **Yama launched himself high up into the air overhead.

Robin looked down over the side of the branch she was seated on as Yama shot up towards her. "Treinta Fleur!" A long string of thirty arms grew out of the bottom of the branch and grabbed Yama's legs just as he had flipped over for a dive. "HANG!" Robin's long vine of arms swung Yama to the side and smashed him into the trunk of the tree she was in. **WHAM! **

"His body's… too big…" Robin groaned as she held clutched her own arms and strained to hold up the mountain of a man.

"Then drop him and I'll take it from here," Ricky said from right behind her. While Robin had caught Yama and smashed him into the tree, Ricky hadn't been idle and had scaled the tree up to Robin's branch.

Robin nodded and let go of Yama which caused him to plummet towards the ground.

**Shik! **Ricky drew his sword then dove off the branch after Yama. "Hey bright-eyes! Look up!"

Yama rolled in the air so he was backwards but then grinned when he saw Ricky above him. "Hahahahaha!" Yama cackled, "NOW YOU'VE GOT NOWHERE TO GO!" Yama pulled out a long black strap with ten Ax Dials and pointed it at Ricky. "COME AND DIE!"

Robin looked down from the branch and shook her head, "I don't think so, let's point those Dials somewhere safer."

"WAAH!" Yama yelped as three arms grew out of each of his arms and twisted the black strap so the Ax Dials were now pointed down at Yama. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

While Yama struggled with his weapon, Ricky started to spin, "Red Storm… METEOR!" **SLA-SLA-SLISH! **Ricky red sword cut the air and sent a red-tinted spiral flying down at Yama. **WOOSH! **The air-blade struck the back of Yama's Ax Dials and set them off. **SLISH-SLISH-SLISH-SLISH-SLISH! **The ten blades of impact from the Ax Dials cleaved into their owner.

"AAAAUUGGHH!" Yama hollered in pain and he slammed into the ground. **THOOM!**

Ricky continued to spin as he dropped down on Yama and his red sword sliced into Yama's already bleeding chest, **SLA-SLOSH! **With that last attack, the mountain had crumbled and Yama was finally silent.

Robin climbed off of her branch and slid down a long pole of arms to join Ricky on the ground as he got off of Yama.

"What did you do to him?" Ricky inquired.

"I used his Dials against him," Robin answered, "It doesn't surprise me that they can be used as weapons too."

"What's a Dial?" Ricky asked.

Robin's eyes widened in surprise and it took a considerably amount of control not to gape at him, "We've been here for over a day now and you still don't know what Dials are?" she questioned.

Ricky shrugged and waved her off, "I doesn't matter, let's go find that city of yours."

Robin allowed him to lead her off into the forest. "You're really something else."

**-x-**

"That's a big beanstalk," Ricky observed when he and Robin arrived at the edge of the clearing. "Is this the city?"

The enormous beanstalk loomed over the modest collection of ancient stone buildings. None of the buildings were over fifty feet. For something that was supposed to be Shandora the legendary City of Gold, it seemed rather underwhelming.

"It's supposed to be," Robin told him as she scanned the notes she'd taken from the tablet and led him into the middle of the ruins. "This should be the center of the city… But it doesn't match up at all with the map on the monument. I wonder if the entire city could have been broken up when it was thrust into the sky."

The two of them stepped over a ledge into a stone tunnel. As they made their way through it Robin scanned the walls for an explanation to the different layout of the city. They left the tunnet and stepped out onto the soft white island cloud.

They made their way into the middle of the ruins and stopped short in front of Giant Jack.

"At some point I'm gonna climb that," Ricky decided as he stared up the enormous, seemingly unending beanstalk above them.

"Feel free," Robin told him, "I'm more interested in what's down here."

Ricky glanced down and prodded the squishy white cloud with the tip of his boot, "That's odd," he remarked then looked over at Robin, "We've establish that the island of Upper Yard is made out of dirt and was blasted up into a world of white cloud hundreds of years ago, right?"

Robin nodded.

"Then why is the ground here made up of cloud?" Ricky questioned. "Shouldn't this be dirt too? Or at the very least stone like there was back at the monument?"

Robin glanced down at the Island Cloud at her feet. "Good question," she said. "Why would Blue Sea ruins have Island Clouds for ground?" Robin's eyes widened and a true smile spread across her face. "That must mean that these ruins are only the upper parts of the city! The rest of it must have been eaten up by Island Clouds… so there's got to be more below! We just need to find the entrance…"

Robin broke away from him and walked over to a stone tablet and took a moment to scan the symbols that were on it before she crosschecked them against the ones in her notes.

"If that's right then that means the entrance is over there…" Robin realized. She turned away from the stone and went back to Ricky. She didn't even break her stride and instead just grabbed his wrist and pull her along with her. "It's this way!"

"Hah-ha," Ricky chuckled to himself. "It's nice to see you so enthusiastic about something."

Robin didn't respond but instead stopped at the base of a long flight of stairs that led up to an opening at the top of one of the tallest ruins in the area. "This is the only entrance."

"In that case," Ricky took off and started to run up the steps, "Race you to the top!"

Robin stared after him. Her sense of composure insisted that racing up the stairs was beneath her dignity. But at the top of the stairs was an entrance to a city that was centuries own. What did she care more about, her composure and dignity or finding this historic city. In the end, Nico Robin was an archeologist to the core, she lived and breathed history and she always would. Her composure and dignity were walls she'd made around herself due to spending all her life alone. But the thing was, she _wasn't _alone anymore.

With her decision made, Robin ran up the steps after Ricky. She stretched her long legs and took them three-at-a-time in an attempt to close the distance between them.

Ricky smiled when Robin caught up with him then put on another burst of speed when she passed him on the stairs. They eventually reached the top at about the same time. They went through the entrance and found themselves in an old stone room. The middle of the floor was filled with island cloud.

"We should be able to go down into the city through here," Robin noted. "We just need to cut through the cloud."

"I'm on it," Ricky agreed as he drew his sword and quickly cut a large square in the cloud then reached down and pulled out a large cut. **Floosh! **Ricky tossed the large cube of pillow-like cloud to the side then jumped down into the hole he'd made and cut a smaller square then pulled out the resulting cube of cloud and tossed it up to Robin who caught it with two pairs of extra arms and placed it down alongside the hole.

They continued to work in that fashion, Ricky cut progressively smaller holes and passed them up a long chain of extra arms to Robin who placed the cloud out of the way. The advantage of the different sized holes that Ricky had cut was that the sides of the hole now resemble stairs and would be easier to climb up and now than a steep drop to the bottom.

**Slish… **Ricky jabbed his sword through the cloud he was kneeling on but stopped when he realized that he didn't feel cloud through the hole. "I've made it through!" he called up to Robin.

Robin jumped down the cloud stairs and knelt next to Ricky as he cut another square. **SWISH! **The cloud fell and they looked down through the resulting hole as the square of cloud dropped down into a large opened chamber below them.

Ricky and Robin jumped down through the hole and landed on the soft square of cloud that had fallen before them. **SQUA-SQUISH! **Unlike the chamber above, there wasn't much cloud. They found a stone staircase and took it to an even lower level.

"Light!" Robin exclaimed as they cut through some vines at the end of the long hallway. She raced down the hall and Ricky ran right behind her. Robin took a step out of the building and skidded to a stop when the ground under her immediately ended.

"Whoa!" Ricky gasped as he stopped next to her and stair out ahead of them.

Large stone buildings spanned out as far as the eye could see and lived up to the definition of a city. They were all incredibly old and had vines growing over them but the architecture of the building showed that they'd been made by an ancient civilization centuries ago. And despite being hundreds of years old, the buildings were remarkably preserved and had remained intact under the safety blanket of white island cloud above.

"This is it!" Robin announced, "It's all so majestic and grand! We've actually found it! This is the great city of Shandora! The City of Gold!"

"It's amazing…" Ricky whispered. He was no archeologist but even he had been awed at the sight of the magnificent city.

Robin turned to him, "Thank you," she said, her voice full of passion. "I had spent twenty years trying to find that Poneglyph back on Alabasta. When I realized that it didn't have the information that I was after, I didn't know what to do. I had searched almost my whole life for it and it turned out to be a dead end. All I wanted to do was learn the True History and share it with the world. At that point it seemed impossible."

Robin smiled and continued, "But then you pulled out that scrap of paper that proved that there was _another _Poneglyph in Alabasta. I had spent twenty years searching for the first one, you and your crew stumbled across the other out of pure luck. I took a chance and went with you to that chamber in the middle of the desert and finally got a glimpse of what I had been searching for my whole life."

"I thought that maybe you had just gotten lucky," she admitted, "But then I realized that was the kind of luck that I've been missing. I had gotten so close when I was with you so when you invited me to join your crew, I accepted. When I'm with you… I feel like I'll actually be able to accomplish my dreams. This is the proof, we're in the middle of a legendary city that's over eight hundred years old and is ripe with history. I never would have been able to find this if I hadn't joined you."

Ricky smiled back at her, "That's what being a Straw Hat Pirate is all about," he told her. "Chasing your dreams while surrounding yourself with people that you care about and that care about you in return."

Robin reached out and slowly wrapped her arms around Ricky for a tentative hug. He smiled then hugged her back and almost missed her nearly inaudible whisper. "Please don't betray me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ricky assured her.

**-x-**

Next chapter, those that remain in the survival game behind to climb the giant beanstalk known as Giant Jack and have to contend with God Eneru's last remaining Priest Skybreeder Ohm.

I'd like to extend a special thanks to Kallin22 for prodding me along and encouraging me to finally get this chapter written posted. Thank you.

'Till Next Year…

Peace!


	25. Climb Giant Jack

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**Climb Giant Jack:**

**-x-**

Ricky and Robin broke their hug and turned to stare out at the impressive City of Gold.

"Hey Robin," Ricky spoke up, "Do you mind if I leave you here?"

"Mr. One Eye, this is an ancient city that's over four hundred years old," Robin reminded him. "This is an opportunity for us to learn untold secrets about a civilization that existed centuries before we did."

"I understand that," Ricky said, "And I'm happy that I could help you find something that means so much to you. But like I told you earlier when we fought that mountain guy… I'm standing next to what's most valuable to me in this entire city. You're in your element, so I know you'll be perfectly safe if I leave you down here. But I've got six other Nakama that I can't say the same thing for. I want to make sure they're okay, so I'm going to go climb that beanstalk and see if I can find any of them. We'll meet up afterwards and you can sum up everything that you found down here. That's a history lesson that I'd love to hear."

"Very well," Robin agreed. Ricky nodded then turned and started to head back into the building that they'd come down through. "Ricky…" Ricky stopped in his tracks at the sound of Robin actually calling him by his name and turned back to face her. "Thank you. Thank you for going out of your way to help me find this. It means more to me than you'll ever know."

"Happy to do it, Robin," Ricky replied. "Have fun."

Robin flashed him a fond smile and he darted off into the ruin. Robin made herself a chain of arms and lowered herself down to the ground and began her exploration of the ancient city.

Robin stopped and peered into a dark room and spotted something that was seemingly out of place in the ancient city.

"It can't be!" Robin exclaimed. She darted into the room and stopped to stare up a dark stone structure that had some familiar symbols carved into it. "These are the symbols of the Poneglyphs. And this means that the ancient Shandians were familiar with them. I had thought that only the people who had created the Poneglyphs could read them…" Robin began to decipher the ancient written language that only she could read. "_'We shall know the true meaning an utter it to no one. It's our legacy to be the inheritors of history with the sounding of the Grand Belfry.'_" Robin stopped and her sharp mind analyzed what she just read. "Noland's old log book said something about the sound of a bell. If the Shandians were familiar with these symbols that can only be because they had seen a Poneglyph before. All the city's ancient writing were destroyed in a fire but my instincts tell me that they were familiar with these symbols because there was a Poneglyph here in the city. It could still be here."

Robin headed out of the dark room and started down the main road. She took the time to marvel at the ancient city around her. It was truly an archeologist's dream.

"There's no question about it," Robin stated, "A Poneglyph was carried into the city and it faced great hostility as a result." Robin's trained eyes scanned the buildings as they went passed. "Shandora, the ancient city fought and fell to protect that Poneglyph. The Grand Belfry is in the middle of the Four Altars… the Poneglyph must be there. That Poneglyph could contain the text of what I've been searching for all my life… the True History. It could be the Rio Poneglyph!"

Robin's face lit up with as she followed the path towards what could be the answer to an age-old question and her life-long dream.

**-x-**

An hour remained in Eneru's sick Survival Game. Twenty-three people remained. For Eneru's horrifying prediction of seven survivors to be accurate another sixteen people had to fall.

Chopper's tongue hung out of his mouth as he continued to climb up the massive beanstalk. It looked like he had nearly reached the top as the bit of the beanstalk that was still above him disappeared into a blanket of white cloud. But there was no telling how high the beanstalk after that.

"_Almost there."_ Chopper thought to himself, _"I can't wait to see the look on all of their faces when they discover that I found the gold first." _With that in mind, Chopper grinned as he continued his climb.

**Shoom! Klak! Klak! Shoom! **Chopper's sensitive animal hearing picked up a strange sound from below him. He glanced down and spotted a black blur that was flying up the side of the giant beanstalk. **Klak! Klak! SHOOM! **

"_They're getting closer," _Chopper realized as he watched the black blur close in on him/ It was now close enough for him to realize that it was a person. _"Please don't be another priest, please don't be another priest!"_

**Klak! Klak! SHOOM! **Chopper noted that the other climber wasn't climbing up the whole beanstalk like Chopper was. Instead, they took advantage of the beanstalk's spiral shape and launched from one part of the spiral up to the part directly above them. It certainly cut down the climbing time and it explained why the other climber continued to rapidly close in on Chopper.

**Klak! Klak! SHOOM! **The other climber was now close enough for Chopper to make out his red hair. _"That's not a priest at all!" _Chopper realized, "BIG BROTHER!"

"Chopper?" Ricky questioned as he flew up the beanstalk. "Hold on, little guy, I'll be right up!" **Klak! Klak! **Ricky sank his sword and one of his boots into the side of the beanstalk then slid his other foot upward and used it for leverage before the launched himself up towards Chopper. **SHOOOM!**

**Klak! Klak! **Ricky sank into the part of the spiral directly below Chopper then launched himself up to the part that Chopper was on. **SHOOM! Klak! Klak! **Ricky sank his sword and his foot into the beanstalk beside Chopper then turned and smiled at him.

"Chopper!" Ricky exclaimed, "Great to see you! What're you doing up here?"

"I… I'm looking for the City of Gold," Chopper answered.

"Oh, well you're going the wrong way," Ricky corrected him. "I just came from there. It's down below us. Those ruins down there are actually the top of the tallest buildings in the city. Remember, this island is an island of dirt up in the sky so that layer of clouds down there that you probably thought were the ground weren't always there."

"So… did you find the gold?" Chopper inquired.

"I didn't see any," Ricky admitted, "But Robin fell in love with the place when we found it. So that made going there completely worth it."

"Robin's with you?" Chopper repeated, "Where?"

"I left her down in the city so I could find you guys," Ricky explained, "You should've seen the look on her face when we first found it. She looked like a kid in a candy store, or Nami when she opens a big chest of treasure, she was really excited and really, really happy."

"Oh… so… no gold?" Chopper questioned.

"There _is _gold," Ricky informed him, "just not down there. Actually, you're going the right way for that. I sense a huge amount of gold somewhere up above us."

"Ooooh!" Chopper gasped.

"So… how have you been?" Ricky asked.

"Well after that snake attacked and we all got separated, I got lost," Chopper told him. "Some weird goat guys and some scary-looking guys with tattoos attacked me but I managed to run away and I ended up in the ruins down there. I got attacked by some weird priest but don't worry Big Brother, I'm a man and I managed to beat him!"

"Congratulations," Ricky praised him, "You're a true pirate. This weird priest… did he dress in purple and do a lot of stupid stuff?"

"Yeah, have you met him?" Chopper inquired.

"I met all four of the priests yesterday," Ricky reminded him. "You're lucky because that one seemed pretty stupid. Luffy and the others beat the round one that gave me some trouble. But the one you really need to watch out for is the bald one with the giant dog. He's dangerous."

"What about the one on the bird?" Chopper questioned.

"Well, I already beat that guy," Ricky stated, "If he comes after me for a rematch, I'll know how to do it again."

"Oh, that's good," Chopper replied before he glanced off behind them and went bug eyed, "BECAUSE HE'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!"

"**RAAAHHH!" **Ricky turned and saw Fuza swoop towards them. There was a predatory gleam in the bird's eyes. Clearly it recognized them as the two pirates it had met at the Sacrificial Altar where its former master Shura had first been defeated by one of them.

"Look out Chopper!" Ricky yelped. His hand shot out and he grabbed his younger brother by the furry scruff of his neck and leapt out of the way just as the bird unleashed a torrent of fire. **SKISH!** **FWOOOOOSHH!** The fire burned the beanstalk but Ricky had acted fast enough to avoid it.

**SHUNK! **Ricky sank his sword into the beanstalk and they hung there and tried to recover. "That was close," Chopper sighed in relief as the bird flew around the beanstalk for another pass.

"Get on my back, Chopper," Ricky instructed, "It's coming back around."

Chopper scrambled over to Ricky and climbed onto his back just as Fuza came around the beanstalk. "HERE IT COMES!"

**SKISH!** Ricky didn't try to avoid the bird this time, instead he leapt towards it which caught the bird by surprise. Ricky used the bird's surprise to his advantage and reached out and grabbed onto its beak and snapped it closed. **Whap!** Ricky's sudden weight on Fuza's beak threw the bird off balance. The sword in Ricky's bottom hand that was now pressed against the bird's throat kept the bird from fighting back. Ricky took advantage again as he pulled the off balanced bird forward and jammed its beak into the side of the beanstalk. **SHUNK! **

"There, now I don't have to deal with your fire-breathing bird again," Ricky noted. "Come for a rematch, have you Shura?" Ricky finally looked up at Fuza's rider and his eye went wide.

"Ricky… that's… not him," Chopper pointed out as he stared transfixed at the Shandian.

"This bird is familiar with you," Kiko noted as he eyed the pirates. "That must mean that you're the one that first defeated Shura. I suppose I should be grateful, but I know that Wyper would have killed him even if you hadn't beaten him first. Make no mistake, you may have defeated my enemy but you're a Blues Sea Dweller so that means YOU'RE MY ENEMY TOO!"

"…" Ricky and Chopper continued to stare at the oddly-dressed Shandian. They noted his shaggy pink hair that fell to his waist in back and nearly concealed the strange board he had strapped to his back on top of his wings. They eyed the pink and red tattoos on his face that looked like eyeliner and the pink and red tattoos on his chest that started from around his nipples, they took in his jewelry which consisted of dangling red ring earrings and a fang and pink bead necklace, before they finally settled on his pink loincloth and his pink painted claw nails.

"WHAT'RE YOU TWO STARING AT?" Kiko demanded. "HAVE YOU NEVER SEEN A SHANDIAN BEFORE?"

"Whoa," Ricky gasped, "Looks like they have Okama's up here in the sky too."

"What's an Okama?" Chopper questioned.

"You remember Mr. 2, right?" Ricky asked, "He dressed in that weird swan-themed women's ballet costume and wore make up. He was an Okama. I guess this is what an Okama looks like up here in the sky. A Sky-kama."

"Teeheehee!" Chopper laughed, "Skykama!"

"YOU UNCULTURED BLUE-SEA SAVAGES!" Kiko hollered. "THIS IS TRADITIONAL SHANDIAN JEWELRY AND TRADITIONAL WARRIOR TATTOOS!"

"I'd be more likely to believe that if it wasn't all pink," Ricky retorted. "See, Chopper, his hair's pink but his eyebrows are black. That means he dyes it."

"Dye? He kills his hair?" Chopper questioned.

"No he uses a chemical to change its color," Ricky explained. "Sort of like paint for hair."

"MY HAIR IS AN HOMAGE TO THE GREAT WARRIOR CALGARA!" Kiko bellowed. "A BLUE SEA DWELLER LIKE YOU WOULD KNOW NOTHING OF THIS!"

"I doubt it was pink," Ricky countered.

"AS FAR AS YOU'RE CONCERNED, PINK IS THE COLOR OF DEATH!" Kiko snapped.

"NO IT ISN'T!" Chopper shouted back as he adjusted his pink top hat. "PINK IS THE COLOR OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND MIRACLES!"

Kiko's eyes widened in surprise then he glared at them, "MIND YOUR PET!"

"Hey, he's not a pet!" Ricky protested, "Chopper's my brother!"

Kiko blinked. "Seriously?"

"Speaking of _pets_," Ricky spat, "That's what the guy who used to fly around on this bird said when I told him about my furry little brother. What're you doing with this bird?"

"Shura fell in battle and to the victors go the spoils," Kiko stated, "This bird is mine now. And that makes me… KIKO THE BEAST MASTER!"

Ricky cocked is head to the side but then shook it, "Nope," he replied, "Skykama works better."

"YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE MY NAME!" Kiko snarled.

"That's odd, where I'm from a person doesn't get to decide their own name," Ricky said, "A name or a nickname is something that's given to you by other people. Coming up with your own name must be another strange Sky Island custom."

"Big Brother, Usopp gives himself new nicknames all the time," Chopper pointed out.

"Yeah but he's weird," Ricky answered, "None of us actually call him Captain Usopp or any of his other names unless we're teasing him. Anyway, I think I'll just call this guy 'Skykama' until I can think of something better."

"YOU DARE TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME?" Kiko screeched. "I'LL DESTROY YOU AND YOUR FURRY BROTHER TOO! HOO!" **Whap! **Kiko jammed his elbow into his side which caused a long blade of fire to spit out of the tube on the back of his hand. **FWOOM!**

"FIRE SWORD!" Chopper screamed as Kiko swung the fire blade at them. **FWOOOOSH!**

**SKISH! **Ricky launched himself off of Fuza's head and flew up over the fire blade. He stuck his sword in his mouth in a 'Zoro-fashion' so he could spin around and grab onto the beanstalk with both hangs. He quickly scrambled up along the spiral shape of the beanstalk to get away from the Shandian he'd just succeeded in royally pissing off.

"DAMN IT BIRD!" Kiko hollered at Fuza as he pulled on the red feathers on the bird's neck. "FREE YOURSELF! HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Now that Ricky's sword was no longer pointed at is neck, Fuza was all too happy to pull its beak free.

"Chopper," Ricky pulled his sword out of his mouth and used their momentary safety to address the reindeer on his back. "I'll deal with the Skykama, you go on ahead without me."

"But Big Brother, I can help you fight," Chopper assured him. "I might've used up the three minutes on my Rumble Ball but I can still help."

"You just fought that priest," Ricky reminded him, "It doesn't seem fair to make you fight this crazy guy right after. You won't be safe on my back, I'm gonna need to move around and dodge a lot of fire in this battle. If you really want to help, you'll go on ahead without me. That way I won't have to worry about you while I'm fighting. Once I beat this guy, I'll catch up with you."

**SWOOOSH! **Fuza swooped around the side of the beanstalk with Kiko on his back. "BURN HIM BIRD!"

"RAAAAH!" Fuza crowed. The two now had a common enemy so the bird was now all too happy to follow the commands of the Shandian that had taken the place of its master.

Ricky let go of the beanstalk and stared to fall. He kept his hold on his sword with one hand but used his free hand to pull Chopper off his back and throw the tiny reindeer up the beanstalk.** FWOOOM!** Fuza's torrent of fire burned the spot that Ricky had just been holding onto.

**Whap! **Chopper grabbed onto the beanstalk and started to climb. "Good luck big brother."

"HEY SKYKAMA! DOWN HERE!" Ricky called up to the Shandian. **Tmp! **He dropped onto the top part of the beanstalk's spiral and started to slide down it.

"PERPARE TO DIE, BLUE SEA DWELLER! HOOO!" Kiko roared as he ignored the runaway reindeer and directed his flying steed to swoop down after the pirate that had found so much enjoyment in insulting him and his heritage.

**Whap! **Kiko jammed his other elbow into his side and caused three fire blades to shoot out of the tube on his other arm before he swung his fire-claw at Ricky. **FWOO-FWOOOOSHH!**

"WHOOA!" Ricky yelped as he jumped off of the spiral to avoid another fiery attack. _"Okay so he's got one fire blade on his right hand and three on his left. I don't know how he makes them but I know I've gotta avoid them and the fire-breathing bird unless I wanna be roasted."_

"RAAAH!" **FWOOOM! **Said fire-breathing bird sent another stream of fire at him.

**SKISH! **Ricky leapt to the side to avoid the fire then grabbed onto the beanstalk to stop his fall.

**Wha-whap! **"HOO! RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU!" Kiko roared as he jammed both his elbows into his sides and swung four whip-like blades of fire at Ricky. **FWAA-FWOOOOOM!**

Ricky let go of the beanstalk and dropped downward to avoid the four blades of fire. But since Kiko had swung them downwards, the four blades continued to swing downwards after Ricky.

"Oh crap!" Ricky cursed as he raised his sword up above his head and swung it around like a propeller. **FWOOSH! **The fire made contact with the blade of Ricky sword but it didn't deflect the fire, instead it absorbed the four blades of fire and became a bright flaming red cutlass.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Kiko demanded as he glared at the Blue Sea Dweller's strange sword that was now covered in _his _flames.

**Tmp! **Ricky dropped down onto the top part of the spiral again and held his flame-covered sword out to his side. _"I guess this means I can't put it in my mouth anymore,"_ Ricky noted. _"I've gotta figure out a way to turn this battle around. Dodging is only bringing me further down the beanstalk, Robin would hurt me if I let this guy damage the top of the City of Gold. The fire-blades and that bird mean that I can't get near that guy to fight him, so I've gotta fight him from a distance." _Ricky glanced at his fire-covered sword and grinned.

"Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine, Skykama!" Ricky called up to the Shandian on the bird as ran along the spiral and swung his sword. "Red Storm… WILDFIRE LIGHTNING STRIKE!" **FWOOM! **A burning red air blade flew off of Ricky's sword.

Fire blade flew over Fuza's head and cleaved into Kiko's left shoulder.

"YAAAH!" Kiko howled in pain as he arm went limp.

"What do you know, a flaming flying blade attack," Ricky noted as Kiko clutched his injured shoulder. "I bet that hurt." A sly grin spread across Ricky's face as he noted which shoulder he'd managed to hit. "Oh wait, was that the arm that you launch _three_ fire blades from? Too bad."

**-x-**

**Shooom! Shooom! **Laki sped alone along the Milky Road through the forest of Upper Yard as she tried to wrap her mind around what she had just seen.

"_But why?" _she wondered. _"Why was everyone charred black? It was almost as if they…" _The pictured the charred lifeless bodies of the Shandians and the Divine Warriors that she'd seen._ "They'd all been struck by a bolt of lightning."_

**SKUUSSH!** Laki skidded to a stop when she recognized a body. She leapt off of the Milky Road and landed in a crouch next to the charred body of Kamakiri.

"KAMAKIRI!" Laki called out to the Shandian Warrior that had saved her from Ohm yesterday. "KAMAKIRI!" Laki knelt down next to him.

"Uuugghh…" Kamakiri groaned. Despite being blasted by Eneru's lightning, the warrior was still alive. "Uhhh… Laki… is… that… you?"

"Yes," Laki answered.

"Go… get out of here… Laki…" Kamakiri wearily urged her.

"Why?" Laki asked. "Tell me."

"Uugh…" Kamakiri grunted. "Wyper… he's headed… for God's Shrine. But Eneru isn't there. There's… still time… Laki. Stop… Wyper…"

"Alright, I understand," Laki told him, "Now quiet, save your strength."

"Nobody… can beat Eneru…" Kamakiri whispered as he thought back to the horrors he'd seen an experience when he tried to face God.

"_I am living lightning!" God had proclaimed. "Yahahahahaha!"_

Tears leaked out of the once proud warrior's eyes and ran down his cheeks at the thought of more of his fellow warriors facing Eneru.

"Laki…" Kamakiri spoke up again, "Hear me… he comes as lightning… an element that man has feared from the beginning… and rightly so… he can't be conquered…"

"Don't worry," Laki reassured him, "I'll stop Wyper. You just wait here and save your energy." Laki took Aisa's bad off of her shoulder and put it down next to Kamakiri. "I'm going to leave Aisa's bag with you." Laki stood up and leapt back onto the Milky Road. **Shooom! Shooom!**

"_Nobody… can beat Eneru…" "He can't be conquered…" _

Kamakiri's words echoed through Laki's mind as she sped along the Milky Road.

"_Kamakiri is so strong," _Laki thought to herself, _"Yet his will has been broken."_

"If what he's said is true, then Eneru's eaten a Logia-type Devil Fruit," Laki realized, "The most powerful kind of all. I've got to stop Wyper before it's too late."

**-x-**

"Joh… joh… joh…" the South Bird chanted to itself as it followed Zoro through the forest in hopes of getting some of the yummy food that it thought the swordsman had in his bag.

"Hmm… I've been here…" Zoro mumbled to himself, "It looks… familiar… Or have I…"

Zoro stared out over a lake of Sea Clouds… at the Sacrificial Altar. Somehow the swordsman's horrible sense of direction had led him back to where he'd started out from when he was with Luffy, Ricky, Chopper and Robin.

"Aw… probably not," Zoro grumbled.

"Jooh…" the South Bird scoffed at Zoro's horrible sense of direction.

**WHAP! **Zoro threw his bag at the South Bird. "ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME?" he yelled.

"Jooh joh jooh jooh joh joooh johhh!" the South Bird taunted him. Just for kicks, I'll translate. _"I'm a walking compass, you bumbling moron! How could you possibly get lost when I've been following you all this time! It's one thing to have a horrible sense of direction but you take getting lost to a whole new level! You're hopeless you food-hogging, hairless monkey!"_

"What're you so worked up for anyway?" Zoro wondered, unable to understand the bird's ire. "The only reason you came along in the first place was to get some food! My bad sense of direction shouldn't matter, ya dummy!"

Food… the yummy food that was in Zoro's bag… the bag that he'd just thrown at the South Bird.

The South Bird's attention drifted from the clueless swordsman that was berating it to the bag that was lying on the ground next to it. "Joooh!" The South Bird started to drool at the thought of the yummy food that was in the bag.

"AAH! NOOO!" Zoro yelled as he lunged for his bag.

**WOOOSH! **The South Bird grabbed the bag and flew off… with Zoro the other end of it!

"HEY!" Zoro shouted. "LET GO OF THAT, YOU FEATHER-BRAINED JERK! THERE'S NO MORE FOOD IN THERE! AAAH! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING US? I HATE BIRDS!"

**-x-**

Luffy continued to wander along the long cave he'd found himself trapped inside of. He still had the golden crown that he'd found perched on top of his straw hat.

"Of all the weird places to end up," Luffy grumbled, "Exit! Exit! Where's the exit? There it is!" Luffy had seemingly reached the end of the long cave. But there was no opening to let him out. "Huh? It's a dead-end?" Luffy looked back over his shoulder at the long way he'd come. "You can't be serious… I walked all this way? Uh, maybe… maybe it's a trick door!" Luffy grinned. "Let's find out! I can always try busting through this stupid thing!"

**Klak! **Luffy dropped his stick and stretched his arms out behind him.** SHOOOM!**

"GUUUUM… GUUUUM… BAAAAZOOOOKAAAAA!" **KER-WHAAAM! **Luffy smashed his fists in the dead end 'exit' with all his strength but it didn't budge.

"But it… it didn't even budge…" Luffy realized as he stared at the unmoved exit.

**Rmbl… rmbll… **Suddenly the entire cave started to move. **THOOOM! **The portion of the cave the Luffy was in reared up almost like it was the head of a giant snake and the rubber pirate fell down into the long cave.

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy screamed. "NOOOT AAGAAAAIIIIN!"

**-x-**

**Chopper vs. Ohm:**

**-x-**

**Shunk! **Chopper pushed his way up through the layer of Island Clouds and found himself on a small island that was covered in ancient ruins. The ruins of Shandora had even reached this high up above the base of the city. This area was known as the Upper Ruins

"Look at those ruins!" Chopper remarked as he pulled himself out of the hole he'd made in the cloud and started to explore the island in search of the gold. "Waah!" Chopper stumbled to the side on a patch of uneven ground but managed to regain his footing. "What's up with this place? The ground's all crooked." Chopper glanced around him and shrugged, then shuffled along the uneven ground. "I guess I'll go this way…"

"Go-old! Go-old!" Chopper chanted as he made his way through the ruins.

"**GRRRUUUFFF!" **a loud growl came from above him.

"**No Holy, stay!" **a man's voice ordered. **"I said stay!"**

"**Ruuuuff!" **Chopper looked up and started into the massive tooth-filled mouth of the giant dog known as Holy. **WHUMP!** Holy heeded his master's command and dropped to the ground beside Chopper. Chopper goggled at the sheer size of the enormous dog.

"WAAAAA-HAAAAAA-HAAAAA-HAAAAA!" Chopper screamed in terror. _"WHAT WAS I THINKING? I'M TOO LITTLE TO DO THIS ALL BY MYSELF! I SHOULD'VE GONE BACK!"_

Holy just stopped and stared blankly at Chopper. But where there was Holy there was Ohm.

Eneru's final Priest sat cross-legged on the edge of a bit of ruins and surveyed the reindeer and his giant dog.

**-x-**

"DAMN YOU!" Kiko growled as he clutched at his burnt and bloody shoulder. The fire on Ricky's sword had gone out after his attack but the Shandian still eyed it warily. "JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? WHAT KIND OF SWORD ABSORBS FIRE?"

"Says the guy with four fire swords," Ricky countered.

"They're not swords, THEY'RE FLAME CLAWS!" Kiko snapped. "I have Flame Dials on my elbows that shoot fire up through the tubes on my arms and out through the tubes on my hands. The tubes on my hands allow me to control the fire and swing the blades like burning claws."

"How informative," Ricky replied, "Wait, what's a Dial?"

Kiko's eyes widened in surprise, "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" he hollered. "ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD COME HERE WITHOUT KNOW WHAT A DIAL IS!"

"Hey, hey hold on!" Ricky protested, "I beat a Priest and some big fat guy that called himself a Commander, granted I had help on that second one, but I think I'm doing okay for myself."

"You beat Yama the Commander of Eneru's warriors and one of the four Priests and you still don't know what a Dial is!" Kiko exclaimed. "Both their weapons are powered by Dials!"

"Hey, the fat guy just threw his weight around and kicked big chunks of rock at us," Ricky pointed out. "And you're riding on the Priest's fire-breathing bird."

"The bird has a Flame Dial in its mouth!" Kiko snapped. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

**-x-**

Chopper looked warily from the giant dog to the scary bald man that was seated on a ruin up above him. He remembered what Ricky said earlier. _"But the one you really need to watch out for is the bald one with the giant dog. He's dangerous."_

"You… you're a priest," Chopper realized.

"My reputation precedes me," Ohm remarked as he continued to survey Chopper from his perch up on the edge of a ruin. "That's right, I'm Skybreeder Ohm. I am the Almighty Eneru's final Priest and I run the Ordeal of Iron. You're an interesting little creature. Somehow you managed to make it all the way up here. Animal or not, you're the third one to make it this far today. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Chopper replied, _"This guys doesn't seem so scary…"_

"I can't believe that spider-headed fool was so careless," Ohm growled, "You killed Gedatsu, didn't you?"

"_I guess he means that guy from earlier," _Chopper realized as he thought back to the priest he'd already fought. He hadn't killed him but the last Chopper saw of Gedatsu was when the incompetent priest sank into his own Swamp Cloud trap.

"I suppose it's for the best," Ohm resolved, "The world is better off with one less imbecile, wouldn't you agree?"

Chopper stiffened and slowly began to back away from the suddenly very scary priest. But his hoof bumped into something and he tripped over it. **Fwump! **

Chopper sat up and looked for what had tripped him, "What the… I tripped over… WAAAH!" Chopper's eyes bugged out when he saw that he'd tripped over the bloody body of a Shandian. The fallen warrior was covered in wounds that made it look like he had been mauled by a bear… or a giant dog.

"EEEEEEEK!" Chopper shrieked as he stared down at the bloody body and then up at the massive dog. "WAAAAH! WAAAAH! WAAAAH! WAAAAAHH! WAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Calm yourself," Ohm called out over Chopper's screams. "There's no need to be so afraid of Holy. He's merely a pet. He won't bite you."

"THEN WHAT ABOUT THIS GUY?" Chopper yelled. "IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S BEEN CHEWED UP AND SPIT OUT!"

"I assure you, Holy is a very well-trained dog," Ohm informed him. "He would never bite anyone. It was _I _who attacked that man."

"WAAAAH?" Chopper yelped. "ARE YOU CRAZY? WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

"Be quiet," Ohm scolded him as he held hid hand up to his sunglasses. "Do you think I'm not saddened by what has happened here?" There were tears coming out of the priest's eyes. "I don't understand, why do men choose to fight when they must know how fragile their lives are?"

"I'm not really sure," Chopper admitted.

"Man was put here to find happiness," Ohm continued, "Yet time after time they throw themselves into battle, only to lose their lives along with the joy that they struggled so hard to find. What a strange a tragic thing is man's nature." Ohm wiped his tears away. "There is only one way to be redeemed… and that is for all men to die."

"GAAAH!" Chopper gasped in alarm. "OH PLEASE SIR, YOU DON'T REALLY MEAN THAT. DO YOU? THIS IS BAD!"

"What have you come here for?" Ohm asked.

"Oh, I was just trying to find the City of Gold," Chopper replied.

"GREED ONLY LEADS TO RUIN!" Ohm roared. "You… must be rescued."

"You wanna rescue… me?" Chopper questioned.

Ohm stood up and drew his long sword and announced. "Only losing your life will save you from all your earthly desires!"

"_HE DOESN'T WANNA RESCUE ME AT ALL!"_ Chopper shouted to himself.

**-x-**

Wyper had finally reached the giant beanstalk and began to ski his way up it. **SHOOM!**

"To make it to God's Shrine I have to climb to the top of Giant Jack," Wyper said to himself. "And if Eneru is there its time I brought an end to our terrible history."

**SHOOooom… **Wyper skidded to a stop when he spotted Kiko on Shura's bird Fuza. "Kiko, what's going on here?" Wyper looked up the beanstalk and spotted Ricky.

"Oh great, here's another one," Ricky groaned, "Hey wait a minute! You're the guy that attacked our ship when we first reached the White Sea. I still recognize you even if you're not wearing that mask anymore!"

"Wyper, look out!" Kiko called out in alarm. "This is the Blue Sea Dweller that defeated Shura! He also defeated Commander Yama!"

"To be fair, I had help on that one," Ricky chimed in, "But if we're gonna list all my credentials, I also got attacked by all four Priests at once when I first set foot on this island yesterday. That earned me a special visit from Eneru which as you can see, I'm still alive to tell about."

"YOU'VE SEEN ENERU?" Wyper demanded. "WHERE?"

Ricky's eye widened in surprise, "Yesterday, I saw him yesterday," he informed the Shandian. "But you know, the guy can appear and disappear at will. And he knows everything that's happening on this entire island. Maybe instead of just looking for him, you should wait for him to come to you?"

"You may have a point," Wyper admitted, "But that means I need to find something else to occupy my time with until he decides to show himself." Wyper pulled his bazooka off of his back and aimed it at Ricky. "I guess you'll do."

"Eww…" Ricky said as he glanced from Wyper to Kiko. "Maybe we could just talk about this?"

"I'm done talking," Wyper stated. Then he fired. **BOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

"WAAAAH-HAAAA-HAAAA-HAAAA!" Chopper screamed as he ran through the ruins in a desperate attempt to escape the crazy bald priest and his scary giant dog. "BIG BROTHER! HEEEEELP! YOU WERE RIGHT! HE IS DANGEROUS! HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Chopper ran in the clumsy manner that only he could and raced in circles around the buildings of the ruins before he shot around a corner that was really only on the other side of the building he first ran around.

"Huff… huff… huff…" Chopper panted as he hid against a wall and peered around a corner for any signs of the Priest and his giant dog. "He didn't follow me. I'm okay. I bet he's a Priest too. But it looks like there are a lot of places to hide around here. If I can just stay hidden long enough to escape I can try and meet up with the others."

Chopper backed away from the wall and made his way towards the edge of the ruins.

"I have to make sure he doesn't see me," Chopper reasoned, "He looked like a swordsman so as long as I keep my distance I should be okay."

**-x-**

"Hm, he's run quite a long way," Ohm noted as he used his Mantra to find the runaway reindeer. "But running from salvation… is futile. Attachment to this life is a result of evil desires. Therefor… " **Shik… **Ohm slowly drew his sword and focused on where Chopper was.

**SHOOOOOM!** A white blade shot through the ruins, raced up to Chopper and cleaved into him. **SLA-SLISH!**

**Thud! **Chopper dropped to the ground with a long bloody gash going down his small chest. Chopper had managed to survive an encounter with Shura and had even beaten Gedatsu but it wasn't until he'd face the final Priest Ohm that he'd finally fallen.

"The path to peace leads to but one place," Ohm proclaimed as he posed with his bloody sword, "This is the Ordeal of Iron! The Survival Rate is Zero!"

**-x-**

"AH!" Aisa yelped as she sensed Chopper's defeat. "ANOTHER VOICE DISAPPEARED!"

"Aisa?" Nami asked in concern.

"I CAN'T JUST SIT HERE!" Aisa shouted. "I'VE GOTTA GO FIND LAKI!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Nami snapped.

Aisa ducked under the railing of the front deck of the Going Merry and dove off the ship.

"WAIT!" Nami called out as she reached the railing a split second later. "AISA!" She took another second to pull her yellow t-shirt off which left her in her bikini top then dove off the ship after Aisa. "GET BACK HERE!" Nami quickly caught up with the Shandian girl then grabbed her and pulled her to her.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Aisa yelled. "I'VE GOTTA SAVE LAKI! LET GO I'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW! LET GO! THIS ISN'T ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS!"

"Maybe it's not any of my business," Nami admitted as she held onto the girl as she struggled, "But there's no way I'm gonna sit back and let a little kid get herself killed!"

"I'm a warrior!" Aisa insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, kid warrior," Nami scoffed. "Hey, those dirty looks don't scare me, so knock it off!"

Pagaya and Conis watched the two from the railing. It seemed that despite how tough Nami had been on Aisa earlier when they'd first met, she hadn't hesitated for a second to help the girl when she was putting herself in danger.

None of them noticed the massive snake as it weaved its way through the trees nearby and dipped down into the Milky Road.

**-x-**

**SPLOOOSHH! **"WAAAH!" Luffy yelped as another wave of Sea Clouds washed into the 'cave' and blasted him further back inside of it.

**-x-**

"Nami, is everything okay?" Pagaya called out from up on the Going Merry.

"We're fine," Nami replied as she dragged the still-struggling Aisa over to her Waver. "Alright, stop messing around and get in the Waver."

"WAAAAAHH!" Aisa screamed as she fought against Nami. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU HAVE TO LET ME GO SO I CAN SAVE MY FRIENDS! I HAVE TO HELP THEM!"

"You'd better knock it off right now, or I'm gonna slug you," Nami threatened the girl. Aisa's eyes went wide as tears welled up in them. "Look, you saw the condition that _my _friends are in, didn't you? Do you want to end up like them? Well, do you?"

"Waaahhh…" Aisa let out a weak whine. She's seen the charred and burnt bodies of Usopp and Sanji and that was definitely something she wanted to avoid happening to her.

Nami sighed and her expression softened, "Come on, I'll help you in the boat." She lifted the girl up out of the Sea Clouds and helped her into the Waver.

**SPLOOOSH! ** The massive green and whiskered head of the giant snake broke the surface of the Milky Road and came up to the Going Merry, just its head easily dwarfed the caravel.

"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Aisa screamed at the sight of the giant snake while Nami took a second to pull herself up into the Waver with Aisa before she looked up to see what had caused the girl to scream _this time_.

Nami's eyes widened in terror as she stared up at the massive snake that made her ship look like a bath toy. Her terror only increased when the slit-like pupils of the massive snakes yellow eyes were focused ON HER.

"Oh no…" Nami whimpered.

**-x-**

"Koff! Haaah! Haaa! Koff!" Luffy wheezed as he finally regained his footing in the cave while small drops of Sea Cloud dripped down around him. "Okay, that was scary. What's with this lame cave anyhow? First there was an earthquake, then a flood of Sea Clouds, I COULD'VE DROWNED! YOU HEAR ME? OPEN UP!" Luffy stretched out his leg and drove his foot into the wall of the cave. **WHAAAM!**

**-x-**

**RRROOOAAAAAAAHHHHRRRR! **The massive snake let out a loud roar. Someone with a trained ear might be able to tell that it was a roar of pain, but to Nami, Conis, Pagaya and Aisa it was simply terrifying.

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" Aisa, Conis and Pagaya screamed.

"WHY'S IT GOING CRAZY?" Nami shrieked.

**-x-**

"RAAAH!" Luffy yelled inside the cave. "LEMME OUTTA HERE!" Luffy shot both his fists out at the side of the cave. "GUUUM… GUUUMM… GATLING!" **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!**

Luffy drove his powerful fists into the cave walls over and over again, oblivious to the consequences of his actions as usual.

**-x-**

**RRROOOOOAAAAHHHHHRRRRRR! **The snake howled at the pain it suddenly felt in its stomach. The snake made a crazed dive which was enough to send Nami speeding off alongside the Milky Road in her Waver.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Nami screamed while Aisa clung to her as they attempted to avoid being eaten by the angry snake. They veered to the side to avoid the snake's body and turned into the giant forest of Upper Yard.

"NAMI NO!" Pagaya called after them. "THAT WAY LEADS TO THE FOREST!"

Nami looked back over her shoulder and saw that the snake had followed her into the forest "WAAAAAAHHH!"

"NAMI!" Conis yelled in alarm. She and her father watched in alarm – even though his eyes were _still _closed as the snake chased their friend and the Shandian girl into the forest. "What do we do, father? They've gone into the forest!"

**-x-**

**SKISH! **A Shandian warrior with shaggy brown hair jumped back to avoid the blast from one of Eneru's warrior's Ax Dial.

"Ha! Missed!" the Shandian taunted.

"You got lucky!" the warrior retorted.

**TMP! TMP! **The two of them landed on the ground beside the Milky Road.

"**WAAAAAHHHH!"**

They both looked up when they hear screams.

"Huh?" the shaggy Shandian grunted.

"What's that?" the warrior wondered.

**SHOOOM! **"AAAAAHHH!" Nami screamed as she sped along the Milky Road on her Waver.

"Who's that?" the Shandian asked.

"I don't know," the warrior admitted. "SOMETHING'S COMING!"

**KROOOOM! **The massive head of the monster snake burst through the trunk of one of the massive trees and caused the two of them to jump back in alarm.

"AAAAHH!" Nami screamed, she noticed the two strange men she didn't know and didn't care about and pointed towards them in a desperate attempt to redirect the snake's anger, "GO THAT WAY! THAT WAY!"

"LORD OF THE SKY!" Eneru's warrior yelled out in alarm at the sight of the snake.

"No way, Aisa!" the Shandian exclaimed when he noticed the familiar girl with Nami.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" the two of them screamed as the massive snake plowed into them.

Nami ignored the screams from behind her and sped along the Milky Road in a desperate attempt to escape the snake. They eventually made into a small clearing and skidded to a stop.

"Huff… huff…" Nami panted and looked over her shoulder for any sign of the monster snake then she looked down at the girl terrified girl who still had her leg in a death-grip. At least she was still okay.

It was then that Nami finally realized where their escape from the snake had brought them. "We're… inside… the forest…"

Nami wanted to scream, normally she would have but she had to put on a brave front for Aisa. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," she decided. Nami reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a familiar sapphire raindrop necklace.

"What's that?" Aisa asked as Nami put her Ricky Original on.

"This necklace is our key to getting rescued," Nami explained. "You know how you can sense people's voices from all over this island? Well my… boyfriend can sense treasure. He made this just for me so he can find me when I'm in trouble. Once he realizes that I'm in the forest he'll come find us."

"I don't believe it," Aisa stated.

"It's true!" Nami insisted, "He really can find it!"

"No, not that," Aisa replied, "I don't believe you have a boyfriend. You're mean and naggy."

"WATCH IT, TWERP!" Nami snapped. "I told you he'd come and rescue us, but I meant he'd come and rescue _me_. You're only included in that if you're still with me. And if you keep talking like that, I'll leave you here to fend for yourself!"

Aisa frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Mean and naggy," she repeated.

Nami's hard expression softened as she turned away from the Shandian girl. "So maybe he's not quite my boyfriend yet," she admitted. "We haven't really gotten around to making it official. But he likes me even though I'm mean and naggy."

"Uh-huh," Aisa said, she still seemed unconvinced.

"I don't even know why I'm talking about this with you," Nami growled.

**KROOOOM!** The monster snake suddenly burst through the trunk of a huge tree and let out a loud that caused both of them to scream while Nami sped off in the Waver. **SHOOOM!**

"CAN HE STILL SAVE US IF WE GET EATEN BY A GIANT SNAKE?" Aisa hollered.

"I DON'T WANNA FIND OUT!" Nami screamed back at her.

**-x-**

"JOOOH!"

A familiar South Bird flew up above the forest with a bag clutched in its claw while an even more familiar swordsman dangled underneath it as he hung from the bag.

"Hey! What's the big idea!" Zoro called up to the bird. "Are you even listening to me?"

"JOOOH!" the South Bird crowed.

"I'm gonna pluck you and cook you up in a stew!" Zoro threatened the bird.

The bird ignored the angry swordsman and instead focused on a sound that it heard from down below it.

**RHHOOOAAAHHR! **A split-second later a massive snake shot out from the forest below them and snapped its fangs that the bird.

"YAAAAH!" Zoro let out a manly shriek of terror as he swung his lower body away from the snake's mouth.

"JOOOHH!" the South Bird cried in alarm.

"HEY, COME ON, FLY HIGHER!" Zoro hollered at the South Bird. "I DON'T WANNA BE GIANT SNAKE FOOD! CAN'T YOU FLY ANY FASTER, YA DUMB BIRD?"

The monster snake stared after the bird and the pirate then began to slither through the forest in pursuit of them.

"IT'S STILL COMING AFTER US!" Zoro shouted as he looked down and watched the snake weave its way through the forest with ease. "Something must've really pissed it off!"

Meanwhile, the 'dumb bird' had a sudden realization. It had to deal with this annoying passenger because it wanted the yummy food that he had in his bag. But the bird knew that the snake was after it because it thought the human was yummy food. But since the stupid human had a firm hold on the bag of yummy food, the snake would easily eat the bird along with it. However, if the bird was no longer holding onto the human that the snake saw as yummy food then the snake would go after the human while ignoring it. The bird resolved that it was better to lose yummy food than to _become _food.

**Whiff! **The bird let go of Zoro's bag.

"WHY YOU!" Zoro yelled as he dropped seemingly to his doom while the bird flew off passed a giant beanstalk. "WAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The snake looked up and saw its food fall from the sky.

**-x-**

"Wyper, be careful!" Kiko called out, "The Blue Sea Dweller's sword can absorb fire!"

"Then it's a good thing I switched back to my regular bazooka after my fight with Straw Hat," Wyper resolved.

"Wait, wait, you saw Luffy?" Ricky cut in. "Where? When?"

"A while ago," Wyper answered as he aimed his bazooka right at Ricky. "That bastard ran off like a coward."

"Okay, hold on," Ricky said, "That doesn't sound like Luffy at all. He'd never run from a fight."

"Well he did," Wyper stated, "Then a giant snake attacked and I got out of there."

"A giant snake?" Ricky repeated as he remembered the giant snake he'd fought off with Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and Robin before they'd gotten separated. "Oh, you mean like that one there?"

"WHERE?" Kiko yelped as he spun around to look. Despite himself, Wyper turned to look too. But there was no sign of a snake. "There's no snake there!"

**SKISH! SKISH! **Ricky launched himself up the beanstalk as he raced away from the two Shandian warriors.

"DAMN YOU, BLUE SEA SCUM!" Kiko howled. "I'LL GET YOU!" **WOOSH! **Kiko pulled on Fuza's feathers and the bird started to fly up the beanstalk after Ricky.

"Just like Straw Hat," Wyper growled. **SHOOOM! **He used his Dial-powered skis to speed up the beanstalk after Ricky and fired his bazooka at him. **KA-BOOOOOM!**

Ricky looked over his shoulder and spotted the incoming blast and launched himself up off of beanstalk and out of the way. **SKISH!**

**WOOOSH! **Kiko flew in for an attack. "DIE BLUE SEA SCUM!"

"RAAAH!" Fuza roared and breathed fire at him. **FWOOOSH!**

"NO! YOU STUPID BIRD!" Kiko scolded his steed as Ricky swung his sword into the oncoming stream of fire.

Ricky grinned as held up his flame-covered sword. He spotted Wyper flying up towards him. "Red Storm… WILDFIRE TORNADO!" Ricky spun around and slashed his sword. A circular fire blade flew from his sword and expanded outward in all directions.

"WAAAH!" Kiko yelped as he and Fuza dove out of the way to avoid the fire.

**SHOOM! **Wyper launched himself off of the beanstalk then flipped in midair to avoid the fire blade. **FWIP! **While a flipped, Wyper aimed his bazooka and fired at Ricky. **KA-BOOOM!**

"Uh-oh," Ricky said as he slashed his sword at the incoming round. **SLISH-BOOOOOOOM! **Wyper's round exploded and Ricky was blasted backwards _up _the beanstalk and crashed down onto the side of the beanstalk. **THUD! **"Ow…"

**Tmp! **Wyper landed on the beanstalk then sped up towards Ricky. **SHOOM!**

Kiko pulled up out of this dive on Fuza and they flew up after Wyper. **WOOOSH!**

Ricky held onto the beanstalk as Wyper raced towards him. "What's with those fancy shoes?" he wondered as he eyed Wyper's skis. "They move over the ground just like a Waver."

"They're powered by Dials, just like a Waver is, fool," Wyper stated as he drew close enough to hear Ricky's musings.

"Yeah, I still don't know what those are," Ricky admitted.

"Then your ignorance will be your downfall!" Wyper retorted as he aimed his bazooka at Ricky and fired. **KA-BOOOM!**

Ricky stared wide-eyed at the incoming round then launched himself backwards. **SKISH! **The round struck the beanstalk and exploded. **KA-BOOOOM!**

Ricky flew through the smoke from the explosion and flipped over. Wyper went wide-eyed as Ricky flew feet-first out of the explosion. "BLUDGEON STOMP!" **WHOMP! **Ricky drove his feet into Wyper's chest. Wyper tumbled downward and slammed into Fuza who was right behind him, **WHAM! **After the collision, the two Shandian Warriors and the bird fell down the beanstalk. **THUD! **The three landed on the top of the spiral a good fifty fee below their point of impact.

Meanwhile, Ricky spun in the air and sank his sword into the side of the beanstalk so he didn't fall after Wyper and Kiko. **Shunk!**

"Phew, that was close," Ricky sighed as he looked down at his adversaries. His eye widened when he spotted something coming up the beanstalk. Even with his limited depth-perception the massive snake was impossible to miss. "Uh… guys… giant snake…"

"I'M NOT FALLING FOR THAT AGAIN!" Kiko snapped.

"Curse my noble nature," Ricky muttered to himself. He pulled his sword free from the beanstalk then launched himself downward towards the two Shandians. **WOOOSH! **Ricky swung his sword at Kiko as he reached him. "Red Storm… LIGHTNING STRIKE!"

"WAAH!" Kiko yelped as he weaved to the side to avoid the incoming air blade.

Ricky pulled his sword back in and dropped passed Fuza then snatched the board off of Kiko's back as he dropped passed him.

"YOU LITTLE THIEF!" Kiko yelled when he realized his Dial-powered board had been stolen right off of his back. He looked back to yell at Ricky. "I'LL CLAW YOUR—SNAAAKEEE!"

Wyper looked back and his eyes widened in alarm, "He was telling the truth this time!"

The two Shandians watched as Ricky fell towards the giant snake. Ricky tucked Kiko's board under his sword arm then reached up with his free arm and pulled up his eye patch.

**RHHOOOHHHRR! **The snake let out a loud roar as it opened its mouth and waited for the pirate to drop into it.

Ricky pulled back his arm and then shot it downward, "Red Eye… PUNCH!" **WHOOOSH! **Ricky's unseen attack connected with the snake's whiskered snout and knocked it downward.

Ricky spun and landed on the beanstalk below the two Shandians and quickly pulled his eye patch back down.

Wyper and Kiko stared down at the Blue Sea Pirate in surprise, they weren't sure _how _he'd done it but their opponent had somehow just saved them from the giant snake.

"Okay… time to try this weird Sky-Board," Ricky decided as he put down Kiko's dial-powered board and stepped onto it. "If its anything like the Waver I just have to push down on this pedal here and then…" **VVRRR… **Ricky pushed down on the pedal with his foot and the Dial roared to life. **SHOOO-WHUP! **Ricky wasn't ready for the suddenly speed and leaned back to steady himself, this caused the board rear up and flip upward. **FWUMP! **Ricky fell and landed ungracefully on his back. **FWUMP! **"Ow… my pride…"

"HAAAAHAAHAAA!" Kiko howled with laughter at Ricky's failed attempt to use his board.

"Idiot," Wyper muttered.

Ricky got back up and stared up at the two Shandians, "Okay, how 'bout you guys never mention than to anyone, and I won't mention that I saved you from that monster snake."

Kiko's laughter stopped and he turned to Wyper. They certainly didn't want anyone to know that they had to have a Blue Sea Dweller save them. Especially one so moronic that he couldn't even operate a Dial-powered board properly.

"Deal," Wyper agreed.

"Okay then," Ricky resolved as he got back on Kiko's board, "Let's try this again…" Ricky crouched down on the board and pressed down on the pedal. **SHOOOOM! **The board sped up the beanstalk while Ricky stayed low and struggled to keep his balance on the board.

**RHHOOOAAAHHRR! **The giant snake had recovered from Ricky's attack and once again started to slither its way up the beanstalk.

**SHOOOOM! **Ricky reached the two Shandians, "For the sake of not getting eaten, how 'bout we get back to horizontal ground, deal with the snake, then settle our business when it's done?"

"Fine," Wyper conceded, "Once I deal with you and the snake, then I'll take Eneru's head."

Ricky stayed in his crouch as he sped passed them up the beanstalk. **SHOOOOM! **Wyper activated his skis and sped after Ricky. **SHOOOOM! **

**WOOOOSHH! **"I'll take my board back when this is over!" Kiko called after Ricky as he flew after him.

"Not likely Skykama!" Ricky replied as he stood up on the board and held his arms out as he leaned from side to side to stay balanced. "I'm finally getting the hang of this thing!"

**WHOOOSH! **The three of them burst through the clouds as they reached the Upper Ruins.

"Now…" Ohm said to himself as he drew his sword and slashed it at the odd trio that had just entered his new territory. **SLIIISSHH! **A long white blade shot out in front of the pirate and the two Shandian Warriors.

**SWISH! **Wyper and Kiko veered to the side to avoid the sudden attack while Ricky launched himself off of the beanstalk. "Whooooaaa!" Ricky yelped as he landed in the ruins. **SHOOOM!** The board kept going and he sped through the ruins. "How do you stop this thing?"

"TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE PEDAL, IDIOT!" Kiko yelled.

"**WAAAAAAAAHHH!" **A new voice joined the fray as Zoro dropped down out of the sky.

Ricky looked up at the familiar swordsman. "Zoro?"

"Ricky?" Zoro replied… before he landed on him. **KRASH! **The two Straw Hats landed in a heap while the two Shandians stared at Ohm.

"I see you two have beaten Shura," Ohm noted. "But if you go any further up Giant Jack, you'll reach God's Shrine. What makes you think you have permission to pass?"

"Grrr, damn you," Wyper growled at Ohm as the priest calmly made his way back over to Holy.

**WHISH! "It doesn't matter,"** came another new voice. The Shandians and the Priest looked up and spotted Gan Fall perched on the ruins across the clearing with Pierre behind him. "Heading for that shrine is no longer useful."

"Gan Fall!" Kiko called out.

"PIIIIEEE!" Pierre crowed.

"RAAAH!" Fuza roared at the other bird.

"What business do you have here?" Wyper demanded of the former God. "Still can't let go of your old position?"

"No," Gan Fall answered, "But I still have responsibilities that I have yet to fulfill. I thought you might be interested in knowing, I've come from God's Shrine. It's tragic, the entire things been utterly destroyed." Gan Fall thought back to what he'd recently seen. Eneru's old hang out was trashed. The servants were all charred and black. It looked like it had been through a horrible lightning storm. "Naturally, Eneru was nowhere to be found. Perhaps it means, he no longer has any need for it."

"_It appears that their years of hard labor are over," Eneru had informed Gan Fall when he'd visited him on the Going Merry. "You see, this island is no longer useful to me. I've simply come to bid you farewell."_

"I DEMAND TO KNOW OHM!" Gan Fall shouted at the last remaining priest. "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU AND YOUR MASTER SEEK TO DO?"

"HOLD ON!" Wyper cut in, "Are you saying Eneru's not up there?"

"Wyper..." Kiko whispered, "Maybe we should do as the Blue Sea Clown said and wait for him to come to us?"

"Maybe you're right," Wyper agreed, "And what better way to do that than to eliminate his final Priest and the former God."

"Hey Zoro… thanks for dropping in…" Ricky muttered as he and Zoro laid in a pile nearby.

"Uuuugghh…" Zoro groaned as they pulled themselves apart.

"How'd you get all the way up there anyway?" Ricky wondered as he sat up and grabbed his new 'Sky-Board'.

"Ricky, you were right all along," Zoro said as he sat up near him. "Birds _suck_!" The two pirates stood up. "More ruins… Ricky, where are we?" Zoro glanced at the two Shandians, the Priest, and the Former God. "These guys all look pretty tough…"

"Another of Straw Hat's friends," Wyper realized.

"You two!" Gan Fall exclaimed as he spotted his two friends from the Blue Sea.

"One Eye…" Ohm growled as he recognized Ricky from their encounter yesterday.

Zoro drew his sword and called out to the others, "Hey, hand over the gold!"

"Look, what we have here," Ohm announced, "More greedy infidels seeking their salvation."

"There's no gold here Zoro," Ricky corrected him, "Just a big fight from the looks of it."

"Fine by me," Zoro replied.

"ENOUGH!" Wyper called out, "WE'LL DESTROY EVERY ONE OF YOU!"

"HOOOO!" Kiko howled as he held up his good arm.

"The time has come Ohm!" Gan Fall addressed the Priest, "Tell me where Eneru and the Divine Squad are!"

The two pirates, two Shandians, two birds, Priest, dog, and Former God stood in what somewhat resembled a Mexican Standoff, only they didn't have any Mexicans.

**-x-**

"YOU STUPID CAVE!" Luffy yelled from in the snake, "JUST LEMME OUT!" **KA-POOW!**

**-x-**

**ROOOOAAAARRR! **The massive snake let out a roar as it burst through the clouds and slithered up into the Upper Ruins.

**-x-**

"Huh?" Robin questioned as she looked up at the sound of the loud roar that seemed to come from high above her. "What's going on up there?"

**-x-**

"And there's the snake…" Zoro muttered.

"You ran into the snake too?" Ricky questioned, "The guy with the cannon said it went after Luffy but then it chased me and those two up the beanstalk."

"That's because it chased me and some mooch of a bird all the way over here," Zoro told him.

"Busy snake," Ricky noted. "By the way, Robin and I found the City of Gold earlier. There was no gold but I left Robin down there so she could study the city."

"Then where _is_ the gold?" Zoro asked.

"It's even further up the beanstalk," Ricky answered, "But baldy over there won't let us pass."

Ricky and Zoro had their swords drawn, Gan Fall held his lance at the ready while Pierre crowed from behind him and flexed his wings, Wyper hefted his bazooka onto his shoulder, Kiko clenched his uninjured hand and readied his claws while he sat on the back of Fuza, Ohm held his hand on the handle of his sword while Holy laid loyally by his side and finally, the massive snake bared its fangs as it stared down at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

"I'm sure you each feel what you have to say is important," Ohm stated as he drew his sword, "But there's only one way for your voice to be heard! You must survive, or find salvation!"

**-x-**

**Combat in the Upper Ruins**

**-x-**

"Now if you're ready," Ohm announced, "It's time to bring this to an end. The Mighty Eneru has prophesized that you won't survive."

"Oh yeah?" Zoro retorted. He still wanted to kick 'God's' ass.

"I don't know, he seems to like _me _for some reason," Ricky stated.

"If only your hearts hadn't been tainted by greed," Ohm said, "You might have lived longer. I'll grant you a few moments to repent before I render judgment."

"Huh, you must be one of those priests," Zoro realized.

"Actually, he's the last priest Zoro," Ricky informed him, "Luffy, Usopp and Sanji beat the fat one yesterday, those two warriors over there finished off the one I beat and took his bird, and Chopper beat the dumb… Hey wait a minute… Where's Chopper?"

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked.

"I ran into Chopper when I was climbing the beanstalk," Ricky explained, "I sent him on ahead when the Skykama attacked us. Although, at that time I didn't know that baldy was up here." Ricky turned and glared at Ohm, "Hey you, what'd you do to my little brother?"

"If you mean that creature that came up here looking for gold earlier, I passed judgment on him," Ohm answered.

"You didn't…" Ricky gasped as his eye widened in horror. He turned and called into the ruins "CHOPPER!"

"It is as I said," Ohm continued, "The Almighty Eneru has prophesized your deaths. For what its worth, I allowed the creature to repent for its sins and gave it salvation."

Ricky turned to glare at Ohm but Zoro stepped in front of him, "Find Chopper. I'll handle this." Ricky jumped onto his Sky-Board and sped off into the ruins. **SHOOOM!** Zoro turned back to Ohm. "I couldn't care less about your god or his prophecies. The only thing preordained for me in this crazy place is taking that gold."

"I will forgive you for that sin too," Ohm told him. "Your only salvation lies in a quick death. That I can mercifully provide with my Ordeal of Iron. I'll save all of you."

"Hmph," Gan Full grunted, "High and mighty words from a braggart such as yourself."

**SWISH! **Ohm jumped onto Holy's back. "Let's go Holy," he ordered his dog, "Be as ferocious as you want, boy."

"GRRAAAAH!" Holy growled as the no-longer docile dog got to its feet.

**WOOOOSSHH! **Gan Fall hopped onto Pierre's back and took off into the sky."That one is our target, Pierre," Gan Fall instructed his bird. "He is the most powerful so we must neutralize Eneru's priest first."

"PIIIEEE!" Pierre agreed.

**ROOOOAAARRRROOOOAAA! **The giant snake roared.

"I'm really getting sick of you snake," Zoro stated as he pointed his sword at it. "I mean how the hell did you get way up here anyway?"

**-x-**

"Uuugghhh…" Luffy groaned, "Damn it… one minute this place is up then the next it's down… This is one messed up cave."

**-x-**

"Well I guess the three of you…" Wyper said as he loaded a new round into his bazooka nad aimed it at his enemies. "WILL JUST HAVE TO DIE TOGETHER!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOOM! **The column of Blue Flames blasted out from the end of the Burn Bazooka and across the clearing which caused the others to scatter.

"GRAAAAH!" Holy barked as he leapt out of the way with Ohm on his back.

"PPPIIIIEEE!" Pierre crowed as he flew higher up into the air.

"RAAAAH!" Fuza roared as he Kiko swooped passed Wyper.

"Heh heh," Zoro chuckled as he eyed the long mark that Wyper's blast had made in the ground. "You need to work on your aim there, pal!"

"INSOLENT BLUE SEA DWELLER!" Wyper snapped. "You think you can just come to this land and take what is rightfully ours? You have no idea how long and hard we've struggled!"

**WOOOOSSH! **"PIIIEEE!" Pierre swooped around a strike from the snake then dove under a torrent of fire from Fuza. **FWOOOOSH! **Then continued to fly towards the priest on the giant dog.

"If you sky-people wanna blow each other to pieces, that's your business," Zoro said as he readied his sword, "It's like I told that priest, I COULDN'T CARE LESS!"

Zoro raced at Wyper, "That figures," Wyper replied. **SHOOM! **His ski roared to life and he shot his leg out to meet Zoro's attack and blocked it with his metal ski. **KLANG! **

"Grrr…" Zoro growled as he reared back then went for another attack. **SKISH! **Wyper flipped up into the air to avoid it.

"I should have finished you from the start," Wyper resolved as he flipped upside-down and aimed his Burn Bazooka at Zoro. **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! SKISH! **Zoro leapt out of the way and avoided the blast.

"Damn," Zoro cursed as eyed the 'tunnel' that Wyper had blasted through the ruins. _"This guy's actually tougher than I thought."_

**-x-**

Ricky escaped the chaotic battle and sped through the ruins on his Sky-Board. "Chopper!" he called out into the ruins. "Chopper! Where are you? Answer me! Chopper!"

**SHOOOM! **Ricky leapt over a ruin and his eye widened in horror when he spotted something on the ground. "Oh no… CHOPPER!"

**-x-**

**ROOOOAAAARRR! **The monster snake roared as it reared its head back.

Zoro charged at Wyper as Wyper readied his bazooka. **SKISH! **At the last second, Zoro leapt to the side. Wyper was caught by surprise and turned to see Zoro bounced off of the ruins. **SKISH! **Zoro flew at Wyper and lashed out his swords but Wyper got his foot up and blocked the attack with his metal ski. **KLANG! **

**SHOOM! **Wyper launched himself away from Zoro and aimed his Burn Bazooka at him again. "NOW DIE!" he yelled.

But Wyper stopped his attack when a large shadow fell over him. Zoro and Wyper looked up in alarm and saw the giant snake in the middle of a dive. **RRROOAAHHHHHSSSS!**

Zoro and Wyper landed on the ground then launched themselves out of the way. **SKISH!**

The massive snake's body slammed down in the spot where they'd just been. **KROOOSH! **The snake's head kept going and it sank its fangs into the high point of a nearby ruin. **CHOMP! **Purple seam rose off of the stone ruins as the snake's venom made the ancient ruin crumble.

"Alright, note to self," Zoro said out loud, "Gotta watch out for those poisonous fangs."

**Grrrrr… **The smoke cleared and Zoro found Ohm and Holy behind him. **RUUUFFF!**

"Speaking of fangs!" Zoro exclaimed as he turned to face the dog.

**WOOOSH! **The massive dog swung its giant paw Zoro and the swordsman quickly jumped backwards to avoid it. **SKISH! SWISH!**

"Whoa!" Zoro gasped as he stared up at the dog, "I've never seen a dog move like that!"

"Not many people have," Ohm informed him, "You'll find that Holy knows a great number of commands, beyond just Sit and Stay. I'm a Skybreeder, renowned for my special animal training. I've even trained him to walk upright on two legs, and to fight like a Champion Boxer!" Zoro watched in surprise as Holy reared up onto his hind legs while Ohm sat on his head. Holy's front paws hung down at his sides like a person's arms. "Show him, Holy!"

"RUFF!" Holy barked as he swung his paws around in a fancy boxing combination. **SWISH! SWISH! SW-SWISH! **Holy ended in a fighting pose with its paws poised for an attack.

"Uuhh… nice doggy…" Zoro called out.

**RAAAH! **Ohm looked up and slashed his sword and cut through a torrent of fire from Fuza. **SWIISSHH!**

"You may be a Skybreeder BUT I'M THE BEAST MASTER!" Kiko howled as he jammed his elbow into his side then lashed his fire blade at Ohm. **FWOOOM!**

**SKISH! **Ohm jumped up over Kiko's fire blade as it skimmed over Holy's fire blade.

"RUUUFF!" Holy spun around and lashed out his paw and smashed it right into Fuza. **POOW! **

"**RAAAaahh!" **Fuza whined before it went crashing into the ground. **KRASH!**

**Tmp! **Ohm landed back on Holy's head, "Good boy," he praised his dog, "I've wanted to swat that annoying bird for years. There's a difference between training and breeding an animal versus just jumping on one and claiming it's yours. I didn't care for Shura. At all. But he was the one that put in the effort to train that bird. You don't even begin to compare to him."

**SWOOOOSH! **Another bird swooped in. Ohm spun around and raised his sword. **KLANG! **Ohm deflected Gan Fall's incoming spear as the Sky Knight flew passed him on Pierre.

"Gan Fall," Ohm growled as he watched the former God fly in a wide circle around Holy. "You were already beaten by Shura! Don't you know when to quit! What do you really hope to do? I doubt you even have enough strength left to properly wield that spear!"

"I don't know what Eneru is plotting," Gan Fall admitted, "But I will stop Him with my dying breath if need be."

"There's no way a washed up God like you could ever understand Eneru's Noble Thoughts!" Ohm scoffed. "Gan Fall, you're a foolish old man, a man that doesn't have long to live!"

**-x-**

"After them! Don't let them escape!" A group of Eneru's warriors called out as they chased after Nami and Aisa on their Waver. "BAAAA!"

"You hear that?" Nami asked as Aisa hugged her waist from behind while she piloted the Waver. "It sounded like… goats!"

"Those are Eneru's Warriors!" Aisa told her, "if they catch us they'll kill us! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!"

"I'd love to!" Nami replied, "But in case you haven't noticed, I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE'RE GOING!"

**VVVVRRRRRRR! **They sped along the Milky Road and eventually reached the edge of the clearing where they spotted a giant beanstalk.

"Ah! What's that?" Nami wondered.

Aisa peeked passed her, "It's called Giant Jack," Aisa answered. "Eneru's Shrine is supposed to be up above it."

"Eneru's Shrine?" Nami repeated. "I DON'T WANNA GO THERE!"

Suddenly Aisa's Mantra kicked in and she noticed the huge battle that was being waged up on the Upper Ruins between Gan Fall, Ohm, Zoro, Kiko and especially Wyper.

"Wyper!" Aisa exclaimed.

"What?" Nami asked.

"Wyper's up there!" Aisa exclaimed. "So is Kiko! They're alive!"

"Are any of my friends up there?" Nami inquired.

"One… No TWO! The scary one is up there too!" Aisa told her.

"Then maybe we _should _go there," Nami decided.

"**BAAA! THEY'RE HEADING FOR GIANT JACK!" **came a voice from behind them.

Nami looked over her shoulder and spotted three of Eneru's warriors behind them.

"WE CAN'T LET THEM REACH GOD'S SHRINE! BAAA!"

"QUIT FOLLOWING US!" Nami yelled back at them.

**-x-**

**RRRRHHHHOOOAAAHHH! **The giant snake roared as it smashed through more of the ruins. **KROOOSH! WHAM!**

**SKISH! **Zoro jumped clear over a ruin to avoid it and dropped to the ground then did a forward roll before he finally came to a stop. **Fwip!**

"That stupid snake!" Zoro growled, "It keeps getting in my way!"

"Zoro…"

Zoro's head whipped around as he spotted Ricky on his knees nearby. "Ricky!"

"I found him…" Ricky whispered, Zoro's eyes widened in horror when he spotted a small, furry, _bloody _form in Ricky's arms.

"CHOPPER! NO!" Zoro yelled as he shot to his feet and ran towards them.

"I see, the creature was part of their crew," Ohm noted as he watched Zoro run towards Ricky. "Hey, watch your step over there."

**Klick! **Zoro's foot pressed down on a loose rock. **BANG! **Barbed wire shot out and slashed into Zoro's arm. **SLA-SLISH! Fwip! **Ricky dropped to the ground and threw his body over Chopper's as the chain of barbed wire shot over him.

"Ugghh…" Zoro grunted as he looked at the jagged gash it had made on his arm. "What the… barbed wire?"

**SHOOM! **Wyper landed nearby and noted the two Blue Sea Dwellers and the barbed wire that ran in between them. "So that's his Ordeal," Wyper realized.

"Chopper!" Zoro exclaimed as he pushed himself onto his knees while Ricky moved around the barbed wire and held Chopper on his lap. The reindeer had bloody gashes going across his small chest and arms, and another one along the side of his face. "Ricky is he…"

"Barely," Ricky answered.

"A shame isn't it?" Ohm called out to them. Both Ricky and Zoro glared at him as they rose to their feet. "Those barbs are Iron Cloud. They're light as a cloud but as hard as iron. But they've been blown into shape by a Milky Dial. I've rigged several of them with hidden triggers. You and your little friend found out the hard way what happens when you step on one. This field is a weapon. I don't have to attack you. I can sit back and watch your own blundering do you in. I'm partially responsible for that animal's defeat but he's also to blame. He stumbled into my Ordeal all by himself."

"This _animal _is my little brother…" Ricky growled as he set Chopper down on a raised ruin nearby. His arms were will covered in Chopper's blood. "He's a doctor. He wouldn't have hurt a fly unless it was evil and attacked him first."

"Oh, I guess you want to get revenge now, huh?" Ohm questioned.

"No, believe it or not, I don't fight for revenge," Zoro answered. "But..."

"That's good, because I _do_," Ricky interrupted as he stepped passed Zoro and glared at Ohm. "Dibs."

"What!" Zoro exclaimed. "You can't just call Dibs on fighting someone!"

"I just did," Ricky replied.

"We've all been fighting that guy!" Zoro insisted.

"Too bad, because I'm gonna be the one to take him down," Ricky countered.

"Hold on, what about me?" Zoro protested.

"There's the guy with the bazooka that attacked us when we first reached the White Sea, there's the crazy Skykama on the other priest's bird, and in case you missed it, there that massive snake that attacked us earlier," Ricky pointed out. "Pick one, or all three, I don't care. All I know is that I'm gonna tear this guy apart."

"Ya know, maybe there's a reason why that priest we met back at that temple made you wrath," Zoro noted.

"Maybe there is!" Ricky snapped. "But when a little brother gets hurt, it's the big brother's responsibility to make whoever did it regret it. Why do you think Ace has spent the last year on a man hunt? Fighting for each other is what brothers do." Ricky pointed his red sword at Ohm. "Hey baldy, I'm coming for you!"

**-x-**

**Survivors Gather:**

**-x-**

Meanwhile, down the beanstalk and a little off the shore of Upper Yard, Pagaya and Conis dropped anchor on the Going Merry. They'd managed to get the Going Merry around God's island to the Straw Hats' designated meeting spot.

"Well Conis, I think we've arrived," Pagaya announced. "This is the sea shore where our Blue Sea friends were planning to meet, right?"

"Yes father," Conis answered, "This is where Nami told me they'd be dropping anchor."

"Well then what should we do now?" Pagaya wondered. "I really wasn't expecting to look after their ship. None-the-less, we must protect it at all costs until they return. I'll sound the horn to scare off any threats!"

"Right," Conis agreed, "Good idea father. Let them hear our resolve!"

Pagaya moved back to his ship and strapped down the horn so it played in a continuous loop. This resulted in the bugle wake-up call-like horn to sound non-stop.

Pagaya headed back up to the front deck and addressed Suu who was perched on the rear railing. "Keep your eyes opened Suu," Pagaya told the Cloud Fox, "I'm counting on you to keep watch."

"Suu suu!" Suu chirped and actually saluted in response then darted to the side railing to keep an eye on the island the Going Merry was anchored alongside of.

The horn continued to blare as Conis looked down upon Usopp and Sanji in the storage room. The Sniper and the Cook were both still unconscious but had been bandaged to the best of Nami's ability. As Conis stared down at the two pirate that had saved her from God's Judgment, she couldn't help but think about how dedicated the Straw Hats all were to each other.

**-Flashback-**

"Nami, you mentioned a promise?" Conis asked before Nami and Aisa had been chased into the forest by the monster snake.

"Oh that," Nami replied, "Luffy, Ricky and the others went into the forest on an errand. But we all promised to meet up on the north-west shore so that's why I've got to go over there."

"Do you think they're okay?" Conis asked. "Things are very dangerous in the forest right now. I just hope they're alright."

"Don't worry," Nami reassured her. "That's my crew we're talking about. They'll be fine."

**-End Flashback-**

Conis stared down at Usopp and Sanji and Pagaya's horn was still sounding in the background.

Conis dropped down in between them, "Hang on!" she encouraged the two pirates, "I'll nurse both of you back to health! You'll be better in no time!"

Meanwhile, Pagaya stood behind the front railing on the front deck and somehow stared at the forest with his eyes closed. _"Please everyone, be safe," _his thoughts went out to the Straw Hats, _"I'm sorry the Sky Island is like this."_

**-x-**

But back in the forest of Upper Yard, the Survival Game waged on and the casualties piled up.

Shura was dead, Satori hadn't moved from when Sanji had kicked him yesterday, Braham had been taken out by Zoro, Genbo had been defeated by Yama, Kamakiri and over a dozen warriors on both sides had been fried by Eneru's lightning attack, Yama had lost to Ricky and Robin and Gedatsu had completely disappeared after his fight with Chopper. The bodies of Eneru's Priests and his warriors as well as the Shandians littered the forest floor, all had fallen during Eneru's deadly Survival Game.

"DON'T STOP UNTIL WE'VE TAKEN ENERU'S HEAD!" a Shandian shouted.

"THE ONLY HEADS THAT WILL ROLL ARE YOURS, SHANDIAN!" one of Eneru's Warriors retorted.

"CLIMB UP GIANT JACK! WE'LL DESTROY ENERU ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

"DON'T LET THEM GET TO GOD'S SHRINE! PROTECT IT AT ALL COSTS!"

**Shooom… shoooom… **Laki sped passed the still body of Yama on the Milky Road as she raced towards Giant Jack. _"Please Wyper, don't use the Reject anymore!" _Laki thought to herself and desperately wished that her thoughts could reach her stubborn leader. _"Don't challenge Eneru!" _Her conversation with Kamakiri was still fresh in her mind. _"He can't be defeated! No matter what we do!" _

The only person that was actually enjoying himself was Eneru as he sat laughing in a tree and listened to the sounds of the bodies falling in his Survival Game.

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed, "That's right, those of you still in the Game, climb your way to the Upper Ruins and destroy each other! There will only be seven survivors. My words and prophesies are absolute."

**-x-**

**WOOOOSH! **Gan Fall flew over the Upper Ruins on Pierre.

**BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **A beam of blue fire shot up into the air and nearly roasted the Sky Knight and his steed. **SWISH! **They managed to avoid the blast and Gan Fall stared down at Wyper.

"Stop this insanity now, Wyper!" Gan Fall tried to reason with the Shandian. "I'm not here to—"

"You're not what, old man!" Wyper interrupted. "You believe that you're not my enemy? To the Shandians there's no difference between you and Eneru! Both of you must go!"

"QUIT BEING STUBBORN!" Gan Fall snapped, "LISTEN TO REASON!"

**RRHHHHHAAAAARRRR! **The giant snake reared up off of the ground and lunged at Pierre.

"PIIIEEE!" Pierre cried as he swooped down out of the way at the last second. **SWOOOSH!**

The snake continued its lunge and its head dropped down at Wyper.

"Eh?" Wyper grunted as he stared up at the giant incoming snake head. **SKISH! KROOOOM! **Wyper launched himself into the air and avoided the snake as it slammed into the ground. The angry Shandian aimed his Burn Bazooka down at the giant snake, not that it was hard, and opened fire. "DAMN YOU!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOOM! **The blue flames blasted out of the end of the bazooka and slammed into the top of the snake's head.

**RRHHHAAAAUUHHHH! **The snake shot out of the smoke and waved its head around angrily. Wyper's powerful attack had done nothing but piss it off. **RRRHHHAAAAAHHHHHHH!**

"My Burn Bazooka didn't even phase that thing!" Wyper realized as he stared down at the snake. "What are those scales made of?"

**RRHHHHAAAAA!** The snake shot up into the air at Wyper. **SHOOOM! **Wyper used his skis in midair and shot out of the way of another close attack.

**-x-**

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy screamed as he fell down the inside of the body of the giant snake as it move upward. "NOOO! NOO MOOOREEE! I'M SICK OF THIS STUPID CAAAVEEE!"

**-x-**

**FWOOOM! **Kiko swung his fire blade at Zoro from up on the recovered Fuza's back. **SKISH! **Zoro jumped up over the blade and lashed his sword _Wado Ichimonji_ at the Shandian. "One Sword Style: THIRTY-SIX CALIBER PHOENIX!" The flying blade attack flew off of Zoro's sword and shot at Kiko and Fuza.

"RRRAAAH!" Fuza roared as Kiko pulled on its feathers and urged it to fly up over the blast. **WOOOSH! **The blade kept going and blasted through a ruin behind them. **KROOOOM!**

"Why don't you just hold still and fight!" Zoro called out.

"I could say the same to you!" Kiko retorted as he flew in a circle around Zoro on Fuza. **WOOOSH! **Fuza swooped around and flew straight at Zoro. **Wham! **Kiko jammed his elbow into this side and ignited his fire blade then swung it sideways at Zoro. **FWOOOM!**

**SKISH! **Zoro jumped up into the air to avoid the fire.

"HOOO! LET'S SEE YOU DODGE IN MIDAIR!" Kiko howled as he jammed the elbow of his injured arm into his side. **Wham! **"HHHOOOO!" Kiko let out another loud howl that might have had something to do with the pain in his injured shoulder. But he ignored it as he raised his arm and swung his three fire blade one his Flame Claw down at Zoro.

"Uh-oh!" Zoro yelped as he quickly drew his other two swords. "DRAGON TWISTER!" Zoro spun around in midair and executed one of his most powerful attacks and created a tornado. The three fire blades connected with the tornado and were sucked into it. **WOOOOSH!**

"WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?" Kiko demanded as the tornado suddenly lit on fire. "DO SOMETHING BIRD!"

"RAAAAAH!" Kiko yanked on Fuza's feather and the bird let loose a torrent of fire of its own. **FWOOOO-WOOOOSSH! **But when the fire reached Zoro's twisted it too was sucked in and joined the fire tornado. **SWISH! **Zoro stopped spinning. Kiko's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the three flame-covered swords and the flame covered swordsman holding them.

"YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Kiko yelled. "A DEMON!"

"Not a bad idea," Zoro replied before he launched himself at Kiko and lashed out with his sword, "FLAMING DEMON SLICE!" **SLA-SLA-SLISH! **

Kiko blinked. He felt fine. Zoro's attack had missed him.

"RAA-aaaahhh…" But Zoro hadn't attacked Kiko instead he'd slashed the bird that he was flying on. Fuza dropped out of the sky and slammed into the ground. **KRASH!**

"Sorry, pal," Zoro apologized, "But I really hate birds now. Let's see how you fight without that fire-breathing turkey of yours."

"You bastard," Kiko growled as he stood up and jumped off of the unmoving bird, "I'm still a Warrior of Shandora! I don't need that bird to fight!"

"Then let's see you prove that," Zoro taunted.

Nearby, Ricky jumped out of the way to avoid Holy. **SKISH! **Holy slammed his paw down into the spot where Ricky had just been. **KRASH!**

"Too slow, Fido!" Ricky taunted the dog. "Why don't you just play dead so I can help your master up there learn the same trick?"

"RUUFF! RUUFFF!" Holy barked at Ricky as he pulled his giant paw out of the ground and swung at Ricky again for a follow up punch.

**SWISH! **Ricky weaved back and avoided the punch. _"There's an opening!" _

Ohm grinned, as he read Ricky's movements with his Mantra. _"He's spotted the opening, which means he's left himself wide opened for this!" _Ohm slashed his own sword and the blade extended and cleaved into Ricky side. **SLISH!**

"GAAAH!" Ricky yelled out as he dove to the side and clutched his bloody side.

"What's the matter, Blue Sea Dweller?" Ohm taunted, "Did you forget about my sword?"

"Honestly, so much has happened, I actually did," Ricky admitted, "It feels like it's been a year since I fought all four of you guys together."

"Well for your information, the blade of my sword is made from Iron Cloud," Ohm told him, "Just like that barbed wire from earlier. "The blade is actually made from Iron Cloud that's expelled from a Dial in the sword's hilt."

"Still don't know what those are," Ricky admitted.

"To put it simply," Ohm said, "The blade of my sword can take any shape that I want it to, and that means that it can hunt its prey TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!" Ohm swung his sword and the blade shot out at Ricky. **SLIIISSSHH!**

**KLANG! **Ricky smacked his own sword into Ohm's elongated blade and knocked it to the side.

"Not gonna work, baldy," Ricky taunted, "This time I've got a sword of my own."

"Hm…" Ohm looked at Giant Jack. His Mantra told him they were about to get some company. "Holy, we're going to have to fight separately." **Skish! **Ohm jumped off of his dog's head and landed on some ruins nearby. "From the sound of things, the Upper Ruins are about to get busy."

"**BAAAA!" SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! **Four of Eneru's warrior shot up through the cloud and landed on the buildings in the Upper Ruins.

"The Sky Knight," one of them noted Gan Fall, "I didn't expect him to be here."

"We're here to assist you, oh mighty Ohm," another warrior announced.

"BAAAAH!" the four warriors bleated like goats as they struck fighting poses.

**SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! **Three Shandians flew up the beanstalk and landed on ruins on the other side of the main clearing.

"Look who's here," Wyper remarked as he eyed the three warriors.

"Well, you know what this means," the first warrior commented.

"Yeah, it means we're the only ones left," the second warrior realized.

"Don't worry, Wyper!" the third warrior called out, "We'll help you get to Eneru and take his head off!"

**-x-**

"Uughh…" Luffy groaned as he pulled himself out a pile of rubble. "Hey wait, that should work! I'll just dig my way out!" Luffy picked up a blunt rock and started to scrape it against the side of the cave. **Swish! Swish! Swish! **It didn't do anything. On the inside at least.

**-x-**

**RHAAAA! **The giant snake suddenly reared its head back and roared.

"It's that giant snake!" one of Eneru's warrior called out. But suddenly the roar changed its tone. **RHAARHAARHAARHAARHAAA!** "IT'S LAUGHING?"

"**AAAAAHHH!" **A loud scream broke out as a Waver burst through the clouds and reached the Upper Ruins. **VVVVRRRR… **

**"BAAAA!" **Three of Eneru's warriors chased after it.

"I know that scream anywhere," Ricky realized, "Nami?"

"Wyper, that's Aisa with that woman!" Kiko called out.

"BAAA! HOLD IT!" one of the three goat warriors that were after them shouted.

"WILL YOU GOATS JUST LEAVE US ALONE?" Nami shouted at back at them.

"WHAT THE HELL IS NAMI DOING HERE?" Zoro demanded.

"AISA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT WOMAN?" Wyper demanded.

"NOOOO!" Gan Fall yelled when he realized Eneru's three wariors were closing in on his 'fighting partner' and the Shandian girl.

Three blurs shot over Waver that Nami and Aisa were on. **THWAK! **Wyper kicked one with his ski. **SLISH! **Zoro slashed the second with his swords. **WHAM! **Gan Fall smashed the third with his spear. The three warriors went flying and smashed through some ruins. **KROOOM! **

**VVVRRRRRrrrrrr… **Nami skidded to a stop on the Waver.

"AISA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Wyper yelled.

"NAMI! WHAT'RE _YOU _DOING HERE?" Zoro called out.

"Hey, Zoro, what's going on here?" Nami asked. It looked like she'd just sped into a war zone.

"WYPER!" Aisa cried as she hugged Nami around the waist.

"What is it you're plotting here, Blue Sea Dweller?" Wyper growled as he aimed his Burn Bazooka at Nami. "AISA, GET AWAY FROM THAT WOMAN!"

"WYPER NO!" Kiko yelled as he grabbed Wyper's Burn Bazooka and pointed it upward. "YOU'LL HIT AISA!"

"HEY! HOLD ON!" Nami yelled right back at the cannon wielding Shandian warrior. "I was chased clear across that stupid forest by a monster snake BECAUSE I WAS TRYING TO _SAVE _THIS LITTLE BRAT! Then the second we gave it the slip, THOSE THREE GOATS CAME AFTER US! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO SHOW SOME DAMN GRATITUDE?"

"Uuhhh…" was Wyper's intelligent response when the strange Blue Sea Woman yelled at him.

"Oh good, it looks like you're okay," Ricky noted as he walked over to them.

"RICKY!" Nami exclaimed as she spun around to face him, and inadvertently dragged Aisa around with her. Nami blinked and forgot about the hug she wanted to give him when she saw the blood on his arms and the wound on his side. "WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN BLOOD?"

"Oh, well half of its mine, the other half is Chopper's," Ricky answered. "There's a bald Priest over there somewhere that I plan to carve up like a turkey so I can add his to the collection."

"SCARY!" Aisa cried.

"Good grief," Ricky muttered, "HEY! SKY KNIGHT! I need a favor!"

**WOOOSH! **Gan Fall swooped down on Pierre. "What is it, my friend?"

"Get these two out of here," Ricky instructed, "This is no place for either of them,"

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING AISA ANYWHERE GAN FALL!" Wyper yelled.

"DO YOU WANT HER TO STAY HERE AND GET KILLED?" Nami snapped at him.

"Uuuggghh…" Wyper drawled, once again rendered speechless by Nami. Not even Laki yelled at him like this.

"I DIDN'T THINK SO!" Nami shouted.

Kiko looked from Wyper to Nami, "WHO IN THE BLAZES ARE YOU, WOMAN?"

"Very well, I'll fly them back to your ship," Gan Fall resolved as he lifted Nami, Aisa and the Waver up onto Pierre's side. **WOOOOSH! **The bird took off with its three passengers.

"If anything happens to Aisa, I'll skin you alive Blue Sea Scum!" Kiko growled.

"You had _better_ have been saying that to me, Skykama," Ricky replied, "Otherwise I'll break both of your arms this time."

"Just what are you two doing up here anyway?" Gan Fall inquired.

"Well… we were chased into the forest by a giant…"

**RRHHAAAAAAAA! **The monster snake had recovered from its laughing fit and launched itself up into the air.

"SNAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEE!" Nami screamed in terror just as the massive snake's mouth closed around all four of them. **CHOMP!**

**-x-**

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Nami and Aisa screamed as they, Gan Fall, Pierre and the Waver fell down the snake's throat. Luffy was about to get some company.

**-x-**

"GAH!" Ricky, Zoro, Wyper and Kiko all gaped as the others were swallowed by the snake.

"RUFFF!" **POW! POW! **Holy lashed out with two punches and sent the two Shandian flying.

**SLASH!** Ohm lashed his sword out at Ricky and Zoro. **Whump! **Ricky shoved Zoro out of the way and turned to the side as he got slashed by Ohm's extended sword. **SLISH! **

"WYPER!" the third Shandian yelled in alarm.

"You were so distracted that you neglected to protect yourselves," Ohm lectured. His sword shrank back down and he hefted it across his shoulders. "Quit worrying about other people!"

"Ricky!" Zoro exclaimed from the ground. "What the hell?"

"Uggghhh…" Ricky groaned as he sat up and held his bloody shoulder where he'd taken the brunt of Ohm's attack. "I called… dibs… didn't want you to get confused…" Ricky turned to face Ohm, "And you, baldy, don't forget, you're fight is with me."

"So I'll finally get to deliver the punishment that you avoided yesterday," Ohm resolved. "Just like there's nothing you can do save your friends, there's nothing you can do to avenge that creature you call your brother. Accept your punishment, and find salvation."

**-x-**

And there's chapter twenty five. I'm on paid vacation this week from both of my jobs so I'm hoping to use some of the free time to get another chapter done this week.

Yes, Ricky stole Zoro's fight with Ohm. But he had more of a reason to fight him since he's closer with Chopper and Zoro already used his 108 Caliber Phonix attack to beat Braham. There's plenty of other stuff for Zoro to do in the Upper Ruins instead. Next chapter, the Ordeal of Iron turns into a White Barbed Death Match.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	26. White Barbed Death Match

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**White Barbed Death Match:**

**-x-**

The few survivors that remained in the survival game on Upper Yard had all gathered at the Upper Ruins that were midway up Giant Jack and had to deal with the sword-weilding Priest Ohm and his dog Holy. The most recent development was that the giant snake that Eneru's warriors had called the Lord of the Sky had swallowed Nami, Aisa, Gan Fall and Pierre.

"BAA!" Eneru's four warriors bleated as the stood on the ruins around the battle. One of them spoke up for the bunch. "We're behind you, Ohm."

"Quite the gathering," Ohm remarked, "How many players remain in our little game?" Ohm casually scanned the Upper Ruins with his Mantra, "Four Divine Squad members, those two Shandians are still alive after getting hit by Holy so that makes five Shandians and two Blue Sea Dwellers." Ohm glanced up at the giant snake, "Counting the Lord of the Sky and Holy, twelve people and two animals. Very soon we wull cut that number in half just as God Eneru predicted. So, there we stand, let the game commence."

"Zoro," Ricky addressed the swordsman as he finally stood up after he took Ohm's surprise attack to defend Zoro. "The snake didn't chew when it swallowed them. That means they're still in one piece in there. You wanted something to do while I fought baldy, we'll now it looks like I've got an important job for you. See if you can find a way to cut that snake opened and get Nami, the Sky Knight, his horse and the girl outta there."

Zoro looked up at the massive snake that towered over the ruins, "I guess that'll kill time."

The first of the three other Shandian warriors who had a battle ax as a weapon glared at Ohm, "You will pay," he growled.

"For harming Wyper and our comrade Kiko!" the third Shandian continued for him as he pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back and fitted it into his bow.

"Is that so?" Ohm challenged him. "You'd forfeit your life away for this sad speck? Mind who you throw you loyalty to, savage."

"HOW DARE YOU!" the third Shandian yelled. "Wyper is our leader!"

"You have now broken one of the most sacred of Shandian Laws!" the first Shandian added.

"We're here to reclaim our homeland, and our honor!" the second Shandian finally spoke up. He was smaller than the other two, had a bald head and wielded a large slingshot-like staff.

"You and all servants of the abominable Eneru will settle your debt," the third Shandian insisted as he adjusted his loaded bow, "With flesh and bone!"

"You are savages," Ohm stated, "No more worthy or reparations than the weeds crushed beneath my feet." The third Shandian blanched while Ohm hefted his sword onto his shoulder. "Who wants to die first?"

"RAAH! BACK TO HELL DEMON!" the third Shandian shouted as he aimed his bow at Ohm.

**SHOOM! **One of Eneru's Warriors leapt towards the Shandian just a he fired his arrow. **SHOO!**

**WHAP! **Ricky's hand shot out and he caught the arrow by the shaft then tossed it away. **Klak!**

**SKISH! **The Shandian leapt out of the way of the goat warriors attack and landed on some ruins. "DAMN YOU BLUE SEA DWELLER!"

"It was going to miss anyway," Ohm pointed out.

"Maybe, but first of all," Ricky stated, "you new guys came late and missed the fact that I called dibs on fighting baldy. Second, you need to find a better bow because that arrow didn't fly half as fast that arrows I'm used to back on the Blue Sea." Ricky turned back to Ohm, "And three, baldy, quit picking fights with other people. I'm the one that's gonna beat you. If you keep pulling that crap, I'll start to think that you're scared of me and are just stalling for time."

"I'm not scared a mere Blue Sea Dweller," Ohm insisted, "Holy, it's time for your Mad Dash."

"RUFF!" Holy barked as he started to bounce back and forth on his hind legs. **SKISH! **Then he shot off into the ruins.

The third Shandian fitted another arrow into his bow and aimed it at the warrior that had distracted him seconds ago. **SKISH!** Holy suddenly lunged in behind the Shandian and drove his paw into the winged man's face. **POW!**

"WAAAAH!" The Shandian cried out as he fell off the ruin and crashed to the ground. **KRASH! **He rolled and then ended up seated against another ruin.** Klick! **A loose tile sank down under his weigh. **BANG! **Seven string of white barbs shot out after being triggered by the booby-trapped tile sliced into the Shandian before he could move away. **SLA-SLISH! SLA-SLA-SLOSH!**

"DON'T STOP!" Ohm yelled to his dog. "FINISH IT!"

"RUFF!" Holy barged as he started to run around the outside of the Upper Ruins. **Klick! Klick! **As the large dog ran, it purposely stepped on the rigged tiles which caused countless strings of the white barbed wire to shoot out of the ground in his wake. **BANG! BANG! BANG!**

"AAH!" **BANG! BANG! **The two other Shandian warriors gaped as the white lengths barbed Iron Cloud crisscrossed and shot up overhead.

"He's building some kind of fence!" the first Shandian realized as the crossed lengths of white barbs formed cage-like walls all around the Upper Ruins.

"Damn," the second Shandian cursed, "He's using more of his tricks! This could be trouble!"

The lengths of barbed Iron Cloud eventually met up above them and formed a large dome-shaped cage around the Upper Ruins.

"It's not a trick," Ohm announced before one of the goat warriors could speak up. "This is my Ordeal of Iron. I call this the White Barbed Death Match."

"Oh boy, now it's a cage match," Ricky remarked as he eyed the white dome.

"So he can put up a fence, big deal," Zoro scoffed. "I wasn't planning to run."

"You might not have," Ohm said, "but your friend escaped my grasp in our battle yesterday. However, this time the three bumbling idiots that kept me from killing him are gone and now there's no way for him to run away and escape." Ohm turned his attention back to Ricky. "Now I'm going to prove why I'm God Eneru's strongest warrior when I finish you once and for all."

"BAAAH!" one of Eneru's warriors chimed in, "The purpose of the barrier isn't just to hold you."

"Yes," another warrior continued, "There's a reason why it's called 'White Barbed'."

"What's that?" Zoro asked.

Wyper pushed himself up to his feet and shot up into the air. **SHOOM! **"SHOW US!" he yelled. **THWAK! **Wyper kicked the second warrior in the face and knocked him back into the wall. **KLANG! **

"BAAAAAAHHH!" the warrior screamed out in pain as the barbs on the cage dug into his back. The warrior dropped to the ground unconscious. **THUD!**

"I guess the barbs are painful," Wyper noted as he eyed the cage while Kiko got up behind him. "Thanks for the warning."

"So how do we get outta here once we're done with all of you?" Zoro inquired.

"You can worry about that later," Ohm told him, "That's assuming you manage to survive."

"You don't seem to understand, I'm not locked in here with you," Ricky pointed out with a grin, "You're locked in here with ME!"

**(A/N: Today 3/6/14 marks the five year anniversary of that reference, felt right to make it.)**

**-x-**

Meanwhile, Laki sped along the Milky Road so she could get Kamakiri's warning to Wyper.

"_Wyper,"_ Laki thought, _"I still remember the story you told me when we were children…"_

**-Wyper and Laki Childhood Flashback-**

Late one night Laki and Wyper sat together a large leaf that overlooked the Shandian village. Child Wyper wasn't as angry as his adult self, he had a full head of wild black hair and wore a red bandana around his forehead.

"Our ancestors weren't born in the sky," Wyper told Laki as she sat quietly beside him in a tribal-looking dress, "They originally lived the Blue Sea World, in the sacred city known as Shandora. It was protected by the Great Warrior Calgara. Until four hundred years ago… the entire city was torn from the ground and lifted up into Skypeia by the Knock Up Stream. Our people were left stranded. It must have been really hard on them but at least they had a place they could call home."

Wyper frowned and his eyes narrowed as he began to show a hint of the anger he had as an adult. "But then on one fateful day, the Skypeians bared their vicious fangs and revealed their true intentions. Without mercy, they seized Shandora, claiming it as Sacred Ground. Our ancestors were driven off the land they had nourished and cared for since the first setting sun."

Wyper let out a faint growl, "For four hundred years now we have suffered the humiliation of being driven away from our birthright. Never forget Laki, the Upper Yard belongs to us. We will take back what is ours. Our homeland. Our pride!"

**-End W and L Childhood Flashback-**

Laki continued to speed along the Milky Road towards Giant Jack. She knew that Wyper planned to take Eneru's head and was headed for God's Shrine so that's where she was headed.

Wyper's anger built up inside of him as he grew and he eventually became as the leader of the Shandian Warriors/ After all these years he was even more determined to reclaim their home.

Laki remembered the conversation she'd had with Kamakiri.

"_Once we kill Eneru, there will no longer be a need for you to sneak around obsessing over a single bag of Vearth," the defeated warrior told her as she knelt over the bag of dirt that Wyper had spilt. "We will return after four hundred years of exile, to the true home of the Shandians."_

That led to the pre-battle speech that Wyper had given the other Shandian Warriors before they had set off on their attack on Upper Yard.

"_If you don't think you're up to it, stay behind," Wyper addressed the other warriors. "I won't hold it against you."_

"_Come on Wyper," the Shandian with the large battle ax insisted, "Don't say that. You know we're up to it."_

"_Are you up to abandoning anyone who falls during the battle?" Wyper asked in return. "If you can step over the bodies of your dying comrades and keep fighting, then follow me. Now, I swear, Eneru's head will be mine."_

But as Kamakiri had warned her, trying to take Eneru's head was a suicide mission. _"Wyper…" _Laki exited the forest and spotted Giant Jack up ahead of her.

Laki paused for a moment and locked her Dial-powered skis together to make them one board. **KLAK! **Then she began to race up the beanstalk.** SHOOM!**

Thanks to her Dial-powered board and the fact that she didn't have to slow down and stop to fight a red-haired Blue Sea pirate, she managed to make it up the beanstalk to the clouds that led to the Upper Ruins in a mere minute.

**WOOSH! **Laki passed through the clouds and made to continue her journey up the giant beanstalk but she skidded to a stop when she spotted the white barbed dome that had been raised around the Upper Ruin.

Then she noticed the giant snake in the middle of the ruins. Wyper was in front of it.

**SKISH! **Laki leapt off of the beanstalk and abandoned her board as she landed on the clouds and ran towards the white dome. "WYPER!"

"Huh?" Wyper grunted/ It sounded like someone had just shouted his name.

"WYPER!" Laki yelled again.

"Laki?" Wyper questioned as he lowered his Burn Bazooka and looked back at her.

"QUICKLY!" Laki hollered "THERE ISN'T MUCH TIME!"

"What's wrong?" Wyper asked. "Why are you here?"

"I had to come and give you Kamakiri's warning!" Laki exclaimed as she neared the cage.

"_Nobody can beat… Eneru…" the charred and defeated warrior had lamented._

"YOU MUST RUN AWAY!" Laki shouted her warning. "THERE ISN'T MUCH TIME! ABANDON THIS FIGHT!"

Laki reached the cage and slowed to a walk now that she was within talking distance.

"She does realize that we're in a cage, right?" Ricky asked out loud as his and Zoro's attention turned to the new arrival.

**FWOOOSH! **Kiko swung a whip of fire at Holy to keep the giant dog at bay then looked back at Wyper. "Laki shouldn't be here, Wyper."

"Eneru… he's in the forest," Laki told Wyper as she reached the cage.

"ENOUGH!" Wyper yelled.

"Eneru is lightning itself!" Laki continued anyway, "He truly has the powers of a God!"

**Klak! **Wyper dropped his Burn Bazooka and ran to the fence. He grabbed onto the wall and yelled at Laki, "STOP! LEAVE! AT ONCE!" His hands were cut opened by the white barbs on the Iron Cloud but he ignored it.

"…he can not be defeated," Laki needed to finish her warning.

"LAKI! SHUT UP!" Kiko finally hollered. "IF YOU KEEP SHOUTING HIS NAME YOU'LL BRING HIM RIGHT… to you…" Kiko trailed off and his and Wyper's eyes widened in alarm

Laki stiffened when she heard the now terrifying sound of cackling electricity behind her. **Bzzt! **"Wyper…" Laki whispered as she slowly turned to look over her shoulder, her eyes widened in horror when she found God right behind her.

"Did I hear my name?" Eneru asked as he towered over Laki.

"Eneru…" Laki gasped as she stared up at the monster that she'd come to warn her leader about.

"Take a look Zoro, there's God," Ricky announced. He kept his eye trained on Ohm. "You're not gonna get another lucky shot in, baldy."

"I don't need luck to kill you," Ohm insisted.

**CHINK! KLANK! **Wyper shook the cage wall and ignored the red stains on his bandaged hands as he yelled out at his enemy, "ENERU! LEAVE HER ALONE! LAKI'S NOT HERE TO FIGHT! I'M THE ONE YOU WANT! SHE HAS NO PART IN THIS!"

"LAKI!" Kiko shouted, "RUN!"

But Laki was scared stiff. She trembled as Eneru took a step towards her. She raised her rifle but Eneru ignored the gun like it was a toy as the end pressed into his chest.

"LAKI! NO!" Wyper hollered. "PUT THE GUN DOWN! LAKI! RUUUUN!"

**BANG! BANG! **Laki opened fire and blasted two shots straight _through _Eneru's chest.

"BAAA! You're a fool!" one of Eneru's warriors bleated at Wyper. "I'd forget about her and worry more about myself!" **SHOOM! **He leapt off the ruins towards Wyper who remained focused on Laki, and Eneru, and the two holes going through his chest.

**Bzzzt-zzzt… **Electricity sparkled around the two holes that Laki had shot through Eneru's chest. But God still stared down at her with the same bored expression.

Now that she was face-to-face with such terrifying power, Kamakiri's earlier words seemed even more horrifying.

"_Laki, hear me," Kamakiri had told her, "He comes as lightning. An element that man has feared from the beginning, and rightly so, he can't be conquered."_

**TMP! **Eneru's warrior landed behind Wyper and pointed the Ax Dial on his hand at Wyper's back. Wyper completely ignored him. His focus was still locked on Laki and Eneru.

"You've sealed your fate, Wyper!" the warrior taunted.

**SKISH! **Kiko landed beside them and lashed out his leg. **THWAK! **The goat warrior was knocked backwards with a hard kick. **Wham! **Kiko drove his elbow into his side and ignited his Flame Claw. **FWOOM! **Kiko swung his arm and slashed the goat warrior with his fire claw. **FWOOOSH! **

"BAAAAAHH!" the goat man screamed before he smashed through a ruin. **KRASH!**

Kiko turned and stared passed Wyper at Laki and Eneru.

"You damn fool…" Wyper whispered.

Laki trembled as she turned to look back at her leader and comrade. "Please survive…"

**BA-ZAAT! **There was a bright flash.

Wyper didn't even hear Kiko's screams as memories of the girl that he'd grown up with played through his mind like a slideshow. He'd watched as that girl grew up into a woman. And now he'd watched as that girl got electrocuted.

**Klak! **Laki's rifle fell to the ground followed by her charred body. **Fwump!**

Eneru grinned as he stared over his latest victim at Wyper. "Yahahahahaha! Yahahahahahaha!"

"Eneru…" Wyper growled at the God.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Kiko yelled. "SHE WASN'T A PART OF THIS!"

"You didn't actually think I'd spare her?" Eneru asked. "Wyper the Ruthless Shandian Warrior, surely you understand the concept of no mercy? She opposed me and now she's dead. You two will join her soon enough."

Eneru's body sparkled and there was another flash of bright light. **Ba-ZOOT! **Then he was gone. Laki's burnt body was left alone on the white clouds outside the cage.

Meanwhile, the two of Eneru's warriors that remained had continued to fight the other two Shandians.

The massive snake known as the Lord of the Sky had been surprisingly inactive after its latest meal and had left the others alone. Ricky also hadn't moved as he stood ahead of Zoro and kept his eye locked on Ohm and Holy who had returned to his master's side while Zoro looked back at the two Shandian warriors by the cage wall.

"So that's him, that's God," Zoro realized.

"But you've seen Ace, Smoker and Crocodile all together in the same room," Ricky reminded him, "So hopefully you're not as terrified as them at seeing God demonstrate his Logia Powers on a defenseless woman."

"Still got your special boots?" Zoro inquired.

**Tmp! **Ricky tapped his foot on the ground, "Yup," he answered. "So when God actually decides to come out and play with the big boys, we'll see if he can do the same thing against people who aren't helpless to fight him."

"You dare say such blasphemous things about the Almighty Eneru?" Ohm growled.

"If it'll get you to finally attack me, sure," Ricky agreed.

"I don't need to rush killing you when I can do it at anytime from anywhere," Ohm threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, you're special sword can take any shape you want," Ricky retorted, "How's here and now sound to you? I'm started to get tired of just standing here."

"You've been threatening to kill me to avenge your furry brother for a while now," Ohm stated. "I was going to allow you to make the first move."

"So you can use your Mantra to try and predict it?" Ricky questioned with a grin. "Remember, I not only fought Shura, but I beat him too. I know how you priests operate. You go first."

"Fine then," Ohm agreed. "I'll finally let you find salvation."

**-x-**

**Belly of the Beast:**

**-x-**

Laki's body was left lying outside the cage in the wave of Eneru's brief presence while Ricky's fight with Ohm finally got underway.

"EISEN WHIP!" Ohm slashed his sword and the blade extended at Ricky. **SLISH!**

"Zoro, the snake, go," Ricky instructed before he jumped on his 'acquired' Sky-Board and sped out of the way. **SHOOM! **The white blade of Ohm's sword changed direction and followed after him. **SHOOM! **Ricky shot himself up onto a ruin but the sword curved upward to follow him.

"See what I said about running away," Ohm noted. "No matter where you run in this cage, there's no escaping from my blade."

"I'm not running," Ricky insisted, "I'm positioning myself." **SHOoom… **Ricky skidded to a stop then spun the board around and launched himself off the ruins and slashed his sword downward. "Red Storm… AVALANCHE!" **WOOSH! **A red air blade flew off of Ricky sword and streaked towards Ohm. But with the same swing of his sword, Ricky continued to drop down and slammed his red sword down on top of Ohm's white one. **KLANG! **Ohm's Iron Cloud sword was designed so the blade could change shape while it stayed hard like iron but was still light as a cloud. But Ricky's hard hit to the end of the blade threw the now thirty-foot sword off balance and caused the blade to drop downward and sink into the ground. **SHUNK!**

Ohm was left with his sword stuck in the ground while Ricky's air blade flew at him. **SKISH! **Ohm jumped to the side to avoid Ricky's attack and simultaneously shrunk his sword down. **SKISH! **Ohm jumped up onto a ruin and stared across the road at Ricky.

"I'll have to commend you Blue Sea Dweller," Ohm admitted, "I had planned on killing you without moving from that spot. When my sword finally pierces your heart so you can find peace, you'll be able to rest knowing that you at least managed to achieve that."

"Oh, I'll achieve way more than moving you, baldy," Ricky insisted, "When I'm done with you, your own mother won't even be able to recognize you!"

Meanwhile, Zoro had heeded Ricky's warning and had moved away from his Nakama's battle. He stared up at the massive snake that had swallowed Nami, Aisa, the Sky Knight and his bird. "I've gotta get Nami outta there," Zoro resolved, "Or at the very least I've gotta help that old guy that saved Ricky and Chopper from that other priest."

Over by the dome wall, Wyper had finally removed his bloody hands from and turned to Kiko. "Kiko, deal with the dog," he ordered. "I've got a personal score to settle." Wyper ran and picked up his Burn Bazooka, "WITH THE SNAKE!"

Wyper and Zoro took off at the same time from different spots but met on the main road of the Upper Ruins as they charged across towards the snake. "TIME TO COUGH UP WHAT'S IN YOUR BELLY!" Zoro yelled up at the snake. "SHE'LL GIVE YOU INDIGESTION!"

"Watch it Zoro!" Ricky exclaimed. For a second Zoro thought it was about the insult towards his almost-girlfriend but then the red haired pirate on the Sky-Board landed in front of him and Wyper and swung his sword upward. **SHOOM! KLANG! **Ricky knocked Ohm's long sword up and away from the other two.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Wyper snapped as he aimed his Burn Bazooka at Ricky.

**KLANG! **Zoro smashed the barrel with his sword and knocked it to the side. **BA-ZOOOOM!  
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Ricky had stopped but Zoro and Wyper kept going and dashed right passed him and continued towards the giant snake.

"HOLY! THEY NEED A HUG!" Ohm called out to his dog.

**SKISH! SKISH! **The dog dashed through the ruins toward Zoro and Wyper.

**SKISH! **Kiko appeared between the dog and the other two, "HUG THIS!" **Wham! FWOOOM! **Kiko ignited his lone fire blade and swung it at the dog. **FWOOOOSH!**

"RUFF!" **SKISH! **Holy jumped out of the way to avoid the blade of fire.

"Now your buddy's in _my way_!" Zoro pointed out as he swung his sword at Kiko.

**THWAK! **Wyper kicked the blade to the side with this ski.

**SWISH! **Kiko ducked under Zoro and Wyper then jumped off after the dog. "GET BACK HERE, BEAST!" **SKISH! **Zoro and Wyper continued their dash down the main road.

**SWISH! **One of Eneru's warriors ducked on an attack from the second Shandian's staff then flipped and landed in front of Zoro and Wyper with his hands outstretched. **TMP! **

"BAAAH! BOTH OF YOU DIE!"

The only problem, there was no one to deflect an attack for the hapless goat man. **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro slashed the man with his two swords and he flew backwards as Wyper fired his bazooka and vaporized what was left. **BA-ZOOOOOM!**

"The numbers dwindle," Ohm noted as he stood on the ruin above Ricky. "Four Shandians, two Blue Sea Pirates, one warrior, me and two animals remain," Ohm stated, "That's ten."

**RRHHHOOOOAAAAHHHHH! **The Lord of the Sky roared as it eyed the pirate and Shandian that had charged all the way across the Upper Ruins to reach it.

**-x-**

"Uuugghhh…" Nami groaned as she staggered back up in the ruin-filled inside of the snake.

She spotted Pierre sprawled out on its belly nearby with Aisa on its back. The noble bird had not only saved the girl but had cushioned her fall into the snake's stomach with his own body.

"Good sign," Nami noted while the bird groaned, "By the looks of it, I'd say she wasn't injured."

**Klak-klank! **Nami heard the rustle of armor and turned around to see Gan Fll stand up.

"Where in the world is this place?" Gan Fall wondered as he took in their odd surroundings.

"We're in the belly of a giant snake," Nami answered him, "We got swallowed up, remember?"

"Ah, yes, of course," Gan Fall replied. "The beast seems even larger from the inside."

Nami noticed that Aisa had started to move and went over to the girl and cleared the rocks off of Pierre's wings. "Aisa, are you okay?" Nami asked.

"Mmm…" Aisa whimpered. Then her eyes opened and she gasped as she looked around her.

"PII!" Pierre crowed as he woke up as well and seemed just as surprised as the girl.

"What happened?" Aisa questioned.

"Right, once again, we've been eaten… by a snake," Nami had to remind her one of her companions.

"A SNAKE!" Aisa yelped.

"Calm down, we'll survive," Nami assured her. For a moment she stopped to consider why she was taking this so well, then she remembered that she'd once been swallowed by a whale and found an island with a house on it in the whale's stomach. "That is, if we can escape before it digests us."

"What were you two doing out there?" Gan Fall questioned them. "You should be on the ship."

"Tell that to the giant snake and the creepy goats that were chasing us," Nami retorted as she knelt down to check on her Waver. "We had to run for our lives."

Gan Fall finally recognized Nami's companion. "Isn't that little girl a Shandian?"

Aisa turned and finally recognized the former God. "Gan Fall! It's you! RAAAAH!" The girl drew her Dial-on-a-stick weapon and charged at the Sky Knight. "I'll smash you into pieces!"

Nami turned away from her Waver and grabbed the back of the girl's dress as she went by. **YOINK! **The fact that Nami was able to stop her in her tracks with one hand showed that the little girl didn't really have any strength behind her aggression.

"Stop, just calm down," Nami calmly scolded the girl as she gently pulled her down on her back.

Aisa sat up and waved her weapon but Gan Fall smiled at her and let out a chuckle which caused her to give up on attacking him. Nami smiled and shrugged at the Sky Knight.

"Anyway," Gan Fall said as he walked over to the wall of the cave and prodded it with his lance, "Why don't we just carve our way out?"

"ARE YOU INSANE, OLD MAN?" Nami snapped at him. For all her talk of 'calm down' she'd blown her lid very quickly at Gan Fall's suggestion. "SUPPOSE THE SNAKE STARTS GOING WILD? YOU'RE GONNA GET US ALL KILLED! YOU KNOW FOR A KNIGHT, YOU'RE PRETTY DENSE!"

"I… uh… was kidding…" Gan Fall nervously explained as he pulled his lance back and sheepishly rubbed the tip of it.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Nami demanded. "Take a look around you! We're in a _stomach_! A snake's stomach! I don't know how much you know about anatomy but it won't be long before we're bathing in its metabolic acid!" **Tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp… **When Nami finished her tirade it was quiet enough for her to notice the sound of approaching footsteps. **Tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp…**

"Those sounds are…" Gan Fall realized while Pierre let out a squawk of terror and Aisa grabbed onto Nami's arm.

"They're footsteps," Nami finished for Gan Fall. "What else is down here?" A figure appeared between the broken ruins further down the stomach from them. **Tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp… **Gan Fall raised his lance and prepared to defend the two girls from the newcomer if he had to.

"WHO GOES THERE?" Gan Fall called out.

**Tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp, krek… krek… **The figure climbed over the broken rubble at the base of the ruin and finally stepped passed it to reveal… LUFFY!

Nami, Aisa and Gan Fall stared in surprise at the Straw Hat Pirate.

"NAMI!" Luffy exclaimed when he recognized his navigator. "Weird Knight Guy!"

"It's you…" Gan Fall noted.

"Luffy?" Nami asked.

"I was starting to think I was the only one here!" Luffy remarked, "Isn't this the strangest cave?"

"Huh, that's an understatement," Nami replied, "How'd you end up here?"

"I don't know," Luffy whined, "I just got stuck here and I can't get out!"

"Incredible," Nami commented, "What are the chances that each of us would get swallowed. This snake's turning out to be a serious problem."

"Huh? What do you mean swallowed?" Luffy questioned, "A snake?"

"Who'd you think this stomach belong to?" Nami inquired.

Luffy looked puzzled. "But... how could you be here talking to me... if you were swallowed by a giant snake?"

"Like I keep saying…" Nami growled as she reached out and grabbed Luffy's nose and yanked on it. **Yoink!** "BIG BLUE REPTILE WITH MILE-LONG FANGS! IT ATE US AND NOW WE'RE STUCK IN ITS BELLY!" Nami let go of Luffy's nose and it snapped back.** BOING!**

But Luffy's nose remained stretched out a good three inches and looked a lot like Usopp's. "Ooww, come on Nami! That hurts!" Luffy complained. But then he smiled and called out, "Usopp Impression:" Luffy took on a raspier voice that reeked of fear, "I'm scared of everything!"

"Ugghh…" Nami, Gan Fall and even Pierre groaned at the imitation before Luffy's nose shrunk back down to its normal size.

"Is he a… jester?" Aisa asked as she stared up at the strange stretchy man.

"That job would suit him best," Nami admitted, "But he's actually Captain.

"PPIIIEEE!" Pierre shrieked in surprise.

"_He's _your Captain?" Gan Fall questioned. Both the Sky Knight and his steed seemed surprised that this buffoon could be the Captain of a crew of Blue Sea Pirates. "My word! What's this world coming to?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much the reaction everyone has," Nami admitted.

Then Aisa thought of another question, "Is this guy your boyfriend?"

"WHAT?" Nami yelled. "DON'T BE CRAZY! YOU SAW MY GUY OUTSIDE!"

"You mean the green haired guy with the swords?" Aisa sought to clarify.

"EW! GROSS!" Nami shouted. "THAT BLOCKHEAD WAS _ZORO_! HE WAS THE RED-HAIRED GUY COVERED IN A BLOOD!"

Aisa's eyes widened, "YOU MEAN THE SCARY GUY WITH TWO VOICES?"

Luffy cocked his head, "Nami, are you telling people that Ricky's your boyfriend again? You did the same thing back in that bar where you fought that other girl. Does he know about this?"

"SO NOT THE TIME!" Nami snapped at him.

Aisa turned her focus to Luffy, "You sure are calm for someone who's been eaten by a monster."

"WAAAAAAHH!" Luffy screamed in response. "WAIT A MINUTE! I THOUGHT NAMI WAS ONLY JOKING! YOU MEAN WE'RE BEING EATEN BY A SNAKE?"

"I've been trying to you," Nami reminded him, "It's stomach acid is melting your clothes."

Luffy looked down at his clothes and finally noticed that his sandals had disappeared and his vest was in tatters. "GAH! What're we waiting for? We need to find its butthole right away!"

**SWAK! **Nami smacked him across the face. "NO WAY! THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

"Ridiculous," Gan Fall stated.

"Why?" Luffy asked as if Nami hadn't just slapped him. "Maybe we can get out the next time the snake goes to the bathroom?"

"NOO!" Nami yelled. "I'M NOT GOING OUT THAT WAY! I'D RATHER BE DIGESTED!" Nami reared back and smashed her fist down on the top of Luffy's hat. **BONK! **The rubber pirate was squished and shrunk down to Aisa's height.

"Nami's scary…" Aisa whispered.

"I know, child," Gan Fall agreed, "She's meaner than the snake."

"Phew," Nami sighed, "Hardly. When the snake gets in a bad mood it starts eating people. And speaking of, we'd better think fast. Its temper was wild enough on the outside."

**Boing! **Luffy snapped back to his full height two inches above Nami. "Wait, the snake was in a bad mood?" he inquired.

"Yeah," Nami answered him, "It was all hisses and fangs. Before it attacked us it was writhing in pain."

"Hmmm…" Luffy mused, "That's weird. I wonder what was bothering it."

**Ding! **Nami, Aisa and Gan Fall all came to the same realization as the regarded the annoying pirate that had already been in the snake's belly when they'd gotten here. "AAH!"

"Luffy… what have you been doing in here?" Nami questioned.

"Oh, I was trying to bust through a wall," Luffy replied, "Didn't work though. Shishishishi!"

"Ah, so this is all your doing!" Gan Fall realized.

"Throwing all those punches burned up a lot of energy," Luffy remarked as he rubbed his hat and completely missed Nami's clenched fists and the look of fury that had spread across her face. "Say, um... did any of you guys think to bring some food?" But then Nami started to shake. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"HOW 'BOUT YOU EAT MY FIST!" Nami yelled before she punched Luffy into next week. **KA-POW! **Luffy flew across the stomach and smashed through the ruins that he'd climbed over earlier and reduced them all to rubble. **KER-RASH!**

**-x-**

Outside, the snake also felt Nami's wrath as Luffy smashed into the wall of its stomach. The massive beast let out a pained roar as it coiled around itself. **RRHHHEEEAAAAHHHHHHH!**

**-x-**

Inside, the snake's stomach started to shake. **Rmble, rmble, rmble! SHOOM! **The entire stomach lurched and Luffy, Nami, Aisa, Gan Fall and Pierre screamed as the fell further down the pained snake's stomach. "WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

**-x-**

**RRHHHHEEEEEEHHHHHRRRRR! **The snake roared as tears ran down its face.

"Heh, what's the matter? Got a belly ache?" Wyper taunted the snake when he and Zoro finally made it across the Upper Ruins and reached it. "It serves you right!"

"Heh heh," Zoro chuckled, "See, I knew eating Nami would give you indigestion. She's rotten. Hold still and I'll cut you opened and get her out."

**RRRHHHAAAAAH! **The snake roared in response to their taunts and lunged at them.

**SHOOM! **Wyper shot to the right, "It won't be long Aisa!"

**SKISH! **Zoro dodged to the left, "Spit that out, you have no idea where she's been!"

**KROOOM! **The snake slammed down in the spot where they'd both once stood.

**FWIP! **Wyper flipped up overhead and aimed his Burn Bazooka down at the snake. "OPEN UP SERPANT!"

At the same time, Zoro slashed his two swords through the air in a circle, "Two Sword Style… SEVENTY TWO CALIBER PHOENIX!" **BOOOOM! BOOOOM!**

**BOOOM! BOOOOM! **Zoro's double Flying Blade attack blasted into the snake's side like a cannon blast while Wyper's blue fire blast struck the top of the beast's head. **BA-ZOOOOOM!**

**RRRHHHHHRRR! **The snake growled as it was left with scratched scales and a dark ring on top of its head. The snake pulled itself up and let out a roar. **RRHHHOOOOOAAAARRRR!**

**Tmp! **Wyper landed and fired at the beast again, **BA-ZOOOOOOM! **The snake weaved back and the blue beam of fire missed the side of the snake's head but instead burned the end of its forked tongue.

**Tmp! **On the other side of the snake, Zoro landed on a ruin. "It barely scratched it," he noted. "Let's try with three then!" Zoro drew his final swordand put the handle in his mouth. **SKISH! **Zoro leapt off of the ruin and launched himself at the snake. "TIGER HUNT! **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro's three blades slashed the snake's side in the same spot he had blasted it and managed to scrape off a layer of the snake's thick scales but he had been unable to penetrate its thick skin.

"Damn it," Zoro cursed, "I thought I could cut steel now, what's this snake made of?

**CHOMP! **The Lord of the Sky clamped its mouth shut as it nursed its burned tongue then flailed to the side. **WHAM! **The snake's body slammed into Zoro and smashed him through the ruins behind him. **KER-RASH! **The now angry snake turned and glared down at Wyper.

**-x-**

Across the Upper Ruins, Kiko slashed all four of his fire blades at Holy. **FWA-FWOOOOM! SKISH! **But the amazingly limber dog had managed to avoid the flames.

"HOO!" Kiko howled as he slashed his fire blades to the side. **FWOOOSH! **"SIT! STAY!"

**SKISH! **Holy jumped over the fire blade and slammed both paws into Kiko's chest. **PA-POW! **The double punch caused the wild Shandian to go flying backwards.

**SKISH! **Holy appeared behind Kiko and swung his paw upward. **POW! **The uppercut launched Kiko up into the air overhead.

**SKISH! **Holy shot up off of the ground and flew up over Kiko then slammed both paws down onto the reeling Shandian. **WHAM! **Kiko crashed through a ruin and made a crater. **KRASH!**

"RUFF!" Holy barked as he landed and punched the air.

**-x-**

Nearby, Ricky sped towards Ohm on his Sky Board. **SHOOM!**

"EISEN WHIP!" **SLISH! **Ohm swung his sword and the white blade shot out to meet Ricky.

**SHOOM! **Ricky swerved to the side and avoided the tip of the blade then sped alongside it towards Ohm.

"You know," Ricky remarked, "for someone whose sword can take any shape he wants it to, you're being awfully uncreative with it."

**SHOOM! **Ricky sped up to Ohm as he yanked back on his sword. "Then maybe you'll like this, EISEN BACK!" **SWISH!**

At the same time, Ricky reached Ohm and started to spin as he lashed out with his own sword, "Red Blade… HURRICANE!" **KLANK! KLANK!** Ricky's eye widened as he smacked his blade into the large white wall that Ohm's blade had formed.

"My sword can attack as well as defend," Ohm stated, "Not only can I hit you from anywhere but you'll never even touch me. EISEN FAN!" The square wall flattened into a wide fan. Ohm turned the fan sideway and slammed it into Ricky. **WHAM! **Ricky was knocked off his board and slammed into a ruin. **KRASH! **But instead of being smashed through it, Ricky was left embedded back-first in the old rock

Ohm's sword shrunk back to normal as he turned to face the pirate he'd smacked into the wall. "Now that I've gotten you to stay still," Ohm said as he pressed his finger into his sunglasses, "It's time for Final Judgment."

-x-

**Ordeal of Iron:**

**-x-**

**RHAAAAAHH! **The Lord of the Sky roared as it slithered around a ruin and lunched at Wyper.

**SHOOM! **The Shandian Warrior stayed up in the air and rained down a volley of blue blasts from his Burn Bazooka.**BA-ZOOOOM! BA-ZOOOOM! BA-ZOOOOM! BA-ZOOOOM!**

Nearby Zoro had been knocked into a ruin by the snake. **Whump! **The swordsman quickly rolled to the side to avoid the debris that fell as a result of Wyper's burning blue blast barrage..

**SKISH! **Zoro shot to his feet and ran through the ruins in an attempt to avoid the chunks of broken stone as they fell from above him.

"_I've gotta find a way to take care of that snake," _Zoro thought to himself.

Wyper stood on a ruin and surveyed the some-covered body of the giant snake. "Did it work?"

**RHHHOOOOHHRRR! **The massive snake roared as it shot out of the smoke at the Shandian. **SHOOM! **Wyper launched himself up into the air and avoided the snake while the snake smashed the ruin he was on to pieces. **KROOOOM!**

"Not enough," Wyper realized as he floated up above the snake. "I guess I'll just keep trying!" The snake reared up and looked up at Wyper. It's yellow eyes took on an angry glint to show that it was really mad now. **RHHHOOOOAAAHHHHHH! **

Down below and on the other side of the snake, Zoro spotted something. _"That's the spot!" _The snake had lost a chunk of its scales from when Zoro had blasted and then slashed it earlier. _"Maybe if I keep attacking that spot I'll be able to do some actual damage." _Zoro slashed all three of his swords through the air, "Three Sword Style… ONE HUNDRED EIGHT CALIBER PHOENIX!" **BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! **The three concentrated air blasts flew out and shot into the snake's exposed side while it was distracted with Wyper. **BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM! **

**RRRRHHHHEEEEEHHHHHHHRRRR! **The massive snake let out another pained roar as Zoro's blast tore through a layer of its thick flesh and actually made the monster bleed.

"Yes," Zoro praised himself, "I finally did some damage. But who knows how deep those cuts actually are."

"_What is that Blue Sea Swordsman up to?" _Wyper wondered. **SHOOM! **Wyper shot to the side and his eyes widened when he spotted the damaged that Zoro managed to do to the snake's side. _"He actually managed to hurt it while my blasts have done nothing. But now that I have a spot that I can actually shoot it, I'll be able to blast my way into that thing."_

Both Zoro and Wyper failed to notice the snake's large tail as it flashed through the air behind them. **SWISH! WHA-WHAM! **The massive snake's tail slammed into both Zoro and Wyper and they both crashed down into the ruins below. **KRASH! KRASH! **

**-x-**

"You think you scare me?" the second Shandian called up to Holy as the dog advanced on him. "I'm a mighty Shandian Warrior!"

**SHOOM! **The last of Eneru's Warrior landed behind him. "BAAH! Maybe you _were_!" he bleated, "But now you're dead! AX DIAL!" **FWOOOOSH!** A long blade of fire arched in out of nowhere and slashed the goat warrior across the side. "BAAAH!" They warrior flew to the side and slammed into a ruin. **WHAM! **Then he dropped to the ground and laid still. **FWUMP!**

"Kiko!" the second Shandian exclaimed as the wild pink-haired Shandian staggered over to him. "You're still alive!"

"I just got mauled by that dog," Kiko growled, "HOOO! NOW ITS TIME TO PUT IT DOWN!"

**-x-**

"And now another voice is silenced," Ohm noted as he eyed Ricky while he where he was embedded in the side of a ruin. "That means there are seven people and two animals left." There was a pause and Ohm's grip on his sword tightened before he said, "No, make that six."

"OHM!" the first Shandian yelled as he charged in and swung his ax.

"HEY! DON'T DO IT!" Ricky shouted to the Shandian.

Ohm spun around and lashed out his sword, "EISEN WHIP!" **SWISH! **The blade streaked outward and slashed into the warrior. **SLASH! **The sword continued to grow and carried the already unconscious Shandian with it before it smashed the man through a wall. **KRAASSH!**

Ohm turned back to Ricky, "Now it's your turn," he announced as he threw his sword forward, "EISEN RAPIER!"

**SWISH! **The momentary distraction from the Shandian had given Ricky enough time to free his legs and he managed to flip up out of the hole and onto the top of the ruin.

**SLISH! **Instead of the long wavy blade that Ohm usually used the sword shot straight out and plowed into the ruin and came out the other side. **SWISH! **Then it shrank back down to its normal size and left the ruin standing with a hole through it.

"Hah-ha, you missed again," Ricky taunted from on the ruin, "Better luck next time, baldy."

"You keep calling me 'bald' like that's supposed to upset me," Ohm noted. "I shave my head. I'm bald by choice. You won't make me angry, Blue Sea Dweller and you'll never pass my Ordeal of Iron"

"_Hmmm… so the bald thing isn't getting under his skin," _Ricky realized, _"Time to change tactic. He and those other three were all super competitive. And they're all really devoted to Eneru. Let's see if I can exploit that a bit."_

"You know, that fight from yesterday is finally coming back to me," Ricky announced, "You guys only had me on the run because the four of you had me outnumbered, kept using your strange Sky Weapons on me, and I had left my own weapons back on my ship. How'd that fight end again? Oh right, I got away. Since your goal was to kill me and 'pass judgment' and my goal was to escape and stay alive, I guess that means I won and you guys lost."

"I didn't lose!" Ohm insisted, he took a breath and calmed himself down. "I never lose. Those three fools kept getting in my way. With those three gone, now I can finish you once and for all."

"Then I guess I'll need to beat you again," Ricky remarked. "Tell me though, how did Eneru react when his four strongest warriors came back to him with their tails tucked between their legs after they all _lost_ to one measly Blue Sea Dweller?"

Ohm's grip on his sword tightened.

"Don't answer, I'll _tell you _how he reacted," Ricky continued, "Eneru came to _me _and asked _me_ to join him. He said good help was so hard to find and offered to make me a priest. Clearly he just sees the four of you as easily replaceable incompetents."

"I'm not replaceable!" Ohm insisted, "Those other three might be, but I'm the Almighty Eneru's strongest warrior! He'd never be able to replace me!"

"You sure?" Ricky prodded him. "How'd he react when my Nakama beat Fatso? Did he bat an eye over the fact that one of his 'greatest warriors' had fallen? How'd he react when I beat Flyboy? You and I both know that Spider-Head probably beat himself since he's so stupid. That's the standard that your leader holds you to, baldy. You four are just toys that serve a minor purpose but are useless once you're broken. You know what happens to broken toys, baldy? They get thrown out. That's what he did with them and that's what he'll do with you."

"No He won't!" Ohm snapped. "I haven't lost! I'll always be His—"

"You already have," Ricky cut in.

"I HAVE NOT LOST!" Ohm yelled. "DIE BLUE SEA SCUM!" **SLISH! **Ohm slashed his sword and once again the blade grew as he shot out at Ricky.

"_Perfect,"_ Ricky thought to himself just as the blade reached him. **SKISH! **Ricky jumped up AND LANDED ON THE BLADE! "Speed Step!" **ZZZOOOOM! **Ohm was caught off guard as Ricky became a blur and ran down the blade of his sword towards him then lashed out his leg. **THWACK! **Ricky's foot slammed into Ohm's face and he was knocked backwards as Ricky flipped off of him and landed on his Sky-Board. **TMP!**

"Uuggh…" Ohm groaned as he staggered backwards and struggled to stay upright on his feet. _"I'm… I'm bleeding…" _Ohm held his hand to his mouth and felt the small patch of blood that Ricky's kick had drawn. _"He made me bleed. My Mantra… I didn't see that coming. He taunted me and got under my skin which made me lose control of my temper, that why I lost control of my Mantra. That must be how he beat Shura. I need to stay calm. I can't let him get in my head."_

"Hey look, free sunglasses!" Ricky called out.

Ohm blinked. Everything was much brighter which allowed him to see quite clearly THAT RICKY HAD STOLEN HIS SUNGLASSES!

Ricky grinned as he put the sunglasses on. The thin frame did nothing to hide his eye patch. "Nah, these things are way too thin," Ricky remarked as he pulled them off, "What a waste." Ricky clenched his hand and crushed the sunglasses in his fist. **KRACK! **"Oops."

"YOU BASTARD!" Ohm yelled at him. "THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PAIR! EISEN WHIP!" Once again, Ohm lashed out with his sword and the blade shot out at Ricky like a whip. **SWISH!**

**SHOO-WISH! **Ricky shot forward on his Sky Board but dropped down and laid flat on it which allowed him to sail right under Ohm's extended blade and passed the Priest.** SKISH! **Ricky skidded to a stop then grabbed then board with one hand and planted his sword hand on the ground as he swung his legs around and smacked the board into the back of Ohm's legs. "Quarterstaff… BOARD SWEEP!" **WHACK! **Ricky knocked Ohm's legs out from under him and he flew forward.

**WHING! **Ricky continued to spin after the sweep but he shifted his weight from his sword and to the board on his feet and stood up straight again. **SHOOM! **Ricky used the board to boost his spin speed and slashed his sword as he spun in circles, "Red Storm… TORNADO!" **WOOOSH! **The circular red-tinted air blade flew off of Ricky's sword and slammed into Ohm's back. **SLISH! **Ohm was knocked to the ground. **THUD!**

"See baldy," Ricky said, "I told you I'd pick you apart."

Ohm slowly got back up. With his sunglasses gone, it was easy to see the anger in his eyes. But then the Priest took a deep breath, centered himself and looked deadly calm again.

"Now I get it," Ohm announced, "You taunt your opponents in battle and do everything you can to get under their skin so they get emotional and make mistakes. Now I understand. You use mental warfare and exploit your opponent weaknesses to make up for the fact that your attacks lack any real strength. In terms of power both your swordsman and the Shandian Warrior Wyper are both stronger than you. But now that I know how you fight, I won't let you fool me again."

"Oh, is that so?" Ricky challenged him, "Well in that case, HEY, WHAT'S THAT!" Ricky pointed at nothing behind Ohm then sped off on his Sky-Board. **SHOOM!**

"And now you're running away since I know your game," Ohm noted as Ricky swerved around a corner. **SHOOM! **"There's no escaping from my Ordeal of Iron. You can't hide from me. When I use my Mantra I'll be able to follow you anywhere you go."

**SHOooom… **Ricky skidded to a stop on his Sky-Board and ducked around the corner.

"_Okay so getting in his head won't work anymore," _Ricky thought to himself, _"He'll probably ignore everything that I say now. That sword of his is a problem, even if he doesn't use it very creatively it means that this will be a long range battle. I can't beat him unless I get near him."_

"**EISEN WHIP!"**

"Oh crap!" Ricky cursed as he dove to the side. **KROOOM! **Ohm's sword smashed through the wall he'd ducked behind a second later. Ricky hopped back onto his Sky-Board and sped off. **SHOOOM!**

Ohm sheathed his sword as he stepped out into the street and watched Ricky as he raced off, "Run all you want, it's impossible to escape from my attacks, just as there's no one who can escape the reality of death. It would be futile to try, those who don't accept that, are foolish."

**SHOOOM! **Ricky continued to speed through the ruins.

"You're pathetic," Ohm said as he focused on Ricky and drew his sword again, "You don't even have enough sense to realize that you're about to die. You're so focused on the gold you seek and your petty revenge that you can not see anything else. Not even the inevitable fate the lies before you. How sad."

**SHOoom… **Ricky skidded to a stop again and glanced warily around him._ "That guy's Mantra is getting to be a real pain. He can see me everywhere I go so that means I won't be able to surprise him and catch him off guard. I guess there's no other option, I need to draw him out and follow his sword back to him."_

"**EISEN WHIP!" KROOM! **Ohm's sword smashed through another ruin. **SHOOM! **Ricky sped out of the way of the end of the blade then raced alongside it back towards Ohm.

Ricky spotted the Priest ahead of him and slashed his sword through the air, "Red Storm… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" **WOOOSH! **The red air blade flew off of his sword towards Ohm.

"EISEN BACK!" **SWISH! **Ohm's sword shrunk down and formed the wall again and blocked the attack. **WOoooshhh… **"Finally stopped hiding, Blue Sea Dweller? Did you finally realize that you couldn't escape my attacks?"

"Escape?" Ricky repeated, "Yeah, but I think I've done a decent job at avoiding them so far."

**-x-**

**SWISH! **Kiko dodge to the side of avoid another one of Holy's punches. The dog's fist smashed through the ruin behind it. **KROOM!**

"You don't scare me, you flea bag!" the second Shandian exclaimed as he shot up into the air. **SHOOM! **The Shandian raised his staff up over his head. "DOWN DOG!"

"RUFF!" **POW! **Holy shot his fist out while the Shandian's weapon was still over his head and plowed it into the man's chest. **THUD! **The Shandian dropped to the ground and Kiko was once again left alone as he faced off against Holy.

"DAMN YOU, DOG!" Kiko howled.

**-x-**

"And now another warrior has fallen," Ohm reported. "That leaves you and your swordsman friend, the two Shandians, Holy and me, and the snake. That's seven. The Almighty Eneru has prophesized that there will be seven survivors at the end of the Survival Game."

"Well your count's wrong," Ricky informed him, "I left one of my Nakama down at the bottom of the beanstalk. Since all the other survivors are in this cage I guess that means that one of us is going to have to fall to meet your God's quota."

"So it would seem," Ohm replied as he stared hard at Ricky. "I've got the perfect candidate."

**-x-**

**Zero Percent Survival:**

**-x-**

"You don't seem to realize the situation that you are in," Ohm commented, "You may be the leader of your little band of Blue Sea Pirates but I have my sword pointed directly at your heart. You can't escape and if you try to attack me, you'll die in the process. That's my Ordeal of Iron. There's no escaping it, there's no beating it. You may have defeated Shura yesterday but his Ordeal of String has a three percent survival rate. My Ordeal has a zero percent survival rate. There's no way you can win."

"Well isn't that interesting," Ricky remarked, "I guess that means that your Ordeal is unpassable. But you know, there's only one thing to do when you're faced with an unpassable test… Cheat!" Ricky reached up and flipped up his eye patch to reveal his red eye.

"What… what that's? What are you doing?" Ohm questioned as his eyes widened in surprise.

"You're not dealing with a saint here, baldy," Ricky informed him, "I'm a pirate and we don't play by the rules." **SHOOM! **Ricky sped towards Ohm on his Sky-Board.

"Then come and die!" Ohm exclaimed. "EISEN WHIP!" **SWISH! **Ricky swerved to the side and avoided the strike. "EISEN FORK!" **SWISH! **Ohm sent a two pronged strike at Ricky but he avoided them both. "EISEN RAPIER!" **SWISH! **Ohm shot his sword forward but again Ricky avoided the attack as he drew in close. "EISEN FAN!" **SWI-SKISH! **Ricky jumped up off of his board and avoided the flat fan.

"Jumping… AX KICK!" **THWAK! **Ricky heel slammed down onto Ohm's shoulder.

"Ugghhh!" Ohm moaned as Ricky flipped over him and landed on his Sky-Board which had sped between the Priest's spread legs. Ohm spun around and swung his normal-sized sword at him. **SWISH! **Ricky ducked under it then spun around and lashed his leg out behind him.

"Machete… BACK KICK!" **THWHAM! **Ricky's foot slammed into Ohm's stomach and he was launched backwards. **SHOOM! **Ricky sped after Ohm on his Sky-Board, caught up to him, then jumped up and drove his board into Ohm's stomach, "Flying… ARROW BOARD KICK!" **WHAM! **The second consecutive hit caused Ohm's speed to increase as he smashed through a ruin and brought it down on top of him. **KROOOSH! **"See baldy, I told you I'd pick you apart."

"Im…possible…" Ohm groaned as he pushed the debris off of him and staggered back up. "Somehow he managed to predict all my attacks and avoided them. This is the same thing he did when he escaped yesterday. But how could his Mantra be stronger than mine? I'm Eneru's strongest warrior. This can't be possible."

"Hey baldy, think fast!" Ricky called out. **SHOOOM! **Ricky shot towards Ohm on his board.

"EISEN WHIP!" Ohm's blade shot towards Ricky.

Ricky slashed his own sword in two circles, "Red Storm… HURRICANE!" **WHA-WHOOSH! **

**SHOOOM! **Ricky shot up into the air over Ohm's sword but there was only one problem, Ohm's attack had gone straight, Ricky's red-tinted air blade was a corkscrew. Ricky's air blade spiraled around Ohm's sword and sliced into the Priest. **SLA-SLISH!**

"AAAHH!" Ohm screamed as he reeled backwards and dropped his sword.

"Red Blade… AVALANCHE!" **SHOOOM! **Ricky dropped down from overhead and slashed his sword down Ohm's chest. **SLA-SLISH! **Ohm's blood spilled as Ricky started to spin on his board and swung his sword around him then he jumped upward. "Red Blade… VOLCANO!" **SHOO-SLA-SLISH! **Ricky's upward spinning slash launched both of them up into the air.

**TMP! **Ricky dropped down and landed on his feet. **KRASH! **Ohm didn't.

"That was for you, Chopper," Ricky said as he lowered his eye patch and sheathed his sword.

**-x-**

"WAAAAAHHH!" Luffy screamed as he, Nami, Aisa, Gan Fall and Pierre fell further down into the Lord of the Sky's impossibly long stomach.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Nami wailed as she fell downward and reached out to grab a falling piece of debris. But her wail turned to a scream when she realized that what she grabbed WAS A SKELETON! "YAAAAAAHHHH!" She struggled to push the skeleton away from her, "EEEWWWW! YAAAAAHH! GETITAWAY! GETITAWAY!"

"YAAAAAHHH!" Aisa cried as she fell helplessly down the snake. Gan Fall saw the girl in distress and launched himself towards her. **SWISH! **He quickly reached out and caught her. **WHAP!**

"AAAAAHHHH!" Nami hollered when she saw the end of the 'cave' blocked by a wall of ruins. "IT'S A DEAD END! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIEEEE!"

"Oh no!" Luffy insisted, "GUUUMMM… GUUUMMM… BAALLOOOON!" **FWOOOSSHH! **Luffy inflated himself into a large round balloon and smashed into the ruins. **WOING! **Nami, Gan Fall and Aisa and Pierre and the Waver slammed into Luffy and bounced off of him safely. **BOING! BOING! BOING!**

Luffy deflated and brushed some chunks of rock off of him, "Okay, this Mystery Cave is getting really annoying…"

"I don't you this isn't a cave," Nami corrected him. "We're in a snake's stomach!"

"Where are you?" Luffy wondered as he glanced around for his Navigator. He spotted a familiar-looking yellow t-shirt on a skeleton, "YAAAAAAHH! NAMI! NAMI? ARE YOU OKAY?" Luffy reached down and shook the skeleton.

**BONK! **Nami came up behind him and hit her idiot Captain on the back of the head.

"I'm right here you idiot," she scolded him.

Aisa finally opened her eyes after the fall and found herself in Gan Fall's armor-covered arms. "AAAH! LEGGO! YOU'RE GONNA SQUEEZE ME TO DEATH!"

Gan Fall loosened his grip on her and smiled at the girl, "I'm glad to see you're unharmed."

"LET GO!" Aisa shouted as she pull herself then surprised Nami when she picked up Gan Fall's lance and pointed it at him.

"STOP IT!" Nami scolded her, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, AISA!"

"This man is our enemy," Aisa said as she pointed the Sky Knight's lance at his throat. "He's responsible for taking the Shandian's homeland. So I'm gonna take his head."

"I don't get it," Nami attempted to reason with her, "How is taking the head of the Sky Knight going to fix anything?"

"He's not just a knight," Aisa insisted, "He was the leader of the Skypeians before Eneru showed up. The Skypeians were the ones that drove all of us Shandians out of our homes."

"The Shandians were driven out of their homes four hundred years ago," Nami reminded her. "So there's no way he had anything to do with it."

"If taking my head would satisfy your people, I would gladly sacrifice it," Gan Fall replied much to Aisa, Nami and Luffy's surprise. "Unfortunately, just my head wouldn't be enough. The level of hostility between the Shandians and the Skypeians hasn't changed. And with good reason, our ancestors took your homeland away. What a horrifying thing to go through. I don't think I'll ever be able to find a way to apologize for that. Time alone will not heal this wound. Therefor I regret my helplessness in this situation. If at all possible, I would like to apologize to the Shandians who have spent the last four hundred years searching for their homes. I would like to apologize to them all, one by one." Gan Fall looked up and decided to start with the Shandian girl that had his lance pointed at him. "I am truly sorry."

"Listen to him," Nami urge her, "He's been trying to make sure that everyone's getting along. He wants the citizens to live peacefully in the sky. So you really shouldn't…"

"We will never be able to get along peacefully!" Aisa exclaimed. "Not with the bad guys!"

"That's just it," Nami tried to reason with the girl. "They're not bad. What's bad is when people can't coexist peacefully because they belong to different races." She had her own issues growing up due to 'race' issues. If Arlong and his fishman pirates had just come to her island to settle there and had been intent on living peacefully, then they would have all gotten along and no one would have died. She wouldn't have spent eight years of her life stealing from pirates. "Right?"

Aisa gritted her teeth and let out a whimper as she stared at Gan Fall. The old man sat up but made no move to defend himself from the lance that was less than an inch from his nose. Aisa's eyes began to tear up and she let out a loud scream. "RAAAAH!" Aisa pulled back the lance and started to lash out with it.

"AISA!" Nami yelled out to her.

**WHAP! **Someone grabbed the lance and it was instantly brought to a halt. Aisa struggled but it wouldn't budge an inch. Aisa looked up in surprise and found Luffy in front of her with the end of the lance clutched in his hand.

Aisa's surprise was replaced by anger, "WHY DID YOU STOP ME?" Aisa demanded.

"He was apologizing," Luffy answered, "Probably not the best time to kill a man."

Aisa's eyes began to tear up and the girl let go of the lance and dropped to her knees and cried.

**-x-**

Down in Shandora the City of Gold, Robin stood at the base of Giant Jack.

"Shandora," Robin stated out loud, "the City of Gold. And if the golden bell said to be in the center of the city isn't here… where is it? The belfry is probably engraved with Poneglyphs." Robin turned away from the beanstalk and began to walk through the city again. "If that's the case, then the city probably fell to protect them. Even after all this time, the belfry and the Poneglyph should still be here. They're hidden… somewhere. Hey what's that?" Robin walked under an archway and spotted something odd… railroad tracks. "A rail used to run through the city… but this is new." One half of the railroad tracks was old and worn, barely intact. The other looked like it was in perfect condition and could still run today. "Something must have been moved out of here. I wonder what it was."

"**Yahahahaha," **came a laugh from behind her. Robin looked over her shoulder and saw Eneru seated on a worn wall as he casually tossed an apple up and down in his hand. "Isn't it amazing? Even after being shot up into the sky, the City of Shandora still exists in this way. Yahahahaha… Even if it's a city that everyone knows about, how can it show off its lovely figure if it's covered by clouds." Eneru smiled. "I'm the only one who could see it. I discovered it. The former Gods never even noticed."

"And who are you?" Robin inquired.

"I'm God," Eneru answer simply.

"…" Robin stared silently as Eneru casually took a bite out of the apple. **Chomp! **

"You're quite intelligent," Eneru remarked, "One might guess that you're an archeologist from the Blue Sea World by how fast you found this city of ruins. I can see why your Captain stayed with you when your little group split up after being attacked by the snake. It took us several months to find the same thing. I suppose its easier if you can read the letters on the ruins, right?"

Robin blinked. "Captain?" she repeated. "You mean, Mr. One Eye? Were you following us?"

"I'm God," Eneru reminded her, "I didn't need to follow you. I know everything that happens to everyone on this island. The gold you and your crew are looking for isn't here anymore? I'm afraid you're a few years too late for that."

"Gold?" Robin asked. "Well you're right about that. I couldn't find any. You must have been the one who removed it."

"Gold is a wonderful thing to have," Eneru stated, "And that glittery metal suits me well, don't you think?" Eneru took another bite of the apple. **Chomp!**

"Then you must also have taken the golden bell that was here," Robin reasoned.

"There was a golden bell?" Eneru questioned.

"_He doesn't know," _Robin realized.

**Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! **Eneru finished off his apple with another three quick bites. He was left with the core but he ate that too. **Chomp! Chomp!**

"I'm very intrigued," Eneru announced once he was finished, "What did you learn by reading those letters on the bell?"

"Actually, it's too bad, I never got to read them," Robin admitted. "If you say it wasn't here when you arrived then it must not exist. I guess the huge golden bell and belfry that were the pride of Shandora were only a legend. It's a shame that I'll never be able to lay my eyes on them."

"No wait," Eneru said, "It's actually right here. It's here in the sky. When this island was blown into the sky four hundred years ago and the Upper Yard was born, or when Godland was born. It was said that the loud chiming of a bell could be heard ringing throughout the entire nation."

_Four hundred year ago, the Skypeians stared in shock as half of Jaya was blasted up into the sky. __**DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! **__The loud chimes of a bell rang out from the island._

"The elder inhabitants of this land called it the island's singing voice," Eneru continued, "But that wasn't it. It was the bell. The bell made of gold. Amazing!" Eneru smiled. "Soon the entire game will be over. Only eight minutes left. That's not long at all, in fact it gives me plenty of time to look for the golden bell. Yahahahahahaha!"

"_So the golden bell is in the sky," _Robin thought, _"which means the Poneglyphs are too." _Eneru continued to laugh to himself while Robin continued to think about the missing golden bell._ "Where is it?"_

"_At some point I'm gonna climb that," Ricky – the Treasure Hunter who could sense gold –decided as he stared up the enormous, seemingly unending beanstalk above them._

"_Could it be?" _Robin wondered.

"Yahahahaha…" Eneru's laughter trailed off when he noticed someone unexpected in his forest. "Interesting. It sounds like… there's a maggot on the island."

"Ah…" Robin gasped.

**-x-**

A strange man ran through the giant trees… towards the sound of a loud of a bugle-like horn and the Going Merry.

**-x-**

Conis rang out a rag and placed it on Usopp's head. She'd already put one on Sanji's forehead. "There you go," Conis said, "You two are going to be just fine. I promise."

Pagaya walked in and surveyed the two Straw Hats. "Hmm, they're still unconscious," he noted.

Conis nodded, "They are. But they'll wake up soon. Their condition has been improving."

"Yes dear, I'm sure," Pagaya agreed. "You've taken such excellent care of them and good things happen to good people. They'll be better in no time. Conis, when the sky finally becomes peaceful I'd like to be able to show everyone the hospitality they once knew to my heart's content, including you."

"Thank you, father," Conis replied.

"**SUUU! SUUUU!" **a loud cry came from the normally quiet Cloud Fox outside. Conis and Pagaya left the storage room and found Suu still on her post. "SUU! SUUUU!"

"What's the matter with you, Suu?" Pagaya asked. "Did we forget to feed you?"

"Oh, Suu, are you in pain?" Conis questioned, "Did something happen?"

"Suuu! Suuu!" Suu replied. She had been given a job to keep watch.

They looked passed Suu in time to see a man crawl out of the woods.

A moment later, Pagaya and Conis had left the ship. Pagaya was on his knees next to the man while Conis was behind him. The strange man was in a white robe but looked like he'd seen hell, or more likely God.

"Are you…" Pagaya attempted to ask.

"Yes, I'm one of the men who used to serve Gan Fall when he was God," the man answered.

"So you're one of the Divine Warriors," Pagaya realized.

The man let out a groan, "We were in a closed off area," he revealed, "And then… they…"

"What's happened to you?" Pagaya asked then he looked back at his daughter, "Conis, he needs your help right away."

"Yes, of course father," Conis agreed as she turned to run back to the ship for medical supplies.

"No wait!" the man called out. "My family's on Angel Island. Please… please help…"

"I will," Pagaya assured him, "I know everyone's worried about you."

"Let everyone know…" the man said cryptically, "Eneru… he's planning to return everything."

"What?" Pagaya questioned.

"Skypeia will be dropped back to the Blue Sea World," the man continued, "And this nation will no longer exist!"

"NO!" Pagaya and Conis gasped in alarm.

"There's no time to lose!" the man insisted as he grabbed Pagaya by the collar. "You must tell everyone! Do it now! Our lives will soon be over! Eneru's planning to eliminate every single person from the sky!"

"Eliminate everyone from the sky?" Pagaya repeated. "But wait! If he succeeds in that… then… He'd have no place to live. It doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to do that?"

HE BUILT A SHIP!" the man shouted. "THE ARK MAXIM!"

"Ark Maxim?" Pagaya restated.

**-x-**

Eneru stood up and raised his arm up in the air as his entire body sparked with electricity.

"Hey!" Robin called out, "What are you…"

**-x-**

Conis looked up and saw a terrifying bright light appear in the sky overhead.

"WE WERE FORCED TO SPEND THE LAST SIX YEARS OF OUR LIVES BUILDING THAT SHIP!" the man yelled as he shook Pagaya by the collar.

**WHUP! **Pagaya lashed his arm out behind him and shoved Conis backwards.

"AAAH!" Conis screamed as she fell off of Upper Yard. "FAATHEEEER!"

"_When the sky finally becomes peaceful I'd like to be able to show everyone the hospitality they once knew to my heart's content, including you."_

Her father's words echoed in her ears as she fell down onto the Going Merry and watched the bright light shoot down out of the sky and engulf the strange man and her father.

**BAA-ZOOOOOOOOOM!**

"FAAAAAAAAATHEEEEEEEERR!" Conis screamed in horror.

**-x-**

I managed to get this chapter done quickly because I was on paid vacation last week and had a lot of extra time. I'm not sure when I'll get the next one out but I'll do what I can.

Next chapter, the Survival Game ends and Eneru is faced with the final seven.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	27. Collapsing Upper Ruins

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**27. Collapsing Upper Ruins:**

**-x-**

**BAA-ZOOOOOOOOOM!**

Conis clutched to the railing of the Going Merry and watched in horror as her father was all but vaporized by the thick beam of white lightning. When the light cleared, her father and the strange man that they had gone on shore to help were gone. Even the Vearth they had been on had been destroyed and a circular hole was left on the coast of Upper Yard. Fire burned on the grass and trees beyond the hole and Conis slumped against the railing and sobbed at the sight.

She was still alive but only because of her father's quick thinking. Now he was gone. The man who had raised her had vanished in a beam of familiar white light. The same white light that Luffy, Usopp and Sanji had saved her from yesterday… God's Judgment.

Conis bit her lip as her tears ran down her face and dropped into her lap. Suu ran over and attempted to comfort her. Conis grabbed her little white fox and hugged her to her chest.

"_There is no time to lose!" the strange man had urged them. "You must tell everyone! Soon our lives will be over! Eneru will eliminate everything from the sky! Skypeia is going to be dropped back into the Blue Sea World! And this nation will no longer exist!"_

"I can't…" Conis whimpered, "I can't just sit here and cry…" Her father had _died _to get that information. The people had to know about Eneru's horrible plans. "There's no time to lose, I must take action." Conis put Suu down and stood up with renewed determination. "I have to do everything I can. I have to tell the people… what's going to happen."

And so it was decided. A moment later, Conis pulled on her gloves and sped off in her father's sky ship. **VROOOOOOM!**

"Suu!" Suu cried out after Conis as she perched on the rear railing of the Going Merry.

"_I want you to stay and take care of these two, Suu," Conis had instructed her treasured pet as they stood over Usopp and Sanji while she slipped a cannon on her back, "Because there's something important that I have to do."_

"_I have to warn them, no matter what it takes!" _Conis thought to herself as she raced back towards Angel Beach on the bull-themed boat that used to belong to her father. _"I won't let your death be in vain father!"_

**-x-**

"Chopper!" Ricky exclaimed, fresh off his victory over Ohm and his Ordeal of Iron. He spotted the reindeer on the rock where he'd left him. Ricky scooped Chopper up into his arms. "Now we just need to rescue Nami from that snake and we can get out outta here, little guy."

Ricky stepped back onto his stolen sky-board and sped off through the ruins. **SHOOOOM!**

"RUUFFF!" Ricky looked up and saw Holy barrel towards him. Clearly the big dog recognized him as the one who had defeated its master and wanted some sort of revenge.

A pink haired Shandian suddenly leapt over a ruin and chased after the dog. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" he roared. "HE'S MINE! GET DOWN!"

**Skiiissshh… **Ricky skidded to a stop on his Sky-Board and he and Kiko stared at the dog in surprise. Holy had sat down.

"Did… it just listen?" Kiko wondered as they stared at the docile dog as it sat on the ground.

"Well… I did just gut its master," Ricky reasoned. "Maybe it'll listen to anyone now?"

"In that case…" Kiko said, "BEAST, I COMMAND YOU TO KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!"

Holy swung his paw up and smashed it into his own face. **KA-POW! **The dog dropped like a rock and fell on its back. **THUD!**

"_That damn dog survived everything that I threw at it!" _Kiko thought to himself, _"It knocked itself out with just one punch." _Kiko noted Ricky out of the corner of his eye. _"Crap, can't lose face in front of the Blue Sea Dweller…"_

"HAHA!" Kiko laughed as he raised his arms up in the air, "I AM THE BEAST MASTER!"

"Still look like a Skykama to me, pinky," Ricky stated.

"Grrr…" Kiko growled at him. "Then maybe I'll finish what I started on the beanstalk."

"Yeah, you _could_," Ricky agreed, "But you know there's still one uncontrollable beast still running amok in these ruins."

Kiko looked back over his shoulder and easily spotted the snake that towered over the ruins. "Wyper's still fighting it."

"And my Nakama Zoro's no slouch either," Ricky added, "So if the two of them haven't been able to get Nami, the Sky Knight and that girl out of there then maybe they need some help."

"Aisa…" Kiko hissed.

"Come on 'Beast Master'," Ricky prodded the Shandian. "You scared of a big snake?"

"I AM NOT!" Kiko snapped.

"Good, see you there," Ricky decided. **SHOOOM! **He sped off on his sky-board.

"HEY WAIT!" Kiko hollered after him. "GIMME BACK MY BOARD, YOU BASTARD!"

**-x-**

"Damn it," Zoro cursed as he dodged around a swipe from the giant snake. "I've gotta get Nami outta that snake before she gets digested."

"I don't have time for this fight to drag on forever!" Wyper growled on the snake's other side. "Why don't you just die already!"

**RAAAAAHHH!** The snake roared as it lunged at Wyper. **SKISH! **Wyper shot himself up into the air and the snake slammed into the ground. **WHAAM! **

**Fwip! **Wyper flipped over in midair and aimed his Burn Bazooka down at the exposed portion of the snake's skin that Zoro had caused when he'd managed to hack off the snake's thick scales. "This fight ends now!" Wyper declared. "I'M THROUGH DEALING WITH YOU!"

**BA-ZOOOOM! **Wyper opened fire and a beam of blue fire shot from his Burn Bazooka and blasted the damaged spot on the snake's size.

**REEEEEEHHHHRRRRRR! **The snake recoiled crushed a nearby ruin. **KROOOM!**

Zoro rushed in while the snake was still down and wounded and lashed out the now burnt wound and slashed with two of his swords. **SLA-SLISH! SPLURT!** Zoro landed on the far side of the snake while blood sprayed out from the snake's side. They were finally doing some damage.

**-x-**

"What the heck is going on out there?" Nami wondered as she lay in heap with Luffy and Aisa after they suffered through the snake they were inside of doing a barrel-roll. "If this keeps up much longer I don't know if we'll be able to make it out of here!"

"Hey! Someone help!" Luffy's muffled voice came from under Nami. She looked down and saw that the rubber Captain's head had been squished between two large broken rocks. "This is killing my face! Someone get me out!"

"Oh good grief," Nami muttered as she grabbed Luffy's shoulders and yanked hard in an attempt to get her Captain out of yet another annoying situation.

**-x-**

"Nami had better still be alive in there…" Zoro growled as he stared at the snake.

**SKISH! "Zoro!" **Zoro spun around as Ricky landed behind him with Chopper on his shoulder. "Any progress?"

"A little," Zoro answered, "That snake's scales are like steel but I managed to blast some off. The crazy bazooka guy just shot the wound with his fire cannon and I sliced it with my sword, so we've got an opened wound at least."

"So what… your plan is to hack your way into it?" Ricky asked.

"If we have to," Zoro replied. "Do you have a better plan?"

"Have you tried asking it to spit them out?" Ricky inquired.

"Be seriously," Zoro scolded him.

"I am," Ricky told him, "After I took out baldy, the Skykama told the dog to knock itself out and then it did."

Kiko ran up behind Wyper on the other side of the snake. "Wyper, the Blue Sea Dweller managed to beat Ohm and I took out the dog," Kiko reported. "I am the beast master! HOOO!"

"Then here's how this is going to go," Wyper decided, "First we gut the snake, then we kill all three of those Blue Sea People and Gan Fall and then we take Eneru's head."

**-x-**

Down below, in the City of Shandora, Eneru's body finally stopped cackling with electricity and he lowered his arm.

"What exactly did you just do?" Robin demanded.

"I showed mercy," Eneru humored her demand and answered. "I pitiful worm was in a great deal of pain so I saved him by releasing him from his torment. I performed My duties as God. But it seems the young woman is still behaving desperately… but desperation is the most interesting emotion." Robin stared at Eneru and tried to reign in her shock. "Soon enough, true despair will be something everyone truly understands."

Robin's eyes narrowed, _"This man, he as Logia Power," _she realized. She'd spent years with Crocodile. She knew how to recognize a Logia Devil Fruit User's abilities when she saw them.

"And now," Eneru concluded, "I must say that what little time we have left here I coming to a close. This is the beginning of the end. I will now set into motion a series of events that will reveal my ultimate plan."

"What plan?" Robin questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Yahahah," Eneru let out a low chuckle as he once again raised his arm up into the air. "THE SKY LORD IS CALLING YOU! HEED MY CALL LOWLY BEINGS AND COME TO ME!"

"Aah!" Robin gasped and stepped back in surprise as Eneru's entire body took on a blue-white glow as he cackled with electricity.

"SANGO!" Eneru called out. **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **A wide beam of electricity shot off of Eneru's body and flew up into the air then plowed through the bottom of the upper ruins. **FWASH! **Eneru's lightning completely covered the large white-barbed dome that Ohm had created around the Upper Ruins.

**-x-**

"AAAAAHHH!" Kiko yelled in alarm as the Upper Ruins were engulfed in blue-white light.

"Grrr…" Wyper growled as he recognized the lightning power.

"What the…" Zoro sputtered in surprise.

"Oh crap!" Ricky cursed, "Eneru's found Robin!"

**Reeehh? **The snake hissed in confusion.

**KREK-KREK-KREK!** The stone ground stared to come apart as the ruins were knocked free from the beanstalk and stared to fall downward.

**-x-**

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Robin shouted at Eneru.

"YAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "It was I who brought you and your friends here to Shandora. I beckoned you."

"I've never seen something like this before…" Robin said to herself, "This man possesses such tremendous power!"

**-x-**

"Hang onto something!" Ricky called out as the ruins came apart and plummeted downward.

"TO WHAT?" Zoro snapped. "The whole place is falling apart!"

"WYPER, WHAT'S GOING ON?" Kiko shouted.

"It has to be Eneru!" Wyper realized. "He's the only one who's powerful enough to do something like this!"

Ricky clutched Chopper to his side with one arm then held onto the sky-board with his other one as he pressed his foot down on the pedal. **SHOOOM! **The sky-board sped along a falling rock then Ricky leapt off of it and to the side to avoid the massive falling snake.

**REEEEEHHHHRRRRRR! **The Lord of the Sky hissed in alarm as its massive body fell in between the four humans.

"What's that?" Wyper wondered as he stared all the way down Giant Jack and saw the hole that Eneru's attack had punched through the ruins and cloud cover above Shandora. "There's a hole at the base…"

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed loudly. "And now this brings us to our climactic grand finale!"

**-x-**

"I suggest we attempt our escape now!" Gan Fall suggested as he, Luffy, Nami, Aisa and Pierre struggled to avoid falling back into the snake as it fell through the air.

"Right," Nami agreed. "It's now or never!" Nami looked down below her at Luffy had Aisa with him. "Luffy, get over here and grab the Waver! I'm gonna finally get us outta this snake!"

"Right," Luffy quickly agreed then he looked down at the Shandian girl who he was holding by the wrist. "Hey you, hang onto me." Luffy pulled Aisa to him and the girl wrapped her arms around his waist before he reached up and grabbed onto the back of Nami's waver. "READY!"

"HERE WE GO!" Nami prompted as she pushed down on the pedal. **Vrrrr**

"Wait!" Aisa suddenly called out, "You're holding onto the exhaust pipe!"

**VRRRROOOOOOOM! **The dial-powered waver roared to life and the exhaust pipe blasted Luffy off of it.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Luffy and Aisa screamed as they fell back down the snake.

"MAN OVERBOARD!" Gan Fall shouted as his eyes bugged out in alarm. "WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM!" **VROOOOOOM! **Nami's waver sped right passed the Sky Knight. "PIERRE! YOU'VE GOT TO GO BACK AND SAVE THOSE TWO!"

**WHING! **Gan Fall launched himself off of his steed and Pierre fluttered in surprise. "PIIIIEEE!"

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Nami and Gan Fall screamed as they sped out of the massive snake's opened mouth. Pierre followed behind Gan Fall.

Nami blinked and finally took notice of the fact that they were FALLING hundreds of feet through the air. "YAAAAH!" she shrieked as she clutched at the handlebars of her Waver. "HOW'D WE GET UP SO HIGH?"

"I HAVE NO IDEA!" Gan Fall hollered back as he plummeted passed her. "PIERRE! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME! YOU HAVE TO SAVE THE OTHERS!"

"PIIEEEE!" Pierre agreed as he spread his wings and shot up into the air and soared back into the snake's opened mouth.

"SO WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO NOW THAT THE BIRD'S GONE, YOU WEIRD OLD MAN!" Nami screamed.

"MY NAME'S GAN FALL! GAN… FALL!" Gan Fall shouted back at her.

"I DON'T CARE, JUST SAVE US!" Nami wailed. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

**-x-**

Ricky's eye widened in surprise as he sensed a familiar sapphire necklace down below the snake. "Sixteen million … Nami?" **SHOOOM! **Ricky used to his skyboard to speed along another falling chunk of ruin and dropped down onto the snake's tail then surfed down its long body. **SHOOOOM! **Ricky launched himself off of the snake's head and when he squinted his eye he was able to make out Nami on her waver and the armored man falling beside her.

Ricky hugged Chopper to his chest as he curled himself into a ball to speed up his descent then stomped on the pedal of his Skyboard and shot down towards Nami like a cannonball. **SHOOM!**

"NAMI!" Ricky called out the terrified orange haired girl before he grabbed onto her Waver and flipped himself over the back of it and inside behind Nami. Nami's face lit up as she spun around to face him.

"RIIIICKYYY!" she squealed. She abandoned her hold on the handle bars and launched herself at him and nearly squished Chopper as she grabbed him in a hold that told Ricky that she wasn't going to let go any time soon. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"Hold on," Ricky instructed as he leaned over the side of the Waver. "Sky Knight, grab on!"

Gan Fall spun in the air and grabbed Ricky's outstretched hand with his gauntlet. Once he had him, Ricky swung the Sky Knight onto the Waver in front of him and Nami.

"Eneru just blasted the Upper Ruins with his lightning!" Ricky informed the other two. "We're falling all the way down to the City of Gold."

"Gold?" Nami repeated. Her love for money outweighed her terror at the imminent danger she was in. Well… almost. "I DON'T WANNA DIE BEFORE WE SEE IT!"

"Then you're gonna have to let go of me so I can slow our fall," Ricky told her. Nami stared hard at him, gave him another tight squeeze then let go. Ricky held out Chopper to her. "Look after Chopper." Ricky took a deep breath then rolled off the side of the Waver as they dropped through the hole Eneru had made above the City of Gold.

The ground was quickly closing in as Ricky pulled up his eye patch and revealed his red eye. His held onto the Waver with one arm then lashed out with the other and struck out at the ground. **WOOOSH! **The Waver started to fall at a slower speed and Ricky lashed out his arm again for good measure. **WOOOSH! **The Waver's speed was halved again and it lightly touched down on the floor of the ruins.

"There, safe and sound," Ricky resolved as he stood up and pulled his eye patch back down.

"NOT QUITE!" Nami shouted as she pointed up at the debris from the Upper Ruins that was starting to rain down on the city.

Ricky drew his sword and twisted to the side before he launched himself up into the air. "Red Storm… VOLCANO!" **SWA-WOOOOSH! **A red spiral flew up into the air off of Ricky's sword and cleaved through all the falling debris. **SLISH-SLISH-SLISH!**

**KROOOSH! KREK! KRASH! BOOOM! KRESH! KRATA-KRESH! **Nami and Gan Fall watched as two Shandians, a green-haired swordsman, a giant snake and a large assortment of rocky rubble rained down all around them until it all finally settled.

**-x-**

**Seven Survivors:**

**-x-**

"What just happened?" Robin wondered as she surveyed the large mass of ruins that had just seemingly fallen from the sky. "Why did all of these ruins fall out of the sky?" Robin looked up and saw the hole that Eneru had blasted through the clouds that had previously been overhead around the beanstalk.

**KRONK! **A large chunk of rubble was kicked to the side as so clambered out from under it.

"Mr. Swordsman!" Robin called out to him.

"This is not my day…" Zoro groaned.

"Don't tell me you fell down here with all of this," Robin said.

"Unngghh!" Zoro grunted as he knocked over a large boulder-sized chunk of stone and stood back up. "Yeah I did. And it almost killed me!"

"I'm amazed it didn't," Robin admitted. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, good to see you, Robin," Zoro replied.

"Where am I? What is this place?" Zoro questioned.

"It's the City of Gold we've been looking for," Robin informed him.

"City of Gold, huh?" Zoro repeated as he walked over to her and glanced around him at the impressive ancient ceiling. "It doesn't look much different than the ruins up above. Did you find the treasure?"

"We didn't," Robin answered, "Mr. One Eye even confirmed it before he went to climb that beanstalk in the middle."

"Oh yeah, where'd Ricky get off to anyway?" Zoro wondered.

"You mean he's not with you?" Robin questioned.

"Well, he was," Zoro said, "We had to deal with a Priest, his mutt and a giant snake. He disappeared when we fell."

**-x-**

**WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! **The Lord of the Sky slammed its massive tail on the ground as it struggled to yank its head out from the ground where it was stuck. **KROOOM! **The giant snake's head finally came free. It slowly blinked as it took in the ruins around it.

**-x-**

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy and Aisa screamed as they finally finished their fall down the snake's body. Luffy hugged Aisa to him and shielded her as he smashed into some ruins. **KRASH!**

"Wah!" Aisa yelped as she yanked herself free from the rubble.

"Shishishi!" Luffy sat up and laughed. "That was a crazy ride, if I do say so myself! I think I wanna go again!"

"ARE YOU STUPID?" Aisa yelled at him. "WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU HOLD ONTO THE WAVER'S JET?"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed it off. "Sorry!"

"Everyone else managed to escape," Aisa pointed out, "We've been left behind because of YOUR STUPIDITY! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Awww, don't worry about it!" Luffy reassured her.

"GET US OUTTA HERE!" Aisa yelled at him.

"I've got an idea," Luffy told her, "Why don't we make our way down to the back of the snake and escape out its butt…" **POW! **Aisa cut him off with a hard shot to the face.

"THINK AGAIN, JERK!" she snapped at him, "THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!"

"PPPPIIEEE!" Pierre cried out as he flew the rest of the way down the snake and landed in front of Luffy and Aisa.

"Hey, it's the horse," Luffy noted.

"THAT'S A BIRD!" Aisa shouted at him.

"PIE!" Pierre crowed as he saluted them.

"Uuh… are you trying to tell us to get on your back?" Luffy questioned.

"PIIEE!" Pierre replied before he used his Devil Fruit Powers and transformed into a horse. "NEEEIIGGH!"

"Waaah… HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE DO THAT?" Aisa exclaimed.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as stretched his arms out and shot himself onto the horse's back. **Shu-whup! **

"YAAAH!" Aisa yelped. "YOU'RE A FREAK TOO!"

"I ate the Gum Gum Fruit," Luffy told her as he stretched out the side of his face. **Woing! **"It turned me into a rubber person, that's why I can stretch myself out like this."

"FREAKS!" Aisa shrieked at the rubber boy and the bird-horse. "BOTH OF YOU ARE FREAKS OF NATURE!"

"No, I'm a pirate," Luffy corrected her, "Now come on." Luffy stretched his arm out and snagged Aisa by the back of her shirt then yanked her up onto Pierre's back behind him. Luffy looked back at the Shandian girl, "You'd better hold on tight, okay?" She nodded weakly. "Then I think it's time we made our escape!" **Klonk-klonk-klonk-klonk! **Pierre galloped along the ruins then flapped his wings than the Pegasus took off. **WOOOSH!** "LET'S GO, HORSE!" Luffy encouraged Pierre while Aisa hugged him from behind. "DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU SEE THE SKY!"

"PPIIIEEEE!" Pierre crowed as the started to fly back up the snake.

**-x-**

"Don't you ever leave me again!" Nami scolded Ricky. She grabbed onto him and sat herself across his lap. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"You got chased across the island then got eaten by the snake?" Ricky guessed.

"Oh no, there's way more!" Nami snapped. "FIRST, God showed up on the Going Merry and fried Sanji and Usopp with his freaky powers! THEN these two twin weirdos showed up and started kicking them around so I had to use my Clima-Tact and their dials to beam 'em up! AFTER some bratty Shandian girl showed up with Conis and Pagaya, I had to look after her so when she jumped off the ship I jumped after her and we ended up being chased into the forest by the snake and some weird goat-people. We FINALLY made to those Upper Ruins WHEN THE SNAKE ATE US! Inside, we found Luffy…"

"Wait, Luffy's in the snake?" Ricky cut in.

"Yeah, that's why it was acting so weird," Nami explained, "He was messing around in there. The weirdo-knight and I managed to get out of the snake but Luffy and Aisa are still inside."

"Pierre's gone to fetch your friends," Gan Fall chimed in, "And when push comes to shove, he's a very good bird or horse."

"I wanted to keep OUT OF trouble!" Nami complained. "That's why I stayed on the ship!"

"You act like my time here was a walk in the park," Ricky replied. "Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, Robin and I got attacked by the snake and we all got scattered. Luffy, Zoro and Chopper all got lost but I managed to find Robin. We had to fight the big fat commander of all those weird goat-people but we managed to make it down here to the City of Gold. There's no gold here so I left Robin behind so I could climb the beanstalk and try to find…"

"WAIT-WAIT-WAIT!" Nami cut in, "THERE'S NO GOLD? That can't be right! You couldn't stop sneezing yesterday! You're only like that when you're around a lot of treasure! It's gotta be here SOMEWHERE!"

"Which is why I went on my own again to try and find it and some of the others," Ricky said. "Anyway, I ran into the Chopper on the beanstalk but sent him off ahead when I got attacked by a weirdo on Shura's bird. His buddy with a fire-cannon showed up so I stole a sky-board and sped up to the ruins. A bird dropped Zoro right on top of me and we found that Chopper had been mauled by the last Priest and his giant dog." Ricky held up the unconscious reindeer. "Naturally, I swore revenge but everyone and their grandma jumped in an interrupted. The snake showed up, a bunch of sky warriors, some of those tribal people then you and the girl got eaten, it was pretty chaotic until the priest and his dog made a cage around the ruins so no one else could get in or out. I sent Zoro to cut you out of the snake while I finally got my hands on the Priest in his 'unpassable' Ordeal of Iron."

"Wait… you defeated Ohm and the Ordeal of Iron?" Gan Fall questioned. "It has a zero percent chance of survival!"

"I cheated," Ricky told him. "Anyway, I beat the Priest and the Skykama dealt with the big dog. But just as I met up with Zoro again, Eneru blasted the ruins with his lightning and we all fell down here."

"Hm…" Gan Fall grunted as he glanced around him. "I've traveled all across the Upper Yard in my lifetime but I've never seen this place before."

"That's because its not on the surface," Ricky informed him. "You know those ruins that're at the base of the beanstalk? Robin and I found this place when he climbed down through one of the tall ruins. We had to cut through some cloud but we came out in here."

**-x-**

Wyper stared around him in amazement while Kiko looked up and gasped. "Wyper… is this?"

"It's… our homeland…" Wyper realized as he took in the ancient city. "We've found it… This is the proud city that our ancestors once protected… Shandora! "

**-x-**

**Reeeehh… reeeehh… **The Lord of the Sky grunted as it craned its neck around and scanned the city for something. The massive snake was hard to miss and Nami immediately pointed out its odd behavior.

"I think the snake is looking for something," Nami observed, "Either that, or Luffy's doing something that's bothering it."

**JULALALAL! **The snake let out a loud cry. **JULALALALALA! **Tear started to well up in its yellow eyes.

"I think… it's crying…" Nami pointed out.

**-x-**

**JULALALALALALA!**

"What's the meaning of this ridiculous outburst?" Eneru questioned as He surveyed the snake. "Just what are you getting yourself so worked up about, Lord of the Sky?" **Bzzzzzzztttt! **Eneru's fist started to glow and cackled with electricity. "You've always been an annoyance to me but no longer!" **BA-ZOOT! **A ball of thunder shot out of Eneru's hand and hovered in the air above the snake's head. "EL THOR!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOOM! **The ball of thunder became of powerful beam that shot down and engulfed the massive snake in blue-white light.

**Jula... lala… **The snake let out one last weak cry as it was electrocuted by Eneru.

"AISA!" Wyper screamed.

"AH! NAMI!" Zoro yelped. "SHE'S DEAD! THERE'S NO WAY SHE COULD'VE SURVIVED THAT!"

"**Zoro?" **Zoro turned in time to see Ricky stand up from behind a chunk of ruin. He had both Nami and Chopper cradled in his arms.

"Glad to know you care, Zoro," Nami remarked. "But I managed to get out. Hey Robin!"

"Ms. Navigator, I see you're in good hands," Robin noted. Nami grinned back at her.

"I just hope the others are alright," Ricky said as he observed the snake. They all turned and took in the snake's massive charred body.

"Luffy, Aisa and the bird were still in there…" Nami mumbled.

"EH? What the heck was he doing in there?" Zoro questioned.

"I tried to get him out but he fell off the Waver!" Nami defended herself.

"Uuuggghhh…" Zoro groaned, "That brat is nothing but a pain in the ass. Is he aware of how much of a hassle he is?"

"Probably," Ricky replied. "He just doesn't care."

**THOOOOM! **The Lord of the Sky's massive body crashed to the ground in front of Wyper and Kiko. Wyper gripped his Burn Bazooka in annoyance.

"Just one hit, that's all it took," Wyper growled. "Eneru destroyed it when my bazooka couldn't even scratch the snake."

"And Aisa…" Kiko added, "We can only hope she somehow survived."

The smoke around the snake's body finally faded and Wyper saw Eneru seated on a ruin. He quickly spun around and fired his bazooka at him. **BA-ZOOOOOOOOM!**

**SKISH! **Eneru launched himself off of the ruin and flipped over Wyper's beam of fire then lightly touched down on the road across from him. **TMP!**

Wyper quickly turned and blasted at Eneru again. **BA-ZOOOOOOOOM! SKISH! **But once again, Eneru launched himself out of the way and avoided the blast.

Eneru casually fished into his pocket and pulled out a dial, he pushed down on the apex then tossed it in front of him, "Ball Cloud…" White cloud shot out of the dial and formed a ball that looked exactly like the ones that Satori used for his Ordeal of Balls. Eneru landed on the ball and casually sat down on it as he surveyed the seven survivors that had made it down to Shandora.

"Eneru…" Wyper growled.

"Yahahahahahaha!" Eneru laughed as he twirled his golden staff. "That's no way to treat your host, now is it, Shandian Warrior? I thought that you'd be happy. After all, it was I who brought you here and returned you to your homeland."

"Raaahh…" Wyper snarled as he readied his bazooka. **Click!**

"Don't get so worked up," Eneru tried to sooth the angry warrior. "There's time for that later. This is just the beginning. You don't want the fun to end so soon do you?"

"This is a game to you?" Wyper demanded.

"Yes," Eneru answered smugly. "A truly petty game, at that, for all of you will be competing against each other for my entertainment."

**Krek! **Next to Wyper, Kiko clenched his hands. **Klank… klank… **Gan Fall's armor rattled as he made his way towards Eneru.

"Hold onto Chopper," Ricky instructed Nami. "Then take cover. Things are gonna get hairy." Nami nodded and ducked behind a ruin and clutched Chopper to her chest while Ricky, Zoro and Robin made their way into the middle of the clearing where Eneru was seated on his Ball Cloud.

"Well done, I'm happy so many of you made it so far," Eneru remarked as he surveyed the six that stood gathered around him. "I extend my welcome to you survivors. Yahahaha! And now the fun truly begins. This is a Survival Game to see how many people out of an orginal eighty-three, including myself, are still standing after three hours on this island. The last person standing will be the winner. Among you are a few participants that entered late into the game. But I've decided to allow them to stay. It will make it all the more interesting. Now the seven of us will continue on in the final stage of the game."

"_Did he say seven?" _Nami wondered. _"Does he not know that I'm here?"_

"Don't be ridiculous," Ricky spoke up, "With your Mantra you can obviously tell there's eight of us here."

"_DAMN IT!" _Nami snapped.

"Baldy was nice enough to keep count of everyone in the Upper Ruins," Ricky continued, "but he never included you. Instead, he counted the snake and his dog."

"That's where Ohm was mistaken," Eneru replied, "I have been a participant in this game from the very beginning. I eliminated two Blue Sea Dwellers, Kamakiri and eleven other Shandian Warriors as well as eight of My Warriors. In just a few minutes the three hours will be up which means that the eight people that we have present here are one too many."

"The one thing I know is that God's Prophecy will never falter," Eneru continued, "Because He is absolute. One person needs to disappear. I'm curious to see how this person is going to die. Will you all fight each other or will you gang up on one of the weaker ones? Of course, you could all resist your fates and force Me to pick."

Eneru casually scanned the people in front of him… Robin… Zoro… Ricky… Wyper… Kiko… Gan Fall…

"Any volunteers?" Ricky inquired as he glanced over at Zoro and Robin.

"Not interested," Robin admitted.

"Me neither," Zoro agreed.

"How 'bout you, Nami?" Ricky queried.

"LIKE HELL!" Nami shouted from behind ruin.

"Didn't think so," Ricky replied, he looked at the Shandians and Gan Fall on his other side. "How 'bout you guys? Any of you wanna disappear?"

"I won't compete in this sick game," Wyper stated.

"Then neither will I," Kiko insisted.

"And I too refuse to take part," Gan Fall added.

"Well, I guess we're in agreement then," Ricky resolved.

Ricky and Zoro drew their swords, Robin crossed her arms over her chest, Wyper readied his Burn Bazooka, Kiko gripped his Flame Claws and Gan Fall raised his lance.

"You're the one that's going to disappear," the six of them chorused as they all trained their respective weapons on Eneru.

"Yahahahaha…" Eneru simply laughed in response. "Insolent fools."

**-x-**

**God Eneru's Goal:**

**-x-**

"Hahahaha!" three Skypeian kids laughed as they kicked a ball together on Angel Beach.

"Hey!" one of the kids exclaimed as an errant kick sent the ball over to Conis and Pagaya's outdoor porch. He ran over to retrieve the ball and the other two boys followed him.

"I think this porch belongs to that pretty lady," one of the other boys noted, "the one who plays her harp on the beach all the time."

"Yeah, this is her place," the first kid said. He had brown hair that was styled into two balls. "Her name's Conis and she lives here with her dad Pagaya. They both seem like nice people. They even invited me over to have lunch one time."

"I heard that girl and her dad are really bad people," the third boy whispered to the second boy. "Stay away or you'll get in trouble."

"My mom told me that too," the second boy agreed with the third, "She said they were helping the Blue Sea People."

The first boy gasped and dropped the ball as he pictured Conis on the porch with her harp.

"That can't be!" the first boy exclaimed. How could someone so nice be a bad person?

"I swear, it's true," the third boy insisted as he put his hands on his hips. "My father said he'd ground me if I go anywhere near them."

"Your father said that…" the first boy repeated as his face fell.

"I'm sorry," the third boy apologized, "Your father is…" The boy trailed off awkwardly.

"My dad's a member of the Enforcers," the first boy told them, "And he's out on patrol. My mom says he'll be coming home soon. And I can hardly wait, cause I've never seen his face."

"Oh man!" the third boy gushed with a wide smile, "I think it's awesome that your dad is one of the Divine Warriors!"

The first boy smiled, "I guess it is pretty cool," he admitted.

"Yeah it is," the third boy agreed, "I'm sure your dad will come home to see you real soon."

"Yeah," the first boy said with a sigh.

**-x-**

A loud bugle horn ran through the air as Conis sped along the Sea Clouds on her father's boat. The grave words from the Divine Warrior rang through his head.

"_Skypeia will be dropped back into the Blue Sea World! This nation will no longer exist!"_

The wounded brown haired enforcer looked an awful lot like that young Skypeian boy she and Pagaya had for lunch one time. But now he and her own father were both gone.

Conis bit her lip and repeated her earlier resolve, _"I can't let his death be in vain! I must tell the others! I have to warn them! No matter what it takes!"_

**-x-**

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed in response to the six survivors' collective threat on his life. "You dare to threaten me?" His eyes casually scanned Robin, Zoro, Ricky, Wyper, Kiko and Gan Fall and their weapons while Nami hid behind a ruin. "Listen to yourselves! Yahahahahahaha! Yahahahahahahahaha! Yahahahahahahahahaha!"

But despite God's dismissive laughter, the six warriors in front of him refused to back down.

Nami on the other hand, was very intimated by God's Power, especially after she'd seen how easily he took down Sanji and Usopp on the Going Merry. _"Whoa… this guy's dangerous…"_

"Yahahahahahahaha!" Eneru continued to laugh.

"Was it really that funny?" Ricky asked. "We've faced off against people with freakish powers like yours before."

Eneru stopped laughing. "Don't be foolish, there are none like Me. You have no idea what you're up against." Eneru gripped his gold staff and the conductive metal cackled as electricity from Eneru coursed through it. "Even all six of you together don't stand a chance against Me." Eneru swung his staff which caused his cloud ball to spin so he could further mock the other six by turning his back to all of them. "You cannot comprehend the extent of My powers and what I'm truly capable of."

Gan Fall tightened his grip on his lance. Eneru's Mantra told Him that the former God would make the first attack. He just needed to spur the old man into action.

"Yahahaha!" Eneru chuckled, "Look at you, an elderly buffoon wanting peace, two warriors who single-mindedly seek their homeland and thieves from the Blue Sea who are only concerned with treasures. All of you for one reason or another want to save this retched place called Skypiea. But you cannot, because this nation is fundamentally flawed."

"Grrr…" Gan Fall growled, "I refuse to stand here and listen to such nonsense! Now tell me where they Divine Warriors are! And what exactly is your goal here today!" Gan Fall took a step forward and jabbed his lance towards Eneru.

"Why an ascension, My old friend," Eneru answered.

"What do you mean?" Gan Fall demanded.

"I mean, when I ascend, I will return to My rightful place," Eneru explained.

"What's that?" Gan Fall hissed, "Are you saying that you're leaving Skypeia."

"That's right," Eneru confirmed as he stood up on his ball cloud but kept his back to the others. "I will soon leave this dreadful wasteland. On the island where I grew up there were legends of a place regarded as God's Home."

"God's Home?" Nami repeated.

"People called this place Endless Vearth," Eneru continued. "And there, the ground extends as far as the eye can see… IN ALL DIRECTIONS!" Eneru smiled widely as he envisioned the endless expanse of green landscape spread around him. "IT'S MY DREAM TO FIND THIS PLACE! THIS PARADISE! ENDLESS VEARTH! A HOME FIT FOR A GOD! My time spent here battling over the inconsequential lands of the Upper Yard has been nothing but a petty triviality." Eneru twirled his staff beside him and waved it which caused his ball to spin so he finally faced the others again then he pointed his staff at the six people in front of him. "I tell you this place that you cherish is an abomination. Consider this, it was born in the sky but it's not a cloud, it lives in the sky though it's not a bird, this nation which exists in the sky is an utterly unnatural one. When we die, we all return to the earth, to the soil, but here, there is none."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Gan Fall persisted.

Eneru jumped off of his ball and floated down to the ground. "You really shouldn't be surprised by my intentions. As God, I am bound to adhere to the divine province, our nation. That's why, this unnatural nation WILL BE RIPPED AND PULLED FROM THE SKY!"

Nami and Robin gasped. Zoro, Wyper and Kiko growled.

"Oh," Ricky's eye widened in realization, _"I get it. He's crazy."_

"You're planning on wiping out Skypeia completely?" Gan Fall snarled.

"It's only natural," Eneru replied.

"Don't be so conceited!" Gan Fall snarled at him, "The term 'God' is just a title used to refer to the leader of this nation!"

"True," Eneru agreed as he idly picked at his ear, "But that will soon change."

"A TRUE GOD DOES NOT LIVE AMONG THE HUMANS AS YOU DO!" Gan Fall yelled. "AND TREAT THEM AS HIS PLAYTHINGS!"

"Former God, Gan Fall," Eneru calmly addressed the old man. "Yahahaha! You're worried about the Divine Warriors, are you not?" Eneru casually sat down cross-legged on the ground. "Six years ago the Divine Warriors lost a battle against My forces and I took six hundred and fifty under My charge." Eneru casually scooped up a handful of dirt on the ground. "They served Me well until this morning until I could find no more use for them. I told you, did I not? The eight of us here now are the only ones left alive in this forsaken place." Eneru charged the dirt in his hand then casually let it spill out into a pile on the ground in front of him.

Gan Fall took a step back in short, "You monster!"

"It's not like I wanted to harm them," Eneru said, "But when I told them My goal they dared to challenge Me. Yahahahaha! And they paid the price for that insubordination! Yahahahahahaha!"

"They were good men," Gan Fall stated, "They all had families on Angel Island."

"Yes, I'm aware," Eneru admitted, "I suppose I'll have to bury their families beside them."

Gan Fall couldn't handle it anymore. His body shook with rage. "You… are… THE DEVIL!" With a loud roar the Sky Knight rushed at Eneru in an attempt to avenge the good men that the God had killed.

Eneru stood up and tossed his staff up into the air. Gan Fall reached him and lashed out his lance but it went harmlessly through the Lightning Logia User's body. **SKISH! **Eneru appeared next to Gan Fall in an instant. Eneru held two fingers near each other and a beam of lightning sparkled between them. "Five Million… Ten Million… Twenty Million…" Eneru stretched his arms apart and the beam of lightning became a long column.

In what he saw as his last moment, Gan Fall couldn't help to think back about the past.

**-Gan Fall Flashback-**

"We were… consumed by bloodlust…" Gan Fall lamented six years ago as he sat on his chair in God's Shrine as the acting God of Skypeia. "The Shandian Warriors… they only attacked the Upper Yard because they wanted to reclaim the homeland of their ancestors which we took."

"PIIIEEE!" Pierre chirped from nearby.

"Gan Fall, you're not thinking about that again, are you?" Gan Fall's attendant questioned. "Look around, look at the peaceful existence of the citizens of Skypeia. It wouldn't be this way had our ancestors not taken control of the Upper Yard four hundred year ago. It is our duty to carry on this battle to ensure the peaceful nature of this nation. We've tried to negotiate with them but if they can't abide by these negotiations they do not deserve your compassion."

"Four hundred years," Gan Fall said to himself as he left his throne and stood on the clouds in front of it as he surveyed God's Shrine, "I think it's time for this endless strife and bloodshed to end. I only wish that we could all live in harmony and put these needless battles behind us."

But things got worse as a lightning storm rolled in.

"ENEMY ATTACK!" one of the Divine Warriors screamed. The warriors were completely overwhelmed by Eneru's power and the might of his four mighty warriors Ohm, Shura, Gedatsu and Satori. Five men had taken out all of Gan Fall's forces in a matter of minutes.

Gan Fall sat on his throne while Pierre cowered behind him. Two of his men huddled together behind the curtains in front of his chamber.

"Is it another attack by the Shandians?" one of the warriors asked.

"It's not them," the other answered. "It's a man who calls himself 'God Eneru'."

"What? God Eneru?" Gan Fall repeated.

"Who does he think he is?" the first man snarled, "presenting himself as a God before Gan Fall." A large round figure appeared on the other side of the curtains and grabbed the two men by the collar. **SWIFF! **The two Enforcers were roughly yanked out of the chamber and were easily crushed by Satori. "Hoh-hoh-hoo!"

Gan Fall stood up and picked up a bisento. His men had insisted on protecting him but it was high time that he entered the battle. Gan Fall reached the curtains and pushed them opened and quickly realized that the battle was already over. His men were all down and Ohm, Shura, Gedatsu and Satori all stood over them.

"**Divine Warriors, huh?" **taunted a voice from behind Gan Fall. **"They were nowhere near as formidable as I expected." **Gan Fall looked over his shoulder to see Eneru behind him.

"And who are you?" Gan Fall growled.

"I guess at the very least you could say they were loyal followers," Eneru remarked. "So you're God, huh? Not anymore."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Gan Fall snapped as he spun around to face Eneru.

**Bzzzt! **Eneru's finger glowed with blue-white lightning as he calmly pressed it into Gan Fall's forehead. **THUD! **Gan Fall crumbled to the ground and was easily dispatched by the tiniest little bit of Eneru's immense power.

**-x-**

**Showdown in the Ancient Ruins:**

**-x-**

"Eneru, what should we do with this old man?" Ohm asked as he and the other three priests gathered around Eneru as he stood over the fallen God. "It's pathetic. He's useless. Some God."

"Just throw him into the sea," Eneru instructed. "I doubt he can even be used for manual labor. Yahahahahaha!" Eneru laughed as he walked back into Gan Fall's chamber. "This shrine on the other hand can be quite useful to us. But what we really need are the services of the Divine Warriors. They could be put to work in bringing about My Ultimate Goal."

Gan Fall wearily raised his hand towards Eneru. "They will never… help you in your cause…" Gan Fall groaned.

**Whomp! **Eneru stomped on Gan Fall's outstretched hand. "Silence!" Eneru ordered. "You are no longer in charge, old man. Yahahahahahaha!"

Gan Fall was thrown from God's Shrine into the Sea Clouds and it was only due to Pierre's intervention that the former God was saved.

**-End Gan Fall Flashback-**

Eneru stretched his arms out around Gan Fall. "Twenty Million Volt… VARI!" The powerful column of electricity coursed through the Sky Knight and electrocuted him. **BA-ZOOOOOOT!**

The Straw Hats and the two Shandian Warriors looked on in shock as Eneru once again dispatched Gan Fall with ease. **KLANK! **Gan Fall's burnt armor rattled as he crashed to the ground at Eneru's feet. Eneru's power had burnt a hole through Gan Fall's helmet.

"God does exist in this world," Eneru stated. "And that God is Me."

"_That Devil Fruit," _Zoro thought to himself.

"It's the Rumble Rumble Fruit," Wyper revealed.

"I've heard legends of that fruit," Robin recalled, "It made the user invincible and grants them the power of lightning!"

"But… lightning…" Nami whimpered as she ducked back behind her ruin in terror, "There's… no way… A human… has no chance against that!"

"It is time," Eneru resolved. "What I have foreseen will finally come to be. The six of you should feel honored to have survived this long. Yahahahahaha! Now come along, you will join me."

"Hold on," Ricky cut in, "Three minutes ago you just said we had to kill each other. Now you want us to join you again?"

"But now we have reached My prophesized seven," Eneru explained, "Now you will join Me as I gain passage to My dream world, TO THE ENDLESS VEARTH! COME WITH ME! COME AND FULFILL YOUR DESTINIES!"

"Why would we?" Zoro retorted.

Eneru completely ignored him and continued on his tirade, "There I will build an undisputable nation of God! Only the chosen ones are permitted to live! A UTOPIA OF BOUNDLESS AND ETERNAL POWER!"

"What… is he saying?" Nami wondered.

"I will not let those who are unworthy, like those incompetent subordinates of mine, sully the stature of this new nation," Eneru said. "Only those who pass My Judgment may bask in the glory of My company."

"I've gotta say, I'm not in love with your health plan," Ricky stated.

"What will you do if we refuse?" Robin challenged him.

"No, Robin!" Nami hissed.

"Refuse?" Eneru repeated as if the idea seemed crazy. "But why? Why would you refuse… to join Me? If you stay you'll fall into a bottomless pit along with the rest of this unnatural nation."

"I have no doubt that you could destroy the entirety of the Upper Yard in one fell swoop," Robin admitted, "But if you decide to destroy all this… then won't you also be destroying something that you cherish?"

"Do you mean the golden bell?" Eneru asked.

"Yes, that's right," Robin replied.

"What's the golden bell?" Nami questioned.

"A bell?" Ricky repeated, "So that's what it is."

"Yahahahahahaha!" Eneru laughed, "Don't worry. No need. I've already made arrangements. Based on what I know about your travels across Skypeia, I believe I know where that's located."

Robin thought back to her early realization and could help it when she glanced over at the beanstalk.

"That's right, I know what you're thinking," Eneru told her. "And it won't be long before I have the bell. You seem surprised. Did you really think that you, a mere human, could ever get the better of Me? How foolish of you." **Bzz-ZZZAT! **Eneru's arm glowed blue-white as it coursed with electricity.

"_ROBIN!" _Nami shrieked in horror.

"Speed Step!" Ricky raced towards Robin at top speed. But to the lightning-fast Eneru it was like he was going in slow motion.

"But there's—" Eneru cut off and shot a beam of lightning that pierced through Robin's shoulder. **BA-ZAAAT! **Ricky's speed only brought him to Robin fast enough that he could catch her limp body as she fell. **Whap! **"Too slow. As I was saying, there's nothing I hate more in this world than a cold, calculating woman."

Nami stared in horror as Ricky gently laid Robin on the ground. Zoro drew two swords and glared at Eneru, "How dare you…"

"I do as I please," Eneru retorted.

Zoro's eyes glowed like a demon's as he charged at Eneru and lashed out with his sword but Eneru swung his gold staff and blocked Zoro's attack. **KLANG! **Zoro quickly recovered and attacked with his other sword but Eneru blocked it again. **KLANK!**

"Hmm… you've got skill," Eneru remarkd as he held the super-strong Zoro's sword at bay with his staff.

"And you are completely OUT OF YOUR MIND!" Zoro shouted at him. He spun and slashed at Eneru with is other sword. **SWISH! **Eneru launched himself up off of the ground and jumped clear over Zoro's strike.

"He's got nowhere to go!" Kiko exclaimed as he rushed forward to take advantage of Eneru's position in midair. **Whak! **Kiko slammed his elbows into his sides and lashed out with all four of his flame blades. **FWOOOOSH!**

"Yahahaha!" Eneru laughed off the attack. "VARI!" **BA-ZOOOOOOM! **Lightning exploded off of Eneru's body and overwhelmed Kiko's flames then blasted the pink-haired Shandian backwards across the clearing. He flew over Wyper's head and crashed to the ground. **THUD! **Smoke came off of the wild Shandian's burnt body.

Meanwhile, Eneru flipped backwards through the air and landed on a high ruin so he could look down on the others. **Tmp! **

"How… how did overpower those flames?" Wyper wondered.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Eneru asked as he once again stood with back to his opponents. "Your attacks don't even register to Me. I'm more powerful than you could ever comprehend."

Nami still attempted to comprehend it though but didn't like the result. "That thunder clap reverberated," she realized. "That only happens when the air expands at the Speed of Sound. That's really powerful! That amount of power's greater than anything we can handle! It's true! He really is made of lightning!"

"That time is near," Eneru proclaimed. "Prepare yourselves. Soon those who remain will set off for the Endless Vearth together. Do you even understand what a rare privilege this is?"

Zoro pointed his two swords up a Eneru and glared up at him. "And why do you assume that we'll come willingly?" he challenged God.

"Hmm?" Eneru said with a light sigh.

"RAAAH!" Zoro roared as he charged towards Eneru. "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR SO CALLED DREAM WORLD!"

Nami spun around the ruin and screamed to the swordsman, "ZORO! STAY AWAY FROM HIM! HE'S TOO POWERFUL!"

"You need a lesson," Eneru decided as he jumped backwards and hung upside down in the air as he dropped from the ruin. "Soon your body will know… the Power of God."

Zoro didn't back down. He jumped up and slashed his swords through Eneru. **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro's attack kept going and sliced the top of the ruin behind Eneru and caused it to crumble. Zoro's swords cleaved straight through Eneru's stomach and cut his body in half. Eneru's head, shoulders and upper chest and his waist, legs and feet took on a bright white glow.

"I possess a tremendous power that you puny humans can never hope to overcome!" Eneru taunted as his staff dropped to the ground and his body reformed in midair "Can you feel it now? The despair?" **Wha-whap! **Eneru reached out and grabbed Zoro's swords then used them for leverage and he held himself upside down in front of Zoro. "If one loses all hope it is an experience not unlike losing one's life."

Zoro growled and struggled to pull his swords free from Eneru's grip.

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed as electricity cackled around his body. The charge traveled down to his arms, through Zoro's swords and exploded on the swordsman! **BA-ZOOOOOOOM!**

"YAAAAAAAHHH!" Zoro roared in pain as his body was electrified by Eneru's lightning. Instead of a quick blast like he'd dealt to Gan Fall and Robin, Eneru's lightning continued to course through Zoro and burnt him from the inside for a solid three seconds before the swordsman dropped to his knees.

"Zoro!" Nami gasped in alarm as she watched the swordsman drop to the ground.

"People fear death above all things," Eneru said as he spun himself upright. **WHOMP! **Then he stomped his foot down on Zoro's prone head and forced the swordsman into a humiliating bow. "That's why people prostrate themselves before an insurmountable power and beg for mercy. It is simply the natural order of things. Beings are meant to bow before that which they fear."

"Hey, get your foot off my friend's face!" Ricky exclaimed. "Speed Step!" **ZZZOOOOOM! **Ricky crossed the clearing in the blink of an eye, which probably seemed like a minute to Eneru, then launched himself up into the air and flew feet-first at Eneru. "Flying… ARROW KICK!"

"You humans never lear—" Eneru's taunt was cut off as Ricky's boots plowed into Eneru's chest at full speed. **THWHAM! **Eneru flew backwards and Ricky slammed him back-first into the bottom half of the ruin that Zoro had sliced apart. **WHAM! **Ricky used the Sea Stone on his boots to embed the Logia Devil Fruit User into the wall of the ruin.

"What… what have you done?" Eneru asked. He looked surprised and alarmed.

"Have you ever heard of something called Sea Stone?" Ricky asked as he dropped one foot down to the ground but kept his other Sea Stone boot pressed into the two feet taller Eneru's chest. "It's a special stone that harnesses the power of the sea and negates Devil Fruit Powers. That Devil Fruit you ate may have given you the power of lightning but it also came with the standard weakness to water. You can't swim. You lose all your incredible power when you come in contact with the sea. That's what Sea Stone is, all the power of the sea in a solid form.

Ricky reached down for his sword but Wyper suddenly flipped across the clearing on his skis. **Fwip-fwip-fwip-FWUP! **Wyper jumped on Ricky's back and pressed his bandaged hand into Eneru's chest.

"Do you mind?" Ricky complained.

"I'll end this now," Wyper resolved, "Die!"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Eneru asked. His powers had been negated but his Mantra was still at full power. He had foreseen Ricky's attack but had been caught off guard by the Sea Stone on his boots. He could easily read Wyper's intended attack and knew that he planned to use the Reject Dial to finish him. "You're aware of the consequences are you not? Your body will pay a heavy price as well. Why sacrifice yourself for a homeland you will never regain?"

"If I must, I'll die, gladly," Wyper replied. "IF IT MEANS I CAN TAKE YOU WITH ME!"

Eneru's eyes widened in alarm and he let out a loud gasp, "DON'T DO IT!"

"REJECT!" **BZOOOOOOM! **Wyper's Reject Dial blasted Eneru with ten-times the power of one of his most powerful attacks. The amplified impact that had killed the wounded Shura blew Eneru backwards through the ruin he'd been pressed into. **KROOM! **Eneru's body smashed through the ruins and brought it crashing down on top of him. **KRATA-KREK-KRASSHH!**

The sound of the deadly impact of the Reject Dial could even be heard by the three kids playing on Angel Beach.

"No way!" Nami gasped in amazement. "He really did it!"

"What was that?" Ricky asked as Wyper slipped off of his back and panted next to him while his arm hung limply at his side.

"A Reject Dial," Wyper answered in a gasp.

The dust cleared and through the rubble of the completely demolished ruin they could see Eneru's prone body. Ricky's Sea Stone combined with Wyper's Reject Dial had been enough to take down the Almighty God Eneru.

But that battle wasn't over yet.

**-x-**

There it is. It took a while but there's the beginning of the battle against Eneru. Next chapter, Eneru uses the powers of God to bring himself back from the dead and refuses to let anyone stop his ambition towards the Endless Vearth as he reveals the Ark Maxim. But then Luffy finally escapes from the snake and we get the long awaited clash between Pirate Luffy and God Eneru.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	28. The Fire of Shandora

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**28. The Fire of Shandora:**

**-x-**

"'_Hold our true ambitions in your heart and speak not of them'_," the Shandian Chief recited as a young Wyper, Kiko, Kamakiri, Braham and Genbo stood in front of him. Laki listened from behind a column nearby. "_'We are the weavers of history.' _Those are the words that were written on a Poneglyph eight hundred years ago."

"Poneglyph?" Kiko repeated as he sat on the ground in front of the other boys and scratched the side of his face with the nails on his foot like a dog.

"Yes," the Chief confirmed, "And when those who sought to steal the stone revealed themselves, the Shandian Warriors of the City of Gold fought bravely to protect it."

"Did they succeed?" Wyper asked.

"Yes, they did," the Chief answered, "However, the battle took its toll and a great many warriors died that day. Those few who survived vowed to become guardians of the stone. They kept watch over the city and the sacred Poneglyph they swore to defend to the death."

"And you say that's the true story of our ancestors?" Kiko questioned.

"But then the island and City of Gold were taken away to Skypeia four hundred years ago," Kamakiri spoke up.

"Since then it's been under Skypeian control," Braham noted.

"Our ancestors fought to their last breath to defend that island," Wyper resolved.

"And then it was taken away!" Genbo exclaimed.

The Chief nodded. "The Upper Yard. That is our homeland. But at the same time it alone holds a history that has disappeared into the darkness of time. Even though it is under the control of the Skypeians now, we must never allow the fire of the proud City of Shandora to die."

Wyper more than the other boys took those words to heart and they shaped him into the intense and almost fanatical warrior that he had become.

**-x-**

"Did… we win?" a scorched Kiko asked as he staggered back into the clearing and saw Wyper and Ricky standing over the fallen form of God Eneru.

"Looks like it," Ricky noted as he crouched to study Eneru closely. "His heart's not beating. Nice hit, bazooka-guy."

"Koff!" Wyper's response was to cough up blood.

"I guess it took its toll on you though," Ricky noted. "So… this city is your homeland?"

"Four hundred years ago it was," Wyper answered. "Now I'll give you and the rest of your crew of Blue Sea Dwellers until I regain the feeling in my arm to leave the land of my ancestors before you get the same treatment as him."

Nami suddenly rushed out from behind the ruins she'd been hiding behind and dashed over to two that had fallen. "Robin! Gan Fall! Oh no…"

**Bzzzt! **A bright light suddenly flashed from the middle of Eneru's chest and for less than a second bathed his body in a bright glow.

**Skish! **Ricky quickly jumped away from Eneru while Zoro, Nami, Wyper and Kiko all stared in surprise as Eneru's chest started to spark over and over again. **Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!**

"It can't be…" Nami gasped. "He's… restarting his own heart!"

**Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! **The light in Eneru's chest continued to pulse like a defibrillator and eventually managed to restore the previously dead God's heartbeat.

**Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! **The light continued to pulse as Eneru slowly sat up and then got back up to his feet.

"Zombie!" Ricky yelped in alarm.

Wyper and Kiko were so shocked that the former dropped to his knees while the latter fell back on his ass.

Eneru's heart had stopped beating. He had been dead. But he'd restarted it using his Devil Fruit Powers and was now standing in front of them alive once more.

"It's not that people fear God," Eneru announced as he calmly wiped the blood from his mouth. "Rather, it is God who is fear itself."

"_What the hell is with this guy?" _Zoro wondered.

"I see the fear on your faces," Eneru observed. "That was a good hit but using that Sea Stone was just a cheap trick. And you, Wyper, using a Reject Dial would usually kill the ordinary user but you shot it twice… and you're still breathing. Hmph… quite impressive. But it was for nothing. You used your best shot but I restarted My heart with powers. I can't die. I am truly immortal."

"Not… a zombie?" Ricky realized. His alarmed expression became a grin. "Then I'm not afraid. Speed Step!" **ZZZZOOOOM! **Ricky sped pass Wyper and Kiko and flew feet-first at Eneru. "Flying… ARROW KICK!" **SWISH! **Eneru spun around Ricky's attack then turned to face him when he landed behind him.

"That cheap trick of yours isn't going to work again," Eneru told him.

"Cheap trick? You don't know who you're dealing with!" Ricky retorted. "Cheap tricks are what I'm all about! Jumping… AX KICK!" Ricky launched himself up into the air above Eneru and came down foot first.

**SKISH! **Eneru jumped back to avoid it and scoffed at Ricky as he landed on the ground. **THUD! **

"Have you already forgotten about My Mantra?" Eneru taunted. "Not only do I have all the offensive power of lightning but with My Mantra I can avoid any and all of yours attacks so I'll never make contact with your Sea Stone. You cannot hope to def—"

"JAVELIN KICK!" Ricky cut him off as he lashed his leg out at Eneru's chin. **WHAK! **Eneru knocked Ricky's leg aside with his staff. **Tmp! **Ricky landed and lashed his other leg out behind him at Eneru's stomach. "MACHETE BACK KICK!" **Whap! **Eneru caught Ricky by the ankle then tossed his leg away. Ricky spun around and swung his foot at Eneru's head. "SPINNING WHIP KICK!" **SWISH! **Eneru leaned his head back to avoid the attack then backflipped away from him. **FWIP! **

Ricky spun to a stop then turned to face Eneru. **SKISH! **Ricky immediately launched himself up into the air and flew up over Eneru's head then lashed his legs down at him. "BLUDGEON STOMP!" **SKISH! **Eneru jumped backwards and Ricky slammed into the empty ground. **KRASH! **

"VARI!" **BA-ZOOOOOM! **Lightning streaked out from Eneru's hand and flew straight into Ricky's chest. The one-eyed pirate was blasted over Kiko. Nami threw herself down on the ground as Ricky flew over her and smashed through the wall she had previously been hiding behind. **KROOSH!**

"RICKY!" Nami shrieked as she shot over to Ricky and paused only briefly to move Chopper away from the rubble before she pressed her ear down on Ricky's chest to check his breathing.

"Fool," Eneru scoffed. "He should have known better than to fight God."

**THWHAM! **Wyper flew down out of nowhere and drove his skis down onto Eneru's shoulders. "He at least served as a good distraction," Wyper growled as he drove Eneru down into the ground. **WHAM! **"He wasn't the only one with Sea Stone!" Wyper raised his bandaged hand up over Eneru's chest again. "THIS TIME I'LL MAKE SURE YOU STAY DEAD!"

"STOP, YOU FOOL!" Eneru yelled at him, "A THIRD TIME WILL KILL YOU FOR SURE!"

"Eight hundred years ago Shandian Warriors fought for the fate of this city!" Wyper snapped, "They fought to their death to protect it! I am the descendant of those warriors! One day our homeland was taken away from us. For four hundred years we've carried the Great Warrior Calgara's injured pride. We've sought to return our homeland to its rightful place for generations. And now that I've finally made it, YOU'RE STANDING IN MY WAY!"

Wyper pulled back his Reject Dial, ready to die like his ancestors to defend his homeland.

"WYPER NO!" Kiko barked. "That already failed. Hold him down and I'll burn through him!" **SKISH! **The pink haired Shandian launched himself up into the air overhead and drew his arms back and ignited his four flame claws. **FWOOOSH!**

**WHAK! **Desperate, Eneru swung his gold staff upward and smacked Wyper upside the face with it. The Shandian Warrior was knocked off of him and Eneru shot back up to his feet. **SKISH!**

"CROSS-FIRE!" Kiko howled as he swung all four of his fire blades down at Eneru as a big X.

**Tnk! **Eneru tapped the top right drum on his back with his staff which caused it to spark. **BZZZZT! **"THIRTY MILLION VOLTS… HINO!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **Lightning flew up over Eneru's head from the drum and formed a huge hawk. **BZZOOOOOOM! **The thunder hawk enveloped the fire cross and blasted up into Kiko. **SHOOOOOOM! **

"AAAAAHHHH!" Kiko screamed as he was electrocuted by Eneru's powerful attack and then crashed down to the ground in a smoking heap. **THUD!**

"BASTARD!" Wyper snarled as he launched himself at Eneru again.

**Tnk! **Eneru tapped the top left drum on his back with is gold staff and it started to spark like the other one had. **BZZZZZT! **"THIRTY MILLION VOLTS… KITEN!" **BA-ZZOOOOOOOM! **A giant tiger made out of lightning shot out from Eneru's hand and pounced on Wyper. He was knocked back so hard that his skis were knocked off. **BZZZOOOOOOM! **

"AAAAUUGGGHHHH!" Wyper yelled out. His body was engulfed in lightning as the lightning tiger plunged into his chest, went through his body and came out his back. **SHOOOOOOOM! **Wyper crashed down to the ground and smoke wafted off of his burned body.

**SKISH!** Zoro bounded across the clearing and grabbed one of Wyper's skis. _"This thing's got Sea Stone in it…" _

"Your turn Blue Sea Swordsman," Eneru said as he tapped the two right drums with his staff. **Tnk! Tnk! **"SIXTY MILLION VOLTS JULUNGUL!" **BA-ZZZOOOOOOOOM! **The two drums formed a gigantic serpentine dragon that flew through the air and engulfed Zoro. **BZZZZOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

"YAAAAHHAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAA!" Zoro screamed out as the long serpentine body of the dragon passed through his body and came out his back. **SHOOOOOOM! **When it passed, his burnt and charred body dropped to the ground. **THUD!**

"ZOOOROOOO!" Nami shouted in horror as she watched the two Shandians and then Zoro fall one after another from three consecutive attacks.

"_Everyone… has fallen to him…" _Nami realized as she knelt over Ricky.

Eneru turned and stared to advance on Nami. She was terrified that someone so powerful was now coming after her. But then her eyes widened in shock as she stared passed Eneru.

"_How could he?" _she wondered. Behind Eneru, Wyper had somehow gotten back up, _"Unreal!" _Nami stared at the burnt Shandian Warrior in shock. _"Even as hurt as he is… he still intends to fight…"_

Eneru looked back at Wyper, "What do you intend to prove?" he asked. "You're going to die anyway. Why not make it easy on yourself? Did you say it's been four hundred years? For all that time, you and the Shandians have been fighting to take back your homeland. And yet, you and your dead friend are the only warriors who have managed to make it here. No wonder this nation will soon fall into the Blue Sea and be lost for all eternity."

Wyper clenched his fists and prepared to attack Eneru again. Even without his Sea Stone skis, even without his Burn Bazooka, Wyper was still intent on fighting.

"_How can he do that?" _Nami asked herself. _"He's unstoppable!"_

"You're fighting for a lost cause," Eneru continued, "Can't you see that you'll never regain your homeland? So why get back up?"

"For my ancestors…" Wyper stated. His body was standing and still looked ready to fight but there was no light in his eyes. Wyper was standing through sheer force of will.

"I must confess, I was hoping for a better answer than that," Eneru admitted as his arm took on a bright white glow. "But then again, I doubt you're even completely conscious." **BZZOOOOM! **Eneru shot a concentrated beam of lightning up into the air overhead.

"LOOK OUT!" Nami shouted at Wyper.

"EL THOR!" Eneru called out as he brought down the lightning. **BAA-ZZZOOOOOOOOOM! **The beam of light shot down out of the sky and blasted into the ground. It completely engulfed Wyper while Nami flinched back in horror.

When the bright light and the dust faded, all that was left of Wyper was a large smoking crater in the middle of the clearing. Nami scanned the unmoving bodies that were all around it, Zoro, Chopper, Robin and Kiko. None of them had stood a chance against Eneru's almighty power.

"And then was one," Eneru resolved as he turned back to Nami. "Make that two…"

"Uuuggghhh…" Ricky groaned as he started to sit up.

"RICKY, NO!" Nami yelled as she grabbed him from behind and held him against her. "YOU CAN'T BEAT HIM! YOU'LL BE KILLED!"

"Finally one of you sees sense," Eneru noted. "Out of all that had stood against Me, you're the only one to come out of it unscathed Blue Sea Woman. But not for long…"

"Don't… you dare…" Ricky grunted as he finally opened his eye and glared at Eneru.

"After all that, you actually believe you still stand a chance against Me?" Eneru questioned. "You're still alive only because I wished you to be. I purposely used a low voltage for that attack but My mercy is extended only once. You are skilled Blue Sea Dweller, your Mantra allowed you to defeat My two most powerful warriors, you even managed to land an attack on Me. Killing you would be a waste of potential but if you continue to resist, I'll finish you both off right now."

Nami felt Ricky stiffen. "Your crew has fallen," Eneru pointed out. "All you have left this that woman… she's your favorite, is she not? I've been watching you, Ricky of the Blue Sea. When you first set foot on this island you two came here together then you sent her away from the Alter so you could face judgment on your own and then you slept together last night." Despite the terrifying situation, Nami's face flushed in embarrassment.

"Hmph, and I thought Robin was a voyeur," Nami heard Ricky mumble.

"This is your last chance," Eneru announced as he raised his glowing white arm up into the air.

Nami whimpered and closed her eyes as she clutched Ricky from behind. They were gonna die. But at least they'd die together.

"Alright, alright… I'll go with you," Ricky conceded. "We'll go with you."

Nami's eyes flew opened in surprise. Ricky was giving up?

"Endless Vearth, right?" Ricky questioned. "Sounds interesting."

Eneru grinned, "I knew you'd see it My way."

**-x-**

**The Ark Maxim:**

**-x-**

"Wyper," the Chief addressed the Shandian boy after the story. "Wyper come here."

"What is it?" young Wyper had asked.

"Since you are a descendant of the Great Warrior Calgara, I feel I must impart this to you," the Chief told him. "Not many know the real reason Calgara wanted to regain the homeland and why he would stop at nothing to do so."

"So tell me," Wyper prompted, "What's the real reason?"

"You see, Calgara felt that the loss of his homeland was his greatest failure," Chief explained. "The problem was, he lost something else important to him…"

**-x-**

Nami noted the tears in Wyper's eyes as she knelt over him in the crater. He was still alive.

"What are you doing?" Eneru asked from up above. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"I'm moving their bodies," Ricky answered as he carried Robin over to the spot where he'd laid Zoro and Chopper. He felt pulses. They were all still alive. "They're all really important to me so I'm not just gonna leave them lying here."

"It makes no difference," Eneru said. "This unnatural island will soon be plunged back into the Blue Sea."

"So this Endless Vearth place…" Ricky quickly changed the subject. "That's your dream world, huh? It doesn't sound like anyplace I've been before and I've seen a lot down in the Blue Sea. I've explored the four oceans and I've sailed on both parts of the Grand Line. I've even been on an island of fish people that's thirty thousand feet under the sea. I've had a chance to explore the White Sea and the islands in it up in the sky. Now I'll have chance to go beyond even that and see the Endless Vearth."

"Before we leave, I have a condition," Eneru informed Ricky. "Your boots… remove them. If you keep that Sea Stone on you, it might give you foolish ideas of resisting Me. That will end badly… for both of you. It's better off if you just leave them." Ricky grumbled and pulled his boots off then put them on the ground next to Robin.

**Vrooooom! **Nami sped up the side of the crater and landed on the ground beside it on the Waver.

"I'm coming!" Nami exclaimed. "I just had to grab this!"

Eneru frowned at Nami's Waver. "That thing? Are you sure you want to bring it along?"

"She spent a large part of the Survival Game running from the snake on that," Ricky chimed in.

"Uh… so… you don't think I'll… need it?" Nami questioned.

"Honestly, I'm not certain you'll be able to use it where we're going," Eneru admitted, "It's up to you. Do as you please."

"Oh, thanks for letting me bring it!" Nami replied, "I just… love this thing!"

"Time to go," Eneru decided, "Let's be off." Eneru turned and started to lead them further off into the ancient city.

Nami swallowed hard then slowly pushed her Waver along as she followed behind him. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She relaxed immediately when she saw it was Ricky. Even better, he had that sly smirk on his face that settled all of Nami's nerves. Ricky had a plan. She didn't know what it was and at this point she couldn't risk asking or it would tip off Eneru. But Nami trusted him so she knew that he'd get them out of this horrible situation.

Nami decided to make the most if it, "So… where are we going?"

Surprisingly, it was Ricky who answered her, "He's taking us to where all the gold is."

Eneru stopped and looked back at him in surprise, "How did you know that?"

Ricky patted Nami's shoulder then walked up ahead so he was next to Eneru. "You're not the only one with special abilities. I'm a Treasure Hunter by trade, its easier for me than most because I have this special ability to sense treasure. Gold, precious stones, even Devil Fruit, anything that can be considered valuable I can sense and know how much its worth. "

"Interesting, even I haven't heard of anything like that before," Eneru confessed.

"So you don't think it has anything to do with Mantra?" Ricky questioned. "You said you could sense people with yours right? Maybe mine allows me to sense specific non-organic materials."

"Perhaps, but My Mantra is unique," Eneru told him. "I used My Devil Fruit Powers to fill the area with electrical waves, that allows Me to locate and hear everyone on the island. And if someone were to say something… unsavory… I would know and be able to pass My judgment. Usually Mantra is just used to predict what someone will do. Most people can't sense others with theirs."

"_I'll have to tell Ricky about Aisa later," _Nami thought to herself as she trailed behind them.

"Well, I thought I'd let you know what I can do since you're my captain now," Ricky stated, "If you'd like I can prove my abilities by leading the way to where we're going. I've been sensing this gold ever since Nami and I first came to this island and I was attacked by your priests. There was so much it was almost overwhelming. I allowed Robin to lead me down to the City of Gold but I didn't have the heart to tell her that you had mined all the gold and put it all in one place."

"She figured that out for herself," Eneru informed him. "She was quite intelligent. But she thought she was smarter than Me so she had to perish."

"I still didn't want her to see what had happened to it all," Ricky continued. "She was upset when one of your warriors chipped a monument, I would've hated for her to see what you had done with all the gold after mining to for… how many years?"

"Six," Eneru answered. "Very well, lead the way."

Ricky smiled then took a few steps passed Eneru and started to lead them through the city.

"_He's doing it again," _Nami thought to herself at the back of the procession. _"He's using his charm to win him over, just like he did with Arlong. I just have to wait until he enacts his plan."_

"By the way, I'm afraid I have a confession to make," Ricky admitted to Eneru. "You made a mistake earlier that I feel that I should correct. I'm not the Captain of my crew."

"You're not the Captain?" Eneru questioned.

Ricky shook his head. "First Mate."

"Then who?" Eneru asked. "The Swordsman?"

"Nope, my Captain is the rubber man that defeated that fat Priest of yours," Ricky answered.

"Rubber? What is rubber?" Eneru questioned.

"You… don't know what rubber is?" Ricky inquired as a smile threatened to split his face. "HAH-HA!"

"What's so funny?" Eneru demanded.

"Oh, it's a Blue Sea joke," Ricky quickly lied. "I'd explain it but then it wouldn't be funny." Ricky looked passed Eneru at Nami. "Nami, the Thunder God doesn't know what rubber is!"

Nami's eyes widened. _"Rubber! It's an insulator that can block electricity and even lightning! LUFFY'S made of rubber! Eneru's lightning attacks won't work on him. THAT'S his plan! Ricky's stalling for time until Luffy gets here!"_

Nami smiled and started to laugh, "Hehehehehehehe!" They were going to live!

"See, she gets it," Ricky pointed out.

Nami was also surprised at how easy she had been able to figure out his plan. He had barely told her anything but suddenly she knew exactly what he was planning.

"Anyway," Ricky continued, "Rubber is this really stretchy material down in the Blue Sea. My Captain ate a Devil Fruit and is made of the stuff. That's how he could stretch when he fought your Priest. He's also really strong and has a big heart."

"He's also quite dead," Eneru stated. "The three of us are the only ones still alive on this island."

"_And now to change the subject," _Ricky decided. "You know, he's not even my first captain. The first one was my older brother. He had Logia Devil Fruit Powers like yours and could control fire. Lightning may have been a force that man has feared since the beginning but fire was the first element that man harnessed and we've come as far as we have because of it. I'm sure you can understand how having the power of fire and being able to burn anyone in our way would have made him very powerful."

"Yes, but as I have shown, my lightning trumps mere fire," Eneru insisted.

"Oh, of course," Ricky agreed. "But then there was my second captain. He was stronger than my brother and me put together. He ate one of the most powerful Paramecia Devil Fruits there is. It's called the Quake Quake Fruit and it has the power to shake the entire world. When he sends a tremor through the air, it creates a shockwave that'll blow anyone backwards. When he sends a tremor through the ocean, it creates a typhoon that can sink any ship. And when he sends a tremor through the land, it crumbles around him. If he was here and wanted to, he could reduce this entire island into clumps of dirt in one fell swoop."

Nami gaped in alarm at how powerful Ricky's former captain Whitebeard was.

Eneru's eyes widened in surprise, "You have people like that down in the Blue Sea?" he asked. "That man sounds like a devil!"

"I called him pops," Ricky almost chirped which caused Eneru to flinch. "But based off of my two previous Captains, you can see why I wasn't immediately awestruck by your power over lightning and actually tried to fight you."

"Yes… I… see…" Eneru said. "I… suppose that's understandable…" Eneru shook his head. "But make no mistake, Blue Sea Ricky! I am the most powerful being in the sky and I will use that power to bring an end to this unnatural dirt island in the sky."

"Speaking of dirt," Ricky remarked, "We just left the city. Now we're in the forest again."

The three made their ways through the giant trees that had been growing outside of Shandora and eventually came to the bottom of a simple massive cliff. If they had climbed up it they would probably have been on the same level as the forest above the City of Gold. But climbing up the cliff wasn't an option here. An enormous cave had been hallowed out into the side of the cliff and two gigantic white tarps were draped over the mouth of the cave.

"All powerful Gods first," Ricky said as he bowed courteously and motioned Eneru passed him. Eneru smiled and walked passed Ricky through the tarp and into the cave. Ricky smiled as Nami came up to him and motioned her onward with the same bow, "And ladies second."

Ricky and Nami followed Eneru into the cave and down a long tunnel. The only sound that could be heard was the squeak of the Waver as Nami pushed it along beside her. They came out of the tunnel and stared at the biggest ship either of them had ever seen.

"Holy crap, that thing's bigger than the Moby Dick," Ricky realized as he and Nami stared at the gigantic wooden ark. It was simply massive, easily five hundred feet tall. The ark had a mostly wooden exterior but was decorated with a giant sold gold face that had an imposing throne in its opened mouth. Eight long oars lined the sides of the ark and they were so big that Eneru, Ricky and Nami could walk side-by-side-by-side all the way up one. The ship had a number of large propellers as well as a couple large solid gold gears and then an enormous propeller on the back of the ship.

"What do you think?" Eneru called out to them, "Amazing, isn't it? It's the only ship of its kind in the world. And it can only be controlled by Me."

Nami looked over at Ricky, "I thought you said he used all the gold for this," she pointed out. "Don't get me wrong, its huge. But the only gold I see on it is that massive face and a couple gears."

"There are probably a lot more of those golden gears inside of it," Ricky reasoned. "He just said that it can only be controlled by him. Gold is a conductive metal so he must have lined the ship with it so it can harness his Devil Fruit Powers and maybe even enhance them."

"That's right," Eneru replied. "In other words, its powered purely by lightning. It's only natural for you to be skeptical, but I assure you, it is possible."

"No one's skeptical," Ricky assured him. "My older brother had a ship like this that ran on his fire powers. It wasn't anywhere near the size of this ship mind you but had an engine that he could blast his fire through for a boost. When he wanted it to be, it was the fastest ship on the Blue Sea."

Eneru twitched slightly from having his thunder stolen. "Even then, there is no ship that can compare to this one!" he insisted. "This ship was specially designed so that it can FLY! Can your mortal brother's ship do that? No? I didn't think so!" Eneru took a calming breath. "I'm sure it will make many of the inhabitants of this island… happy to see a flying ship before their demise. The sight of this magnificent ship in flight will be the last thing they see! Yahahahahahahahaha!"

"Oh yeah," Ricky remarked, "Nothing makes people happier than their impending doom and mass genocide. I'm sure they'll all be thrilled to see it."

"_A flying ship?" _Nami thought to herself, _"If it takes off before Luffy gets here, we might not have a chance to escape at all!"_

Eneru spread his arms and turned to face his ship, "Behold the Ark Maxim!" he proclaimed. "With this ship we will reach the land that knows no boundaries! We will travel to the Endless Vearth! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

**-x-**

Back in Shandora the City of Gold, the massive snake known as the Lord of the Sky laid slumped over one of the tall buildings. It had been burned by Eneru's lightning and didn't move.

**Fwip! **Suddenly the snake's massive yellow eye popped opened. The snake was still unconscious but upon closer look, the reason for its eye opening turned out to be the rubber pirate and the little Shandian girl that were standing inside of the eye.

**Poke! **Luffy prodded the snake's eye which irritated it and caused the bottom of the eye to quickly fill up with tears.

"Waaah!" Aisa cried out and Luffy quickly grabbed her and pulled her up so she didn't drown in the snake's massive puddle of tears. Luffy quickly scrambled up the snake's giant yellow eyeball and went to the back of its head.

**BOING!** Luffy must have punched something inside the snake because a second later, its mouth dropped opened and Luffy, Aisa and Gan Fall's steed Pierre dropped out of it.

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy screamed as he plummeted to the ground and hit his head. **WOING! **The rubber pirate bounced off of the ground and landed on his back.

**SWOOOSH!** Meanwhile, Pierre swooped down and caught Aisa before she could hit the ground but in doing so the bird ended up crashing into the ground himself. **WHAM!**

"We're… outside…" Aisa panted in relief. "We… finally escaped…" Aisa finally opened her eyes and looked down at the ground. "The ground is made of stone. Where are we?"

"YYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs as he raced up a long flight of steps on monument that towered over the City of Gold.

"What's going on Luffy?" Aisa called after him. She ran to the bottom of the stairs. "HEY! WAIT UP!" The girl started to chase the overeager pirate up the stairs. "LUFFY!" She eventually caught up to him when he stopped at the very top of the tall monument.

"WEEEEEEE'REEEEEEEE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Luffy yelled out. After being trapped in that snake for over five chapters, he was understandably very happy to finally be outside again. "WEEEEE MAAAAADEEEEE IIIIIIIT OOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUT! WOOOOHOOO!" Then Luffy finally took in his surroundings. "Hey, where are we? What are these old buildings? It looks like this could be the place where all that gold is supposed to be!"

"What is this place?" Aisa wondered as she took in the ancient city beneath her. "Wait… could this be our homeland?"

"Your homeland?" Luffy repeated, "Hey, not bad! But where did that big hole come from?" Luffy stared at the crater that Eneru had made when he had finished off Wyper but then he spotted the three familiar bodies that had been laid nearby it. "AAH!" **SHOOOOM!**

"LUFFY!" Aisa shouted after Luffy as he jumped right off the monument. "WAIT! Where are you going this time? UUUGGGHHH!" The girl quickly scrambled back down the stairs as Luffy ran over to the sight of the battle against Eneru. "WAIT FOR ME!"

"ZORO! ROBIN! CHOPPER! SKY KNIGHT! PINK-HAIRED GUY!" Luffy called out as he saw his Nakama, Gan Fall and someone he didn't know all lying unconscious in a row. Luffy grabbed the front of Zoro's shirt and shook him. "Hey, Zoro! What's wrong with you? Come on! Say something! How could this have happened to you? How could any of this have happened with you here?"

"PIIIIEEEEE!" Pierre cried as he ran over and dropped down near Gan Fall.

"KIKO! OH NO! KIKO!" Aisa exclaimed as she saw the eccentric pink haired warrior.

"Wait… where's Nami?" Luffy wondered. "She and the Sky Knight got out of the snake. Where'd she go?" Luffy suddenly spotted something next to Robin. He picked up a pair of boots. "There are Ricky's. He was here too. RIIIIICKYYYYY! NAAAAAMIIIII! COME OUT!"

Aisa turned and looked down in the hole. "WYYYYPEEEEER!" She jumped in and knelt next to Wyper's charred near-corpse.

Luffy stood up and looked down into the hole. "Bazooka guy was really strong," he admitted, "but even he fell in this fight. Who could have done this?"

"IT WAS ENERU!" Aisa shouted before she tried to climb up out of the hole but lost her grip and then slid back down it. "He was the only one who could do something like this!"

**WHUP! **Luffy stretched his arm down into the hole and grabbed onto Aisa then stretched it upward and yanked her out of it. **SHOOOOOM! **Luffy crouched down in front of Aisa.

"Eneru, huh?" he questioned. "That God guy?"

"Mmhhmm," Aisa confirmed with a mumble. "My Mantra didn't work at all… the whole time we were in the snake… so I don't know what happened here… But I do know it was Eneru who did this…"

"**Uuugghhh…" **Luffy heard a low groan and saw Robin start to twitch. He raced over to her.

"ROBIN!" Luffy called out as he dropped down beside her.

"Mr. One Eye… Miss. Navigator… they went with him…" Robin told Luffy.

"Just hang in there, you're gonna be okay," Luffy reassured Robin as he held her in his arms. "So you're saying that Ricky and Nami were taken away from here by that god guy? Where?"

"I don't know…" Robin admitted. "Listen carefully… if we don't do something… Skypeia… will disappear…"

"What?" Luffy asked. "It'll disappear?"

Aisa whimpered. "My homeland will be completely gone?" she wailed.

"Everything will fall…" Robin said, "He said this nation in the sky was unnatural… He said he'd send it crashing to the ground… He's going after… the golden bell…"

"If Eneru's going after the golden bell, he won't destroy this place until he finds it," Luffy stated.

"Right," Robin agreed, "And you have to stop him. You must hurry because there isn't much time left. You can't let Eneru find that bell."

"Don't worry," Aisa spoke up. "I know where they are. There are only four voices left on this island. It has to be Eneru, Nami and her boyfriend with two voices."

"Luffy…" Robin nearly whispered. Her arm shook as she slowly lifted it up and cupped her Captain's chin. "We're… all counting on you…"

Luffy nodded, "Right… I won't let you down," he vowed.

Luffy rested Robin back on the ground then stood up and turned to Aisa, who flinched at the look in the rubber pirate's eyes. They were hard and unyielding.

"Aisa, I need you to take me to them right now," Luffy instructed.

**-x-**

**Conis' Warning:**

**-x-**

**VRRRROOOOM! **The horn blared as Conis raced towards Angel Island, desperate to warn the citizens of Skypeia of Eneru's horrible plan to destroy them all.

"_There it is," _Conis thought to herself as she saw the town in the clouds ahead of her.

**-x-**

On Angel Island, in the middle of Lovely Street where Luffy, Usopp and Sanji had rescued Conis from receiving God's Judgment, Captain McKinley stood with the White Berets behind him and addressed the winged Skypeians that had gathered in town.

"Everyone, heso!" McKinley and the White Berets shot off their usual weird salute. "The arch criminals Pagaya and his daughter Conis, along with their accomplice the former God Gan Fall, are still on the loose! Please be on your guard! If anyone sees these fugitives, please alert me, McKinley, immediately! Again, report any news directly to me! In the name of the Great God Eneru, we of the White Berets will defend the security of Skypeia with our very lives! HESO!"

"Ah, it's good to know we can count on them," a man remarked.

"But I'm still scared," a woman next to him admitted, "Those horrible criminals could be hiding out nearby or even among us! If they're stuck down by God's Judgment, we might be too!"

"**Captain!" **a White Beret called out as he ran towards McKinley. "I have a report!"

"What's the matter now?" McKinley asked. The White Beret came over and whispered what he'd heard in the Captain's ear. "WHAT? YOU SAY THAT PAGAYA'S DAUGHTER HAS JUST BEEN SEEN IN THE HARBOR?"

**-x-**

**SHOO! SHOO! SHOO! **Out in the harbor, three White Berets fired volleys of arrows at the fast approaching boat.

Conis' grip on the wheel tightened as she swerved her ship around the arrows and avoided the attack. **VRRRRRM! **The volley of arrows seemed unending and when they hit the Sea Clouds a geyser of white would erupt where the arrows struck.

Conis wasn't going to let anything stop her from warning the people.

**-x-**

"The heretic has entered through gate number one!" one of the White Berets exclaimed as he and McKinley raced to the harbor to head off the criminal.

"_I don't get it," _McKinley wondered to himself, _"Why did she come back when she knows she'll be caught?"_

"DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!" McKinley ordered. "CAPTURE HER AT ALL COSTS!"

A group of White Berets stood gathered on the shore. The one in the lead held his knife at the ready, "Come on criminal!" he prompted as Conis raced towards them.

**VVRRRRROOOOOOM! **If anything, Conis' ship actually started to go _faster _as she approached the shore.

"Uh… why isn't she stopping?" one of the White Berets asked.

"PLEASE MAAAKEEE WAAAYYY!" Conis shouted as her boat reached the shore AND KEPT GOING! **WHOOOOOSH! **The White Berets dove out of the way as the bull-themed boat flew over them.

"MOVE IT! OUT OF MY WAY!" McKinley barked as he shoved his men aside so he could reach the harbor… JUST SO CONIS' BOAT COULD PLOW INTO HIM! **WHAAAM! **McKinly went flying backwards and crashed into a wall.

**SKISH! **Conis jumped off of her ship and landed on the clouds but the boat kept going AND SLAMMED INTO MCKINLEY AGAIN! **KER-RASH!**

"CAPTAIN!" the White Berets screamed out in alarm.

Meanwhile, the Skypeians tensed when they saw Conis crouched in front of them with her father's emergency Burn Bazooka strapped to her back. The people started to shout and panic.

"OH NO!" "IT'S THE CRIMINAL!" "JUDGMENT WILL FOLLOW HER!"

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as he sat on his throne on the Maxim in front of Ricky and Nami.

"Um… mind letting us in on what's so funny?" Ricky inquired.

"Remember your girl-friend from Angel Island?" Eneru asked. "I've been listening and it sounds like she's causing an uproar among the citizens."

"Conis?" Nami questioned. "No way! She should be waiting on the Going Merry right now."

"If Eneru says he hears that happening, we have no reason to doubt him," Ricky pointed out. "He's already proven the power of his abilities." Nami watched Eneru swell up a bit from Ricky's praise towards his abilities. Ricky was obviously building up to something.

"Yes, and I can tell you there's a lot of noise going on outside," Eneru announced.

"But it's hardly enough to concern yourself with, right?" Ricky prodded. "I mean, if you planning on destroying all of Skypeia with this impressive ship of yours, there's really no reason to expend the effort to pass judgment on just one person… right?"

"True," Eneru agreed, "it is no matter. It's hardly worth even mentioning. Yahahaha! This is Skypeia's final dance! Soon this nation will no longer exist!"

Nami eyes widened in panic. _"This guy's crazy! We've gotta get out of here!" _Suddenly she felt something on her hand. She looked down to see that Ricky had grabbed it. Nami bit her lip and looked over at Ricky who had his eye lock on Eneru. _"Right… we've got to stick with the plan… stall for time until Luffy gets here. He'll give this nut-job the beating he deserves."_

Eneru leaned forward and eyed his two companions with a grin. "You know, the two of you being here together is actually fitting," Eneru remarked. "Once this unnatural nation is destroyed and we reach the Endless Vearth, the two of you can repopulate your race."

"WHAT?" Nami shrieked.

"GROSS!" Ricky exclaimed.

Nami whirled around to face him, "WHAAT?" she roared.

"Not you!" Ricky quickly amended under Nami's glare. "Just… think about it… God is taking _two of us _away on his ark while he destroys the world and then expects just the two of us to repopulate an entire race."

"Your point?" Nami growled as she folded her arms across her chest. She was still upset over the fact that he seemed to think 'repopulating' with her would be 'gross'.

"Well… say we had kids… let's make it an even four…" Ricky suggested, "I'm sure they'd be beautiful. But then what? That's just four more humans." Ricky looked over at Eneru. "Do you honestly expect our kids to mate and reproduce _with each other_? I'm sorry but I don't want my grandchildren to wind up being deformed flipper babies."

"AAH!" Nami gasped in horror.

Eneru blinked. "I see," he said. "In that case, when the time comes we could always take a short trip down to your Blue Sea World and acquire more humans for your children's sake."

"Thank you for your consideration," Ricky replied, "If you'd like, we could even give you a…" Ricky trailed off when Eneru's expression suddenly hardened.

"EEP!" Nami squeaked and hugged Ricky's arm to her chest as Eneru stood up in front of his throne. "I… um… is something the matter… sir?"

"_Who is that?" _Eneru wondered as he sensed a new presence with his Mantra.

"It's nothing," Eneru answered.

"You sure?" Ricky questioned. "It doesn't seem like nothing. My guess would be that you just picked up three new voices with your Mantra, a man, a child and a Pegasus to be specific."

"How did you know that?" Eneru demanded. "Your Mantra isn't that powerful!"

"I don't need Mantra," Ricky replied, "I've got something better. Faith."

"Faith? You're an atheist!" Nami hissed at him.

"Way to say that in front of a guy that calls himself God," Ricky growled at her. "And I may not believe in a God but I do believe in people. I trust them and their abilities."

A sly grin spread across Ricky's face as he pointed at Eneru, "And now, I'd like to deliver a prophecy of my own to you. My Captain is on his way here and he plans on fighting you. If you want to actually win over our loyalty, you'll have to beat him to do it."

"Very well," Eneru resolved as he raised his gold staff. "I accept your challenge."

**-x-**

"PLEASE! YOU MUST LISTEN TO ME!" Conis called out to the scared Skypeians.

"No! Get back! Stay away!" one man exclaimed while the others shouted alongside him.

"PLEASE CALM DOWN! WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO WASTE!" Conis tried to shout over them. "YOU MUST HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!"

"GET AWAY FROM US, CRIMINAL!" another man yelled. "LEAVE THIS ISLAND, YOU PESTILENCE!"

"Yes, you must leave now or we'll all be destroyed when the judgment strikes you down!" an old woman added.

"YOU HERETIC!" a third man hollered.

"No, please, listen…" Conis pleaded with the people she was trying to save. "You must listen…"

**SWISH! **Conis turned in time to see three White Berets jump towards her. **WHUP! CLIK! SWISH! **Conis reacted quickly and slipped the Burn Bazooka around behind her and had it aimed at the first White Beret's stomach just as he reached her and pointed his knife at her head. The Burn Bazooka stopped the White Beret in his tracks.

"Don't come any closer," Conis warned him. "This is a Burn Bazooka. I'll use it."

"AAAAHHH!" the citizens screamed at seeing the deadly weapon while the White Beret backed away from the woman wielding it.

"EVERYONE!" Conis called out again. "You have to go to Cloud End at the edge of the clouds, right away before it's too late! WE HAVE TO ESCAPE TO THE BLUE SEA! THIS LAND IS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED! THERE'S NO TIME TO WASTE! USE EVERY SHIP YOU CAN FIND AND LEAVE ANGEL ISLAND AT ONCE!"

"What kind of lunacy is this?" McKinley growled, the boat had been pulled off him so he could now listen to criminal as she raved about the end of the world.

"ENERU PLANS TO DESTROY THIS LAND AND EVERYONE ON IT!" Conis continued. "IF WE DON'T EVACUATE NOW, WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

"Hah!" a man scoffed. "You're crazy! What kind of trick is this?"

"Is this revenge?" another man growled, "That's nothing to be joking about, you know!"

"DON'T TALK THAT WAY ABOUT ENERU!" a boy shouted as he threw a tomato. **SPLAK! **The tomato hit the side of Conis' face and left a red stain. The boy immediately flinched back when he realized he'd just thrown something at 'a crazy person with a gun'.

The boy's mother quickly bent down and hugged him to her to protect him.

But Conis stared straight ahead and ignored the tomato that had struck her. She wasn't getting through to them. The people were scared so they weren't listening. She decided to change tactic and pulled the Burn Bazooka off her back and dropped it on the ground beside her. **TUNK!**

"What… what's she doing?" McKinley wondered. No matter. This was their chance. "NOW ARREST HER!"

Conis closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them and shouted, "HEAR ME! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT ENERU IS GOD!" Coins bit her lip and thought of her father as she waited for what was to come.

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" the people screamed and ran away from her. Renouncing Eneru was a surefire way to receive God's Judgment. She had all but called Eneru's Judgment down on her.

But as the Skypeians and the White Berets ran away to take cover, Conis stood alone in the middle of Lovely Street… and waited…

God's Judgment didn't come.

**-x-**

**God Eneru vs. Pirate Luffy**

**-x-**

The Skypeians watched Conis from a distance as she stood in the middle of Lovely Street with the Burn Bazooka at her feet and the tomato stain on her cheek. She'd just renounced Eneru as God but God's Judgment had not come.

"That's strange…" one of the White Berets observed as he hid behind a palm tree, "The Judgment didn't come."

"But why not?" a woman asked.

"And after committing sacrilege against God," a man added, "I don't understand."

"Hey… what's going on?" McKinley wondered as he laid on the ground and hit between two buildings while two other White Berets knelt behind him.

"It's because there's no longer any point in taking one life alone," Conis announced. "Skypeia is doomed. It's true. A member of the Divine Squad escaped from Upper Yard. He risked his life to deliver that message. He died! He died with my father when Eneru cast judgment on them."

"BAAGHH!" McKinley gasped while the others stared in surprise.

"Did God do that?" the tomato-throwing boy asked. "But why?" His mother hugged him to her. "I thought He was supposed to take care of us? What does that lady mean?"

"There's no time left!" Conis persisted. "WE HAVE TO GET TO THE EDGE OF THE CLOUDS AT ONCE! TO CLOUD END!"

"Wait just a minute!" a man protested. "We can't do it! We can't just up and go like that!"

"We were all born and raised her in the sky!" a woman added. "We can't live anywhere else!"

"They're right," another man agreed, "None of us have ever even visited the Blue Sea before! How would we be able to live there? Besides…"

"THEN ARE YOU GOING TO STAY HERE DOING NOTHING, JUST WAITING TO DIE?" Conis shouted over him. "We've all known for the past six years what kind of a man Eneru is! Has he ever shown mercy? Compassion? If he says he's going to do this then you know he will!"

"Maybe it's not that bad?" a man suggested. "Maybe a miracle will happen or something? And then our island will be spared!"

"Yeah… why not?" another deluded man was happy to agree. "Maybe He'll change his mind?"

**Click! **Conis picked up her Burn Bazooka and fired it. **BAA-ZOOOOOOOOM! **The blast of blue flames shot over people's heads, cleaved through trees and eventually plowed into the side of a puffy island cloud. **KRATA-KLAK! **Conis tossed the Burn Bazooka aside again.

"If we know anything about Eneru, we know this!" Conis called out, "He's always had the power to bring us to despair! To make us suffer and break us! I tell you, what happens now makes our passed suffering insignificant! It's not going to do any good sitting and waiting for a miracle! Its time to face the fact that as far as this land is concerned, God has abandoned us! Before we pray, before we close our eyes to what's really happening here, we have to do what we can to save ourselves! We can't survive by hiding behind his victims any longer! IF we do nothing, no matter who we try to blame, we're all going to lose our lives! AND IT'LL BE OUR FAULT! Now… IF WE WANT TO LIVE WE MUST LEAVE!"

"AAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Conis' words finally reached the Skypeians and they panicked and ran off screaming in terror. "RUN!" "TO THE END OF THE CLOUDS!"

Conis sighed in relief. Her warning had finally reached the people. But when she looked up she saw that not everyone had run off.

"Oh, Miss!" a woman called out, "Do you have any idea what happened to the Divine Squad? My husband is one and I can't leave the island without him!"

"And my son's a member!" an old man exclaimed. "Is he okay? I haven't seen him in six years!"

"Me too," an old woman chimed in, "My only son is with them too…"

"I…" Conis struggled to answer as she thought of the state the Divine Squad member was in when he'd escaped. _"The Divine Squad may already be…" _"I'm sorry… I don't know…"

"What have they been doing all this time on the Upper Yard?" the old man asked.

"Are they still there?" the woman inquired. "Can't you tell us anything?"

A shadow fell over Conis. She looked up and saw McKinley standing between her and the crowd of concerned Skypeians.

"Please, calm yourselves," McKinley addressed the crowd. "I assure you, the White Berets will look into this matter. We will find your family members and make sure they're escorted safely to you. Now hurry! You must escape!"

"But Captain…" the old man protested.

"MOVE ALONG!" McKinley ordered.

"Captain… why?" Conis asked.

"I can guess what happened to the Divine Squad," McKinley stated. "Eneru is that kind of man. I've always known that. But right now our priority is to make sure the citizens are evacuated as quickly as possible. I won't let this end like Birka."

"Birka?" Conis repeated.

"It was Eneru's homeland," McKinley explained, "A Sky Island, far to the south-east of here. I've been told it disappeared without a trace six years ago."

"Wait… six years ago?" Conis questioned. Eneru came to Skypeia six years ago.

"That's right," McKinley confirmed. "Eneru destroyed his own homeland and then came here. Birka was home to many strong warriors. But they were helpless before Eneru, an invincible God." A grim smile crossed McKinley's face. "I don't know. Maybe he really is. You might already know this but we White Berets were once in the Divine Squad and pledged to the service of Lord Gan Fall. We thought if we pretended to betray the Divine Squad and swore our allegiance to Lord Eneru that we could stay on the island and find some way to protect the citizens. But… now it's only all too clear that plan… was a failure… We tried to keep anyone from provoking Eneru's anger. We hoped that if no one disobeyed him, they'd be safe. What else could we do? It was for nothing! FOR NOTHING! FOR NOTHING!"

"It wasn't for nothing…" Conis reassured him. McKinley looked back at her in surprise. "After all this time I finally understand. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You were just thinking of everyone's welfare. I believe that we should be thanking you."

"Captain? Can I count on you to handle things here?" Conis asked.

"Yes," McKinley answered, "But where are you going? Tell me."

"Well, you see, there are some people who don't know how to escape," Conis told him, "Some friends of mine. I have to go back. Take care."

"_Of course, the Blue Sea Dwellers," _McKinley realized. As Conis ran back to her ship, McKinley and his men all stood up straight and saluted her. "HESO!"

Conis smiled back at the White Berets as she pulled the boat upright. "Heso," she replied.

**-x-**

Back in Shandora, Luffy ran through the ruins at top speed. **SKISH! **He jumped from the top of one building to another while Pierre flew behind him with Aisa on his back.

Far behind him, Robin struggled and managed to sit up against a ruin. She looked down at Zoro, Chopper and Kiko who had been laid near her.

"_I won't be able to move them all at once," _Robin thought to herself. She looked up Giant Jack. _"Somehow, we've got to reach the upper level. We must escape."_

"AISA!" Luffy shouted back to Aisa as he now raced through the ruins on foot while Pierre galloped behind him. "YOU'RE SURE ITS THIS WAY?"

"Yes, we're almost there!" Aisa answered, "I'm sure this is the right way!" They had gotten closer to the other voices but now they were coming from the left. "That's it Luffy! That hole to your left over there! That's it!"

"Then that's where we're going," Luffy announced. **ZZOOOOOOM! **He took the turn so fast that he ran up along the side of one of the buildings while Pierre struggled to fly in his wake.

**-x-**

"Here he comes," Ricky remarked back on the Maxim. He looked over at Nami and the two shared a smile.

"They weren't among you seven survivors," Eneru noted as he walked to the railing. "Now where could they have been hiding?"

"He got swallowed by that giant snake that you fried," Ricky informed him. "I bet even you couldn't sense them with your Mantra since they were inside something else."

Eneru floated up onto the railing and stared down at the entrance of the cave. "How aggravating!" Eneru snapped. "There's nothing I hate more than when my predictions end up wrong."

He was just in time to see Luffy step out of the tunnel in front of the Maxim.

"HEEEEEEEEYYYYY!" Luffy bellowed. "ARE YOU THE ONE THEY CALL ENERU?"

"HE'S HERE!" Nami cheered. She smiled as she ran forward and threw herself onto the railing then laid across it as she stared down at Luffy. "LUUUUUFFYYYYYYY!"

Luffy glared up at Eneru. "If you mess with friends of mine, then you mess with me."

"Hmph," Eneru grunted, "Those fools were your friends?"

"You stay right there!" Luffy called up to him. "I'm coming up to kick your ass!"

"Mind your tongue, mortal," Eneru scolded him. "You're speaking to God."

"What makes you God anyway?" Luffy taunted.

"He's deliberately picking a fight with Eneru…" Aisa whimpered as she and Pierre hid behind the curtain inside the tunnel of the cave. "Be careful Luffy…"

"W-wait Luffy! Watch out!" Nami tried to warn him but then Eneru turned to look at her and she launched herself back off of the railing and hid behind Ricky. Nami shook as she clung to Ricky from behind. Ricky stiffened and became fully aware of the fact that all she wore on the top half of her body was a bikini top.

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed. "I can hear it now! The Angel's Party! The citizens must have learned of Skypeia's Fate! Yahahaha! I wonder how far they can run before the ground gives out beneath them."

"I SAID!" Luffy shouted up at Eneru. "WHAT MAKES YOU GOD ANYWAY?"

"You'll find out," Eneru replied as he glared down at the Blue Sea Pirates.

**WOOOSH! **Luffy raced up one of the massive oars then stretched his arm up and grabbed the railing around the upper level of the giant ship. **SHOOOOM! **Luffy shot himself up into the air and he landed on a block of metal beside the ship.

"Ah, I see," Eneru noted as he looked back at Ricky. "The Devil Fruit Powers he spoke of." Eneru looked over at Luffy again. "But you are a mere Paramecia Type. You can't beat Me." **BZZZZZTT! **Eneru's body glowed as his arm started to spark. "Nothing that lives can stand against Me! That's why, I am God!"

"Wait for it," Ricky whispered back to Nami, "This is gonna be priceless…" Matching grins spread across their faces as they waited for Eneru to discover rubber.

**WOING! **"RAAAAAAH!" Luffy roared as he launched himself off of the metal block and flew towards Eneru.

"EL THOR!" **BAAZZZOOOOOOOOOM! **Eneru blasted a column of white lightning at Luffy. It completely engulfed his body then flew off the side of the ship and plowed into the cave wall.

But when the light and smoke faded, Luffy was standing unharmed on the deck of the Maxim in front of Eneru. Luffy looked confused as he turned and stared at the hole Eneru made the cave.

"I'm impressed that you managed to dodge it," Eneru remarked as he twirled his gold staff.

"He didn't," Ricky stated.

**Tnk! Tnk! **Eneru tapped two of drums on his back with his staff which caused them to spark. "SIXTY MILLION VOLTS JULUNGUL!" **BA-ZZZOOOOOOOOM! **Eneru fired off the huge, serpentine dragon that he'd used to defeat Zoro. **BZZZOOOOOOOOM! **The dragon bright white dragon nearly blinded everybody as it flew into Luffy then rushed passed him.

But when the light faded… Luffy was still unharmed.

**BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared in a flash of white light. **ZZZZT! **He appeared almost instantly up above Luffy and extended his hand down towards Luffy's head. "ONE HUNDRED MILLION VOLT… VARI!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOOM! **The lightning struck and once again engulf Luffy as it blinded everyone with bright, white light.

"I've had enough of you…" Luffy growled as he glared at Eneru who still had a firm hold of him and was trying to electrocute him. "GEEET OOOOFFFF!" **WOOOOSH! **Luffy threw away from him, Eneru flipped in the air and landed in a crouch. **TMP!**

"Eneru stared at Luffy in complete and utter wide-eyed, snot-nosed, open-mouthed shock.

"HAH-HA!" Ricky laughed, "Hold that look on your face, I wanna remember it for a long time! HAH-HA!

"HEHEHEHEHEHE!" Nami laughed along with him. "I think he finally gets that Blue Sea joke!"

"RAAAAAAH!" Luffy yelled as he raced across the deck towards Eneru.

Eneru shook his head so hard that his long earlobes flopped over his shoulders. _"Stay calm," _Eneru berated himself. _"Physical attacks still can't effect My body! He's just a helpless monkey from the Blue Sea World!"_

**THWHAAM! **Luffy's bare, rubber foot plowed into Eneru's stomach and caused him to cough up a combination of spit and blood and he flew backwards and crashed down to the deck.

"_YES!" _Nami cheered in her mind. "_It's just like we expected! His electrical powers are completely useless against Luffy! He's made of rubber! Eneru must have never imagined there was someone in the world who is immune to lightning! It's incredible but it's true! Luffy may be the only person in the world who can battle Eneru! They're natural enemies!"_

"Perhaps introductions are in order?" Ricky offered as he knelt down next to Eneru while he groaned in pain and clutched his stomach on the deck. Ricky looked up at Luffy and grinned, "Luffy, this is Eneru, he calls himself God and ate a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to control lightning. He wants to use those powers and this ship to completely destroy Skypeia." Ricky looked down at Eneru, "Eneru, this is my Captain Monkey D. Luffy, he ate a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that turned his body into rubber. That's a special material we have down in the Blue Sea World that is _immune _to lightning and electricity. He plans to become King of the Pirates but for now… I think he'll settle for kicking your ass."

And so the stage was set for the clash that would decide the fate of Skypeia. God Eneru versus Pirate Luffy.

**-x-**

Next Chapter, the battle between Luffy and Eneru continues as the Maxim rises and Luffy falls.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	29. Maxim Rises

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. No money is being made from this story.

**Maxim Rises:**

**-x-**

Luffy stood over Eneru on the front deck of Eneru's massive gold and wood ship known as the Ark Maxim. Eneru had just learned the hard way that Luffy's rubber was impervious to his lightning and was now acquainting himself with the wooden deck as a result.

"Go Luffy!" Nami called out as she looked on from a safe distance away. "Stop him!"

**Skish! **Ricky jumped back away from the battle. "I'll leave you to it, Captain."

"Uuugghhh…" Eneru groaned as he slowly pushed himself off of the deck and stood up. **Woosh! **Eneru launched himself backwards and landed on the thick wood railing behind him. "So it appears that you're no mere mortal."

"I'm a rubber man," Luffy confirmed.

"Sorry Eneru," Ricky called out, "Bad break. There are a lot of Devil Fruit Powers out there. Sometimes you run into someone with powers that are natural buffers to yours. It's just bad luck. You had the misfortune of enacting your plan when we were here sightseeing. If you had gone a week earlier, maybe you would've succeeded. But now you're in for the fight of your life."

"That lightning of yours, IT WON'T WORK ON ME!" Luffy exclaimed as charged across the deck towards Eneru and drew back his arm.

"Mantra…" Eneru intoned as he closed his eyes and used his other power.

"RAAAH!" Luffy grunted as he jumped off the deck and swing his fist at Eneru. **Swish! **Eneru spun to the side and avoided the blow. Luffy flew passed him and almost fell off the ship. "WHOA!" **SHOOM! **Luffy stretched his leg back out and hooked it on the railing then launched himself at Eneru and swung his other leg. "GUM… GUM… WHIP!" **SHOOOM!** **BZZZT! **Eneru's body sparked and disappeared just as Luffy's leg swung through the spot he'd been standing. **BZZZT! **Eneru reappeared across the deck on the railing in front of Nami. Luffy flipped and landed on his hands then shot his legs out at Eneru, "SPEAR!" **SHOOOOM!**

"Aw hell…" Ricky groaned as he lunged towards the railing. **SKISH!**

**BZZZZTT! **Eneru disappeared again and Luffy's feet kept going and went over the railing straight towards Nami's face.

"WAA—umph!" Nami shriek was cut off as Ricky tackled her to the ground and Luffy's feet sailed right over them.

"Stay low," Ricky warned Nami as he rolled away from her. "He's using his Mantra to predict Luffy's moves."

"Phew…" Luffy sighed in relief at not taking his Navigator's head off and retracted his legs. **SHU-WHUP! **

**BZZZT! **Eneru appeared above Luffy and hit him over the head with his gold staff. **WHAP! **Eneru landed on the ground then swept Luffy's legs out from under him. **WHUP! **Luffy was knocked up into the air and Eneru quickly followed up and smacked him with his staff again. **WHAM! **Luffy flew clear across the deck but Eneru jumped after him. **SKISH! **Eneru swung his staff and struck Luffy again. **KRACK! **Luffy bounced and hit the golden wall beside the throne.

"LUFFY!" Nami yelled out in alarm.

Eneru rushed in and jabbed his staff into Luffy's throat. **TNK! **Eneru slid his staff upward and dragged Luffy up with it so he was pinned against the gold wall at his full height.

"Don't push your luck," Eneru scolded Luffy as he lifted Luffy even higher so he was now dangling over the deck. Luffy gagged and coughed from Eneru's staff choking him. "Lightning can cause far more than electric shocks. But I don't have to tell you that, rubber man. You found out the hard way."

**WHAP! **Luffy reached up and grabbed the staff and wrenched it away from his neck. "YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!" he shouted as he swung his leg at Eneru. **BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared again and avoided the attack then reappeared on the far railing of the ship.

"I see, he's got that weird ability to predict my moves," Luffy observed. "Damn it."

"Lightning won't work," Eneru mused to himself. "Blows won't work. Just what is this rubber? Now hold on… this… rubber man… he's a Paramecia. Even they have weaknesses." Eneru held his gold staff out in front of him. "GLOAM PADDLING!" **BZZZKZZZZK! **Lightning sparked all the way up and down Eneru's staff and covered it in a white glow. "I'm on a bit of a schedule, so I don't have time to play." The end of the staff continued to glow but where it was once one solid round end, it had become three sharp points.

"He… he's changing his staff into a blade!" Nami realized.

"He's melting the gold with the heat from his lightning and reforming it," Ricky realized. "He's turning his staff into a trident!"

**SWISH! **Eneru swung his new trident in front of him. "Think of it as lightning in solid form!" **SKISH! **Eneru jumped off of the railing and swung his weapon at Luffy. **SLISH! **The prongs of the trident nicked Luffy's side before he jumped upwards to avoid the full blow. **SKISH!**

Luffy held onto the gold wall above Eneru's throne and glared down at him.

"YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "As I thought! Slashing attacks are your weakness!"

"Yeah," Luffy admitted.

"GAAAAH!" Nami gasped. "DON'T TELL HIM THAT!"

**SLISH! **Luffy launched himself off the wall. "GUM… GUM… GATLING!" **BZZZT! **But before Luffy could throw his first punch Eneru disappeared again.

"LUFFY LOOK OUT!" Aisa shouted from down below as a patch of electricity traveled up through the gold wall behind Luffy.

"Luffy! He's traveling through the gold wall!" Ricky called up to him. "He's gonna appear right above you!"

"He can move right through the gold?" Nami questioned in alarm.

Luffy spun around in midair and saw a white version of Eneru made entirely out of lightning emerge from the gold right under the eye of the gold face. **BZZZT! **Eneru launched himself at Luffy with his trident poised to attack.

**WHAP! **Luffy shot his hands out and caught Eneru's trident between them. **Drip… drip… **Hot liquid gold dripped down from Eneru's recently melted and reformed gold staff. **SSSSSSSSS! **Luffy hands started sizzling as they were burned by the still white-hot metal.

"YAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed at Luffy's pain. "You may be immune to lightning but not to electric heat it seems!"

**SHOOOOM! **Luffy shot his leg up and stretched it high up over Eneru's head. With his Mantra, Eneru predicted Luffy's attack but when he tried to pull away from him, his trident wouldn't budge. **SSSSSSSSSS! **Luffy's hands continued to burn as he fought through the pain and kept a tight grip on Eneru's staff. He wasn't going anywhere. "GUUMM… GUUMM… BATTLE AXE!" **THWHAM! **Luffy's foot slammed down onto the top of Eneru's head and drove him down into and then through the deck of the ship. **KRASH!**

**CHUNK! **Eneru popped out of his hole. "YOU BLASPHEMOUS BRAT!" Eneru yelled.

"Alright!" Luffy cheered, "GUUUM… GUUUUM… GATLING!" **WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! **Luffy sent a barrage of rapid-fire punches down at Eneru as he flew towards him.

**WHAP! **Eneru reached up through the flurry of blows and easily caught Luffy's wrists then yanked him downward. Eneru jumped up out of the hole then swung Luffy's arms downward and smashed the rubber pirate through the deck. **KRASH!**

"It's not as if you grew more arms, idiot," Eneru scoffed.

"LUFFY!" Nami yelled in alarm.

**Tmp! **Eneru landed and casually swung his staff as he made his way over to his throne. "Sightseeing on Sky Island," Eneru remarked. "You Blue Sea People certainly picked a bad time to visit. I am this land's God. I can do anything My Will desires." Eneru looked up at a large hole where bright light shined into the cave. "I have long dreamed of creating an ideal world. This dream will become a reality and I won't let anyone stand in My Way, least of all, some whelp from the Blue Sea World."

Eneru went up the steps to his raised throne and stood before his throne. "Now where were we?" he continued. "Oh yes, how could I forget, we were going to watch this land die." Eneru reached out and placed his hands on two gold orbs that had been raised in front of the throne's armrests. "Yahahahahahaha!"

"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Nami protested.

"MAX TWO HUNDRED MILLION VOLTS… VARI!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOM! **Lightning shot out of Eneru's hands into the gold orbs then traveled down into the metal lined floor below him and up through the metal wall behind him. **BZZZZZZZTTT! **Two large conjoined glass balls at the front of the ship filled with lightning as the propellers all around the Maxim's deck began to spin.

"Whoa…" Ricky remarked.

"AAAAH!" Nami gasped.

"Uuugghhh…" Luffy grunted as he pulled himself out of the hole in the deck.

"HORSY-BIRD WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO?" Aisa shouted to Pierre. "IT'S MOVING!"

The Ark Maxim started to shake and slowly but surely, the massive ship began to rise off of the ground.

"PIIIIEEEEEE!" Pierre cried in alarm.

"LUUUFFYYYY! NAAAAMIIIII!" Aisa yelled up to the deck.

"BEHOLD!" Eneru yelled. "MAXIM! THE ARK THAT WILL TAKE ME TO ENDLESS VEARTH! TO THE SACRED ENDLESS LAND THAT I DESIRE! RISE, MAXIM! RISE!"

"Wahh…" Nami yelped and grabbed onto Ricky's arm as the deck started to shake while the Maxim ascended into the air.

"IT'S FLYING!" Aisa shrieked as she watched the massive ship fly up to the top of the cave where the opening was.

"Oh-no! Oh-no! Oh-no! Oh-no! Oh-nooo!" Nami whimpered as she clutched at Ricky's arm. "This is bad! Luffy's gotta hurry and stop Eneru… but this Ark's powered by Eneru so if he's defeated then it'll crash with us on it! But if he's not, the Sky Island's gonna be destroyed! And if we stay here and do nothing, we'll be taken to some land far away with Eneru! AAHH! I DON'T LIKE OUR OPTIONS! No matter what happens we still lose! RICKY! WHAT DO WE DO?"

"Stick with the plan," Ricky resolved. "We wait for Luffy to beat Eneru, then we jump off before the Maxim crashes and then we salvage all the gold we can carry from the wreck."

**Whip! **Ricky shot his hand up and caught a familiar straw hat in midair.

Nami stared at the straw hat then over at the rubber pirate that had thrown it. "Luffy…"

"You two sail with the crew of the future King of the Pirates," Luffy told them. "So wipe that frown off and stop worrying… alright?" Luffy walked up the steps then stood on the red carpet in front of Eneru's throne.

"King of the Pirates?" Eneru repeated. "And what domain does he lord over?"

"He's the King of the Seas," Luffy answered, "The Greatest King of All!"

"Hmph, so you say," Eneru scoffed. "But we'll soon learn if that's true, won't we?"

Up above them, the forest of Upper Yard shook and the South Birds flew off in alarm as the Maxim rose up and towered over the giant tree tops.

**-x-**

**Deathpiea Activates:**

**-x-**

The dirt floor of Upper Yard shook and cracked as the Maxim continued to rise.

Aisa sat on Pierre's back as the bird-turned-horse hovered at the bottom of the cave in his Pegasus form and avoided the falling rocks.

"Pierre, look!" Aisa pointed out at the massive ship as it struggled to fit through the somewhat smaller hole in the top of the cave. "The ship's stuck in the Vearth!" **KRESSH! **But upon closer look, the girl realized that the spinning propellers were cutting through the edges of the opening. "But wait, its scraping away! It's only a matter of time before it breaks through!"

"Piieeee…" Pierre suggested.

"No, we can't," Aisa told the horse. "We'll get in his way. He may be from the Blue Sea World but Luffy's still a warrior. A Warrior's Duel is sacred. You should never interfere in it."

**-x-**

"WE'RE GOING TO BE STRUCK DOWN!" a Skypiean screamed as the winged people ran through the streets of Angel Island and rushed for the boats.

"THIS IS THE END!" a man wailed.

"QUICKLY, FOLKS!" McKinley shouted as he directed the frantic people. "The White Berets will assure your safe evacuation from the island! There's no need to panic! Proceed in an or—" **WHAM! **A frantic man with a massive backpack full of stuff barreled over McKinley.

"Excuse me!" the man belatedly called out as he ran off.

McKinley pushed himself back up and continued to bark out orders, "Please, everyone hurry! Get moving! We don't have much time left! We have to save as many people as possible!"

McKinley looked through the crowd and saw an old man not going anywhere. He was seated on his luggage and showed no sign of moving. McKinley waded through the crowd and made his way over to the old man.

"Sir! sir! What are you doing?" McKinley questioned. "You have to escape now!"

"I've always believed in our God," the old man replied, "If it's His Desire to grant us death, shouldn't we accept it? Isn't it wrong if we don't, Captain?"

"Eneru…" McKinley growled. Tears started to run down McKinley's cheeks as he looked upon the old man whose strong faith in their God still remained despite the fact that their God had forsaken them and was now out to kill them all. "He doesn't have the right to take your life! Or anyone else's for that matter! LISTEN! WE ALL HAVE TO SURVIVE AND KEEP ON LIVING! ALL OF US!" The old man started to tear up at McKinley's words. But that was okay because McKinley was openly crying too. "Please, you have to escape while you have the chance!"

"Grandfather!" a younger man called out to the old man. "Come on, hurry!" The two men bowed in thanks to McKinley then rushed off.

"HESO!" McKinley called after them as he saluted.

Another Skypiean came up to him, "Captain, a few of us are heading to the Shandian Village."

"The Shandian Village?" McKinley repeated.

"If someone doesn't warn them about what's happening, they'll perish!" the man exclaimed. "We have to do it! The Shandians are people too! Just like us!"

"You're right," McKinley agreed. "Go! Quickly!"

As horrible as the situation was, at least it was bringing forth a sense of compassion between the Skypieans and the Shandians despite their four hundred year feud.

**-x-**

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed as Luffy stood in front of him. "The circuit to this Ark's ultimate function has been initiated and is now running at full capacity!"

"Ultimate function?" Nami repeated.

"It has a name," Eneru stated, "It's called Deathpiea. The despair that will destroy this world."

Inside the ship, Eneru's lightning surged through the golden circuits and ran into large glass vats of mysterious green chemicals that began to bubble.

"Deathpiea… ACTIVATE!" Eneru called out.

Luffy, Ricky and Nami watched from below as black cloud billowed out from a large gold chimney-like hole at the top of the Maxim. The black cloud floated up into the air above the ship and started to form a large black mass.

"What is that?" Nami wondered. "A cloud?"

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed.

**-x-**

Back in Shandora, Robin had finally gotten back up to her feet. She looked up and saw dark clouds float in above the cloud barrier that went over Shandora.

"Clouds?" she questioned.

**-x-**

"CHIEF!" a Shandian shouted back at the Shandian Village as the saw the black clouds roll in. "COME QUICK!"

"Something's happening in the sky in Upper Yardd!" another Shandian added.

"What is it?" the Shandian Chief asked.

"It just suddenly got dark!" the first Shandian pointed out. "I've never seen the skies over this island look like that."

The Shandians all went up a flight of stairs to the surface above their hidden village and stared at the black clouds that had just appeared over Upper Yard.

"Strange," the second Shandian remarked, "What could it be?"

"Do you think something bad happened to Wyper and the warriors?"

"I hope not," the Chief replied. "But I too have never seen such dark clouds in the sky of the White White Sea."

**-x-**

"Wh-what is that?" a Skypiean whimpered as they took in the black clouds from the harbor. "The sky! Its growing dark!"

"IT'S THE JUDGMENT!"

"THIS IS THE END!"

**-x-**

"Are those…" Nami questioned back on the Maxim.

"That's right," Eneru confirmed, "thunder clouds. Using My Energy, Deathpiea forces extremely turbulent air currents together which produce those lovely thunder clouds you see billowing out right now. Soon they will envelop all of Skypiea in darkness. Inside them, energy will continue to build until its reached its absolute peak. And then, on my signal they will unleash thunderbolts of such magnitude that every trace of this land will be obliterated! Allow me to demonstrate…"

Eneru raised his arm up into the air. **BZZZOOOOT! **Eneru shot a beam of lightning up over his head into the black thunder cloud.

**KRAK-A-THOOOM!** Thunder clapped as a bolt of powerful lightning shot down out of the thunder cloud and struck the top of Angel Island. **BA-ZOOOOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

"AAAAAHHHH!" the Skypieans screamed as buildings were obliterated and the remains caught fire from the one powerful bolt of lightning.

"That came from Upper Yard!" McKinley realized as he stared at the destruction caused by the lightning. "GET TO THE SHIPS! EVERYONE KEEP CALM! DON'T PANIC! GET ON A SHIP AND HEAD FOR CLOUD END!"

**KROOOM!** Buildings continued to crumble as the fire spread through the village.

"DAMN YOU ENERU!" McKinley hollered.

**-x-**

Conis' horn blared as she raced away from Angel Island. She looked back and took in the destruction behind her then gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.

"_Eneru!" _Conis thought to herself.

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed at his handiwork.

"You… just…" Nami whimpered.

"I just teased the angels a little," Eneru replied. "After all, that is My Right."

"So being God makes it okay to destroy everything?" Luffy snapped.

"Of course," Eneru answered. "Everything here is mine for the taking. Their land, their lives, speaking of which… I'll continue celebrating by taking yours!" **SWISH! **Eneru lashed his trident out at Luffy but Luffy managed to weave to the side and avoided the sharp attack. **SWISH!**

"RAAAH!" Luffy shouted as he swung his foot at Eneru. **WHAP! **Eneru raised his arm and blocked Luffy's attack then lashed out his trident again. **KLANG!** Luffy swung his other leg down and kicked the trident. **SSSSSSSSSSS! **The hot metal once again burned him on contact.

"WAAAAHHH!" Luffy cried as he hopped backwards on one foot and clutched his burned foot. "OOWW! OOWW! OOWW! HOT! HOT! HOT!"

"YAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "This spear's been highly charged!" Eneru charged Luffy and shot his trident out at him. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **Luffy struggled and just barely managed to stay ahead of Eneru's sharp strikes. **WHAP! **Luffy grabbed the trident and pushed it away from his chest then jumped backwards.

Luffy paused and looked down at his hands. **SSSSSSSS! **"YAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy dropped down and started to blow on his burned hands. **KRASH! **Eneru's trident whizzed over his head and smashed into the railing. Luffy stopped blowing on his hands and looked beside him to see the large hole Eneru's most recent attack had made in the railing right where his head had just been. "DAMN IT! HOW? How can I defeat a guy who can predict my moves?"

"He's reading your thoughts and intentions, Luffy," Ricky advised, "Not your body!"

**BING! **A light bulb went off over his head as the thought about how he'd dodged Eneru's attack that had punched a hole in the railing. But that was just it. He _hadn't _thought about it.

"Yeaaahhh…" Luffy realized. "GUUUMMM… GUUUMMM… Daaazzzeeee…" Luffy's arms went slack and his nose went wide as he took on a really dumb expression.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Nami yelled at him. "HEY!"

"Hmm?" Eneru grunted before he lashed out at Luffy. **SWISH! **Luffy's body weaved to the side and avoided Eneru's attack. "Uggh!" Eneru grunted in annoyance then lashed out again. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! **Luffy body continued to almost dance around Eneru's attacks as it moved seemingly on its own without any thought. **SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!**

"_He's dodging the attacks unconsciously and just relying on his reflexes!" _Nami realized. _"It's like he's a blade of grass that sways back and forth in the wind instead of opposing it! He's not thinking! That's why Eneru can't predict his moves!"_

"See, and you thought Luffy never thought about what he was doing," Ricky pointed out to her, "It turns out that he can get a lot dumber than you'd think." Ricky took Luffy's hat and put it on Nami's head. "Hold this for me, I've gotta take care of something."

**FWIP! **Luffy jumped up into the air and flipped backwards then landed across the deck. He had come out of his daze and was now panting. "If I switch my brain off… then I can't attack him…"

"DON'T STOP NOW!" Nami yelled at him.

"I've gotta get my hands on him somehow," Luffy thought out loud. "Come on! Think! There's gotta be a way!"

**BING! **Luffy suddenly got another idea. He opened his mouth, stretched his lungs and took a huge breath. **FFIISSSSHHH! **Luffy's head swelled up like a balloon from all the air he took in. "Gum… Gum… Octopus…" Luffy mumbled around the air in his mouth.

"AAAARRGGHHH! ENOUGH WITH THE STUPID IDEAS!" Nami berated him.

**PPPHHHHEEEWWW… **Luffy's giant head deflated as the air rushed out of his body. But too much air went out of him as his arms and legs all went limp and Luffy slumped to the ground.

"It take it that you're not fan of My Mantra," Eneru remarked. "Are you? That's to be expected, since it's the basis of My Power."

Luffy looked backwards and saw the wall behind Eneru's throne. "That should work." **SKISH! **Luffy launched his body across the deck and he landed limply behind Eneru's throne.

"It doesn't matter what you try!" Eneru called out as he charged after Luffy. "Except for your immunity to lightning, you're nothing but an annoying powerless mortal!"

"GUUUMMM… GUUUUMMM… OCTOPUS FIREWORKS!" **WHISH! WHISH! WHISH! WHISH! **Luffy whipped his limp limbs back behind him and started to pound them into the wall of the ark. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! ** Luffy's limp arms and legs struck the wall then bounced off and whipped all the way back behind him before they shot back at the wall again. **WHISH! WHISH! WHISH! WHISH! **It was an endless chain as Luffy's limp limbs whipped all over the deck of the Maxim.

"WHAT? WHY ATTACK THE ARK?" Nami shouted at him. "Ricky! Stop him!" Nami turned in time to see Ricky launch himself off of the railing and smash feet first into one of the big gold gears that were embedded in the deck. **THWHAM! **"THEY'VE BOTH GONE NUTS!"

"You're ignoring Me and attacking the ship instead?" Eneru questioned as he ran towards Luffy through the flurry of his flailing limbs. "ITS NO USE! YOU'RE EVEN MORE FOOLISH THAN YOU APPEAR!"

"RAAAAAAHHHHH!" Luffy roared as his continued the chain. His limp limbs bounced off of the wall, whipped backwards, came back and then bounced off of the wall again. **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! WHISH! WHISH! WHISH! WHISH!**

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed. **FWISH! **He immediately stopped laughing as one of Luffy's flailing fists skimmed the side of his face with enough power to make a small gash.

Eneru had run right into Luffy's trap.

That's right, _Eneru _ran into _Luffy's _trap.

Since Luffy was just attacking a wall, Eneru couldn't use his Mantra to predict Luffy's attacks. When he was far away, Luffy's flailing limbs had been spread wide enough for him to dodge in between them. But now that Eneru was so close to the origin point of Luffy's rapidly flailing limbs, the attacks were all much closer together. He couldn't dodge them.

**POW! POW! POW! POW! **Luffy's fists and feet rattled Eneru's body over and over again. **POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! **

**KA-POW! **Once last powerful punch connected with Eneru's cheek and sent him flying backwards. **THUD! **Eneru landed in a heap and skidded across the deck.

"Of course!" Nami realized. "The punches are ricocheting! He's not consciously controlling them so Eneru couldn't predict them!" Nami looked over at Ricky who was still kicking the now crooked gear. "That at least explains one act of stupidity."

"RAAHH!" Luffy yelled as he ran passed Eneru's throne and stretched his arms out behind him. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY AGAIN!" Luffy ran right up to Eneru just as he had started to get back up. "GUUMM… GUUMM… BAAAZOOOKAAAA!" **WHAAAAAM! **Luffy's fist slammed into Eneru's stomach and smashed him backwards.

"UUGGGHHH!" Eneru groaned and coughed up blood as he doubled over then crashed to the ground again. **THUD! **He'd somehow ended up in front of his throne again.

Eneru weakly pushed himself up looked to the side to see Luffy running at him again. _"No… he's charging… I… I have to escape…"_ For what was probably the first time since he got his Devil Fruit Powers, Eneru was actually being hurt and was actually in peril. Eneru, for all his incredible power, actually seemed to be afraid.

"GUUUUMMMM… GUUUUMMMM…"

Eneru's eyes widened in horror as he saw Luffy stretch his arms backwards again. _"HE CAN'T!" _**SHU-WHIP-WHIP-WHIP! **Luffy's arms twisted together behind his back. _"I'M A GOD!"_

"RIIIIFLEEEEE!" Luffy screamed as he shot his arm forward and drove his fist into Eneru. **WHAAAAAM!**

**-x-**

**Luffy Falls:**

**-x-**

**WHAAAAAM! **Luffy's twisted arms slammed into Eneru's chest and sent him spinning through the air until he crashed into the gold wall beside his throne. **KRASH! **

Nami looked on in shock while Luffy stood over Eneru's prone form and took labored breaths.

But while the battle against Eneru was now firmly going in Luffy's favor, down below things had gotten a lot worse.

**KROOOM! **The propellers on the sides of the Maxim had finally scraped through the opening of the cave and the massive ship and finally made it all the way out. The Ark Maxim was now freely flying over the Upper Yard as the black thunder clouds continued to billow out from the spout on the top of the ship.

"Oh no!" Aisa cried out as she followed the Maxim out of the hole on Pierre. "The ship's leaving the Vearth!"

"PIIIIIEEE!" Pierre brayed in alarm as Eneru's massive vessel of destruction started to fly off.

"WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO?" Aisa wailed. "IT'S GONNA FLY AWAY!"

Back on the ship, Nami finally tore her eyes away from the fallen God and smiled at Luffy.

"It worked!" Nami exclaimed. "You did it! Eneru's down!"

"Careful, I don't think he's done just yet," Luffy admitted.

Nami looked across the deck and watched as Ricky dragged the giant gold gear that was over ten times his size out of the hole it had been in. Nami shook her head and stomped over to him.

"Okay… what the heck are you doing?" Nami demanded. "Are you crazy?"

"Crazy?" Ricky repeated as he lifted the gear up on its side and slowly started to roll it across the deck. "We came here to find treasure and the City of Gold, right?"

"Right," Nami answered.

"And we learned that Eneru spent the last six years mining all the gold and using it to make this ship," Ricky recounted, "Right?"

"Right," Nami said again.

"So by that logic," Ricky stated, "If we still want the gold, we have to get it from Eneru. And the best way to do that is when he's distracted while losing a fight to Luffy."

Nami blinked. "Let me get this straight," she prompted. "We're trapped on a flying ship with a maniac that's trying to use it to destroy entire villages and islands… we could all very well _DIE_ and you're focused on stealing his gold?"

Ricky propped the gear against the railing and turned to look at her. "Um… yes?"

**WHUMP!** Ricky was on his back with Nami on top of him. "OH MY GOD, I _LOVE_ YOU!"

Ricky's eye widened, "What?"

Nami's eyes widened as she realized what she'd just said.

"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed at them.

**Whap! **Eneru ruined the moment when he slapped the floor and pushed himself back up.

"You fools… is that the best you can do?" Eneru growled. **KOFF! **Eneru stopped to cough up blood then glared at Luffy. "Make no mistake, boy, when you're gone the world will be Mine!" Eneru turned and glared at the two members of his not-so-loyal crew and gold gear they were lying on the ground next to. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"We're just… uh… getting started on repopulating!" Nami quickly lied then she turned to Ricky. "If we have a girl, I think we should humor Zoro and name her 'Kit' so we don't have to fight over it. It could be short for 'Kitsune'."

"My mother's name was Mitsune…" Ricky remarked.

"See, that's why it works," Nami pointed out. "And I could call her 'Kitten'."

"You do realize that we haven't had our first date yet," Ricky reminded her. "And you're already picking out names for our kids…"

"Well, whose fault is that?" Nami countered.

Ricky distinctly remembered Nami saying that they needed to slow things down. But he had a feeling that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "Mine?" he suggested.

"And do you know what you should do to fix that?" Nami persisted. "Once we get out of here, the next time we're in a village _take me shopping_."

"Alright then… it's a date," Ricky decided. Nami's face lit up with a wide smile.

"ARE YOU IGNORING ME?" Eneru roared.

"You mean you're still here?" Ricky questioned.

"HE WON'T BE FOR LONG!" Luffy shouted.

"You fool, I am all-powerful!" Eneru boasted. "In this world, filth like you must learn the only truth! By My Hand, NOTHING IS EVER IMPOSSIBLE! FOR I AM THE ALMIGHTY GOD!"

**-x-**

The Skypieans screamed as they ran through the streets towards the harbor in an attempt to escape Eneru's Judgment.

"Hey look, up in the sky!" a man stopped and pointed out.

"It's… a ship!" a second man realized.

"A flying ship, impossible!" the first man insisted. "I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Is that what made the sky turn dark?" the second man wondered.

A third man stopped running long enough to shout, "GOD IS ON THE SHIP!"

**WHUMP! **A terrified boy tripped and fell in front of the two men. They rushed to help him up. "Hey, you've gotta get outta here," the second man instructed the boy.

At the harbor, the Skypieans had started to board the gondolas. Some of them had even set off for Cloud End.

"BOARD THE SHIPS!" someone shouted.

**-x-**

Across the White White Sea, the Shandians watched the commotion from above their village.

"Vessels are leaving Angel Island by the hundreds," a female Shandian reported as she looked on through a set of binoculars.

"What evil is this?" a male Shandian wondered. "Those dark clouds are an ominous sign."

"Look, someone is coming this way," a short-haired Shandian man pointed out.

"**SHANDIANS!" **a blond Skypiean called out from the approaching vessel. "TAKE HEED! Board your ships and evacuate! The Sky Islands are doomed!"

"They're WHAT?" one of the Shandians repeated in alarm.

"YOU HAVE TO ESCAPE TO THE SEA!" the Skypiean advised.

"Not… the Blue Sea…" the short haired Shandian gasped.

The Shandian Chief frowned as he looked towards Upper Yard at the flying ship and the massive black clouds that had come out of it.

**-x-**

Robin set Chopper down next to Zoro and had just finished carrying her two unconscious Nakama up the beanstalk to the Island Clouds above Shandora.

Robin looked up as the flying ark passed overhead, "A ship," Robin observed, "It's him. Eneru."

**-x-**

"Look hard, rubber boy," Eneru taunted Luffy. "On a falling island's despair. Skypiea will be destroyed. The angels'lives extinguished. No one can stop Me. Not even you."

**Bzzzt! **Eneru's hand sparked with lightning as he grinned smugly at Luffy.

"WANNA BET?" Luffy yelled as he charged at Eneru.

"GLOAM…" Eneru intoned as he touched the gold wall behind him with his lightning-covered hand. His hand heated the metal and sank right into it.

"The melting the wall!" Nami exclaimed.

"LUFFY! LOOK OUT!" Ricky shouted.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Luffy snapped as he reached Eneru and drew back his fist.

"PADDLING!" Eneru pulled the melted gold forward and swirled it around in front of him to made a huge golden ball,

**SHOOP! **Luffy's fist shot straight through the liquid gold ball. "YEEOOWW!" Luffy yelped. "HOT-HOT-HOT!"

"He melted it like butter!" Nami gasped.

"YYEEOUUUCH!" Luffy hollered as the molted hot gold turned solid around his arm. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS! IT BUUURRRNNNS!" The hot gold seared his skin as Luffy was suddenly trapped with his arm stuck through a golden ball that was easily four times his size. "AAAAAUUUGGHHH! AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"LUFFY!" Nami cried out in panic.

"Yahahahaha!" Eneru laughed. "What's the matter rubber man? Don't you like the way I've evened the odds? I've simply taken the fight out of you."

"GRRRR!" Luffy growled as he pulled on his own arm with all his strength in a hopeless attempt at freeing his limb. "GET THIS OFFA ME!"

"You see, I'm honestly not sure I could take another hit from you," Eneru admitted as he walked towards the trapped pirate. "Therefore, I think it best if we sever ties. But in honor of the spirited effort that you've put forth, take this gold bauble as a parting gift!" **THWAK! **Eneru kicked the gold ball and it rolled across the deck and dragged Luffy along with it.

"LOOK OUT!" Ricky called out as he grabbed Nami and rolled out of the way of Luffy as he and the ball crashed into the golden gear. **KLANG! **The gear was knocked over the side of the ship and Luffy's ball rolled after it.

"YAAAAAAHHH!" Aisa shrieked. "LOOK OUT HORSY-BIRD!"

"PIIIEEEE!" Pierre cried as he weaved to the side to avoid the falling gear.

**WHAM! **Luffy was pulled into the wall by the ball as it dropped overboard and took his arm with it. "UUUGGHHH!" Luffy groaned as he clutched at the railing and struggled not to fall off the ship after his rapidly growing arm. Luffy's arm was already stretched down to the bottom of the massive Maxim. It was only his grip on the railing that kept him from following it overboard.

"LUFFY!" Nami screamed.

**TMP! **Ricky landed beside Luffy and grabbed onto his arm that had been stretched overboard. "Luffy, you've gotta snap your arm back up!" Ricky instructed as he started to pull up on Luffy's arm.

"I can't! It's too heavy!" Luffy complained.

"TOO HEAVY?" Ricky snapped, "Since when is anything _ever _too heavy for you? Come on! You've gotta beat this guy or everyone on the Sky Island is gonna die! Including us!" Ricky jumped up and stood sideways on the railing for extra leverage he continued to yank and tug upward on Luffy's arm.

"RAAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy yelled. "I WON'T LET HIM WIN!" Luffy turned his head to the side and bit down on his shoulder then pulled up on his falling arm with his teeth while he continued to use his other arm to keep himself from falling overboard.

Down below the ship, Luffy's trapped hand clenched into a fist as it stuck out from the gold ball.

"So his decision is made," Eneru resolved. "He's chosen to die with the rubber buffoon rather than ascend to the Endless Vearth with the Almighty God. Fine. Once I'm rid of those two, this world will be mine, just as it was before. And not a soul in the world can defeat Me!"

"UUGGHH!" Luffy and Ricky groaned as they pulled up on Luffy's arm with all their strength. **SHOOOOOM! **Their efforts finally bore fruit and Luffy's arm started to shoot back upward.

"MMHHH MM MUUHHMM!" Luffy mumbled around his shoulder as his arm started to shoot up the side of the Maxim. (Translation: "HERE IT COMES!")

"ENOUGH!" Eneru roared. **BZZZT! **He disappeared then reappeared right in front of them. **WHAM! **Eneru swung his trident and knocked it up into Ricky. The one-eyed pirate was knocked into his brother and the two careened overboard.

"NOOOO!" Nami screamed and clutched Luffy's hat to her chest. "RICKY! LUFFY!"

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy hollered as they fell down the ship. **BOING! **Luffy hit the gold ball and bounced off it while Ricky landed on it and jumped off. **SKISH! **They flew through the air and grabbed onto the side of the Maxim but their jump caused the gold ball to change direction and start to fall downward again.

"Damn coward…" Ricky growled as he held onto the side of the Maxim.

"YAAAAHH!" Luffy yelped as he was suddenly yanked off the Maxim by his falling arm.

**WHAP! **Ricky shot his arm down and caught Luffy's free one. "LUFFY, HOLD ON!"

Luffy's other arm started to stretch as his body was pulled down by the gold ball. Ricky was dragged down the side of the ship along with him. **WHAP! **They finally stopped when Ricky grabbed onto a ridge near the very bottom of the Maxim.

**Krek! **Ricky's arm was pulled out of its socket as he tried to pull up Luffy and hang on. "AAH!"

"Ricky! Let go!" Luffy instructed.

"What? I can't do that!" Ricky exclaimed. "You've gotta beat Eneru!" The ridge started to crack under Ricky's other hand.

"HORSY-BIRD! THAT'S LUFFY!" Aisa exclaimed as he spotted the falling pirate and the gold ball that he was stuck in. "HE FELL OFF! WE'VE GOTTA HELP 'EM!"

Nami ran to the railing and looked over to see Pierre fly towards Luffy and Ricky "Aisa! Pierre!"

**TMP! **Eneru jumped up onto the railing beside Nami. "Aisa… so that sly little voice I've been hearing has a name…"

"GAAAHHH!" Ricky groaned as his strength finally gave out and they fell off the Maxim.

"WE'RE COMING TO SAVE YOU!" Aisa shouted as Pierre flew to the two falling pirates.

"I tire of this," Eneru announced. "Time to die." **BZZZT! **Eneru's trident sparked with lightning.

"AISA! PIERRE!" Nami hollered off the side of the ship. "HE'S GONNA SHOOT YOU!"

"EEENEEERUUUUU!" Luffy bellowed. He looked up at Eneru then down at Aisa and Pierre who were right below him. **WHAP! **He twisted his free arm and grabbed onto Ricky's wrist.

"Luffy… what…" Ricky sputtered.

"SAVE NAMI!" Luffy ordered as he threw Ricky up over him. **WHAP! **He managed to grab onto the end of one of the oars at the bottom of the Maxim. "I'M GOING DOWN! KEEP ENERU BUSY UNTIL I FIND A WAY BACK UP THERE!"

"GOD'S JUDGMENT! EL THOR!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOM! **Thunder cracked as Eneru jumped backwards and shot a column of white lightning down the side of the ship.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Aisa screamed as the Eneru's lightning shot passed Ricky and down at them.

"GUUMM… GUUUMMMM… BAAALLOOOON!" **FWOOOM! **Luffy inflated himself into a large balloon so he covered Aisa and Pierre.

**BZZZOOOOOM! **The lightning struck Luffy who's big rubber body shielded Aisa and Pierre. But the force of the attack knocked Luffy onto Pierre and the golden ball yanked all three of them down towards the ground. The fell down through the hole in the ground and into the dark, empty cave where they'd started.

Nami stared off the side of the ship and screamed. "LUUFFYYYYY! AAIIIISAAAA! PIEEEEREEE! RIIIICKYYYYYY!"

**SKISH! **Nami smiled as Ricky landed on the railing in front of her. "Present."

"Not for long," Eneru told him. "I'm afraid you've overstayed your welcome."

**-x-**

**Last Stand:**

**-x-**

"Yahahaha!" Eneru laughed as he stared at Ricky. "For all My Strength, he hurt Me. The rubber runt of yours was quite a challenge. Yet… here I stand the victor."

"You didn't win," Ricky insisted. "You were nowhere even close to beating Luffy. The truth is, you got scared because you were about to lose so you threw him overboard to avoid the fight."

"THEN YOU CAN JOIN HIM!" Eneru shouted as he charged at Ricky swung his trident.

**SWISH! **Ricky weaved to the side and avoided the points of Eneru's trident then grabbed the shaft. **WHAP! **Ricky spun and threw the trident passed him with Eneru attached to it. **WHING!**

"YAAAAHHH!" Eneru yelled as he was thrown off his own ship. **BZZZT! **He disappeared in midair then reappeared above Ricky. **BZZZT! **"DIIIEEE!"

**SKISH! **Ricky jumped up off the railing and swung his sword. "Red Blade… VOLCANO!" **KLANG! **Ricky's red blade collided with Eneru's trident and knocked it aside then he kept spinning and slashed his sword through Eneru.

**BZZZZTZZZZTT! **Eneru had been cut into two. But the two pieces turned white and sparked in midair. **BZZZT! **The pieces disappeared then reappeared in the middle of the deck. **BZZZT!**

"Impudent whelp!" Eneru snapped at Ricky. "You never intended to join Me!"

**TMP! **"Obviously!" Ricky retorted as he landed on the railing, "You're freakin' crazy!"

"Ricky…" Nami hissed at him. "What are you doing?"

"My usual," Ricky replied, "stalling for time and pissing off an enemy."

**-x-**

"It's enormous!" Conis observed as she stared up at the Maxim while she sped towards the Going Merry. "So this is the Ark the Divine Squad was forced to build." She stared ahead of her and remembered what Nami had told her when she and her… father… met her on the Merry before she dove off after Aisa.

"_Right here," Nami pointed to a spot on her map of Upper Yard, "On the north-eastern edge of the island. After Ricky and the others get the gold, this is where we're all supposed to meet up. "_

"_And once all of you are together again, you're planning to escape, right?" Conis asked._

"_As long as we have the treasure," Nami replied. "I'm not going anywhere without it!" __**Ka-Ching! **__Nami's eyes became berri signs as she thought of the gold._

"_Nami…" Conis sighed while her father sweat-dropped._

"They're heading north east towards the sea shore," Conis recounted to herself, "No doubt returning to their ship. The smartest thing to do right now is to go on ahead and wait for them to show up. After all, they'll need me to guide them back to the Blue Sea. I'm their best chance to escape the island! But I have to get to the Going Merry! And fast!"

**-x-**

On the Going Merry, hours and many chapters after being struck down by Eneru, Sanji had finally awoken.

"I just had the most amazing dream," Sanji mused to himself as he laid, covered in bandages on his makeshift bed with his eyes closed and smoked a cigarette. "It was all about you. Nami my sweetness, you and I wandered paradise together, tasting forbidden fruit. Don't wake me. Let us stay trapped in this passionate utopia for all eternity…" Sanji rolled over on side and sighed as he grabbed the hand next to his.

"You smell nice…" Usopp mumbled next to him.

Sanji's eyes shot opened and he suddenly found himself in bed holding another guy's hand.

"WAAAAHHH!" Sanji gaped in shock and launched himself away from the sleeping sniper. Sanji clutched his blanket around him. "NO! ITS NOT FAIR! One minute I'm dreaming, the next I'm in a nightmare!" Sanji blinked. "Wait… hold on… speaking of, where is she?"

Sanji rushed out of the galley and scanned the deck of the ship. "NAMI?" he called out.

But then a shadow fell overhead. Sanji looked up to see the Maxim. "What… what is that?"

Sanji's eye widened in horror as it zoomed in on the ship. Sanji's Love Cook Targeting System scanned the huge ship with a familiar beeping tone. **Mellorine… Mellorine… Mellorine… MELLORINE! **The target locked on a worried Nami as she stood by the railing but completely ignored the red haired pirate that was standing on the railing next to her.

"Na-Nami!" Sanji stammered. "She's in trouble!"

A minute later, Suu the Cloud Fox watched as Sanji attempted to wake up Usopp.

"HEY, USOPP!" Sanji shouted as he stomped on the injured sniper's face. "WAKE UP! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE IN BED YOU IDIOT!"

"Uuugghh.." Usopp groaned as he eventually sat up. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Never mind that, let's go," Sanji prompted as he slipped a blue shirt on over his bandages.

"Where?" Usopp asked.

"Where do you think?" Sanji retorted, "To rescue Nami."

"Rescue, huh?" Usopp questioned. "Umm…" Usopp eyes shot opened in alarm. "OH YEAH! IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME! I… I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!" He remembered Sanji being struck down by Eneru. He'd screamed and made a fuss and had gotten zapped by God as well. "Noooo… God came!" Usopp whimpered and crawled around the galley in search of a hiding spot.

"Would you relax?" Sanji scolded him. "He's long gone by now. Its Nami whose in trouble. She's the one who got kidnapped."

"Nami?" Usopp repeated as he popped out of a barrel.

"Uggh!" Sanji grunted. "How could we have been so stupid! This is all our fault! She's too cute for this!"

"Okay… so he took her…" Usopp dead-panned, "But where to?"

Sanji dragged Usopp out of the galley and pointed up at the flying ship. "There!"

"GAAAHHHH!" Usopp whimpered as he stared up at the massive flying ark. "It's… big… big ship… flying…"

"I only saw her for a second," Sanji admitted, "But I'm sure it was Nami on that ship. And while I may not know what dangers lie ahead…" Sanji smirked and gave a thumbs up. "At least she's not wearing that t-shirt anymore!"

"Again with the t-shirt?" Usopp growled at him. "FOCUS!" Usopp squinted up at the ship and his sharp eyes spotted the red-haired pirate that Sanji had missed, "RICKY'S UP THERE TOO!"

"YAAAH! IT'S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT!" Sanji shouted. "WE'VE GOT TO GO _NOW _USOPP! I CAN'T LET RICKY SAVE NAMI BEFORE ME!"

A moment later, Suu was left alone on the Going Merry as Sanji and Usopp raced through the forest of Upper Yard after the flying ship.

"HEY SANJI!" Usopp called after the cook. He'd put a green t-shirt on over his bandages and overalls. And Sanji had given him enough time to put on his goggles, arm bands and bandana as well as grab his arsenal bag. "WHERE'RE YOU GOING?"

"TO THAT SHIP! WHERE ELSE?" Sanji snapped back at him.

"SAY WHAT?" Usopp shrieked.

"Run faster or we'll lose 'em!" Sanji ordered. "My love needs us!"

"Yeah… so… um… if I'm following you does that mean I'm going too?" Usopp whimpered.

"OF COURSE!" Sanji exclaimed. "I need you to get on board! You still have that rope you shoot out of your belly?"

"My Usopp Aaaah-Aaaah-Aaaaaah?" Usopp questioned as he gripped the grappling hook belt that he had on underneath his t-shirt. "Oh sure, I'll let you use it while I wait down here!"

**Whap! **Sanji grabbed Usopp's wrist and yanked him after him. "HURRY UP, YA COWARD!"

"NOOOO!" Usopp screamed as Sanji dragged him along behind him. "I DON'T WANNA GO! RICKY'S ALREADY THERE! YOU WON'T EVEN NEED ME! PLEASE, LEMME GO!"

"Can it moron, we don't have anymore time to waste!" Sanji berated him. "I'M COMING FOR YOU NAMI, MY BEAUTIFUL SWAN! MY NAMI-SWAN!"

**-x-**

**BA-ZOOOOOOM! **Ricky dove out of the way and avoided a blast of lightning. The blast kept going and plowed through the railing of the ship. **KROOM!**

Ricky looked back at the large hole Eneru had made in his ship, _"Can't afford to get hit. I need to use my Mantra to read his attacks and stay ahead of them. He can still read my attacks but I'm starting to read his as well. If I can avoid all his attacks, then he can't hit me and if he can't hit me then I can't lose."_

"Speed Step!" Ricky raced towards Eneru as a blur and slashed his red sword. "Red Storm… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" Ricky sent the red-tinted air blade flying towards Eneru. **SWISH! **The red blade passed harmlessly through the Logia's body.

**BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared then reappeared behind Ricky. **BZZZT! **"THIRTY MILLION VOLT… VARI!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **Eneru sent another blast of lightning after Ricky.

**SKISH! **Ricky launched himself up into the air and the lightning flew under him. **Tmp! **Ricky touched down safely and watched as the lightning kept going and plowed through the far railing. **KROOOM!**

"HOLD STILL, YOU LITTLE WHELP!" Eneru yelled.

"_He's doing more damage to the ship then I am," _Ricky noted as he glanced at the two holes Eneru had just made in both railings. _"Maybe I can get him to smash something important…"_

"I'm not gonna stay still!" Ricky exclaimed as he ran for the front of the ship. "That's just asking you to kill me!"

"SIXTY MILLION VOLTS… VARI!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **Eneru sent a doubly powerful blast of lightning after Ricky. **SKISH!** Ricky dove to the side and then dropped into a roll to avoid the attack then sprang back up to his feet. **FWIP!**

"I hope you didn't like those glass bubbles," Ricky taunted Eneru.

"NOOOOO!" Eneru yelled as he saw his attack streak towards the lightning fill glass bubbles at the front of the ship. **BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared. **BZZZT! **Then he reappeared in front of the bubbles and in the path of his own powerful lightning attack. **BZZZZOOOOOOOM! **The lightning struck Eneru but because he was made of lightning, it didn't hurt him and was instead absorbed into into him. **SHOOOM! **The lightning faded and Eneru stood there unharmed.

"DODGE THIS!" Ricky called out as he ran towards Eneru and slashed his sword in a spiral. "Red Storm… HURRICANE!" Ricky sent a red-tinted spiral flying at Eneru.

"_I can't dodge that, it'll smash the glass!" _Eneru realized. **Bzzzzzztt! **Eneru's body took on a bright white glow as he jumped forward to meet Ricky's air blade attack. "KARI!" **KA-THOOOOOM! **Thunder clapped as lightning exploded off of Eneru and met Ricky's attack in midair. **WOOOOSHH! **The air blade was vaporized by the lightning and disappeared.

**SKISH! **Ricky sped passed Eneru and jumped up into the air over the glass bubbles then raised his sword up over his head. "Red Storm…"

**BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared. **BZZZT! **He reappeared in midair below Ricky and above the glass. **KRACK! **Eneru swung his trident upward and knocked Ricky's sword aside.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" Eneru shouted. He pulled back his free hand and it took on a bright white glow. "ONE HUNDRED MILLION VOLT…"

Before Eneru could finish his attack, Ricky threw a red pellet at him. **TINK! **It hit Eneru's staff and exploded in a bright flash and then a dark cloud of smoke. **KA-BOOOOOOM! **Ricky and Eneru were both blown backwards and landed on the ground.

"YOU ARROGANT, BLASPHEMOUS LITTLE PEST!" Eneru yelled.

"You're calling _me _arrogant?" Ricky questioned. "Who's the one here that calls himself 'God'?"

Eneru gritted his teeth. "You may have been able to avoid my attacks so far…" Eneru growled, "BUT I DOUBT YOUR LITTLE GIRLFRIEND WILL BE SO LUCKY!"

"Speed Step!" **ZZZZZOOOOOM! **Ricky knew what Eneru was planning to do and raced towards Nami before he could even start his attack.

"MAX TWO HUNDRED MILLION VOLTS… VAAARIIII!" **BAA-ZOOOOOOOOMM! **

"AAAAAHHH!" Nami screamed in alarm as Eneru's maximum powered attack flew at her. **SWISH! **Ricky grabbed her and lifted her off the deck then jumped and planted his feet on the wood railing beside the hole Eneru had made and launched them off of it. **SKISH!**

**BBZZZZOOOOOOOOOOM! **Ricky flew out of the way with Nami just as Eneru's powerful attack flew in and vaporized another big chunk of the Maxim's railing.

**TMP!** Ricky landed in the middle of the deck. Nami was clinging to his side and had her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. She'd at some point attached the string on Luffy's straw hat to her belt.

"Great Ricky!" Nami snapped. "You just had to provoke him! Now you've dragged me into this!"

"Not my fault he can't hit a moving target," Ricky replied.

"CAN'T HIT A MOVING TARGET?" Eneru roared. "LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN DODGE A MOVING ATTACK!" **Tnk! **Eneru tapped the top right drum on his back with the tip of his trident. Lightning started to form above his head. "THIRTY MILLION VOLT… KITEN!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **A giant tiger made of lightning flew through the air at Ricky.

**SKISH! **Ricky jumped to the side to avoid the tiger's lunge. "Bad kitty!" **Tmp!**

Nami turned her head and her eyes widened in alarm. "RICKY! IT'S COMING BACK!"

"DAMN IT!" Ricky cursed as the tiger turned around and raced after him. Ricky ran across the deck with Nami as the tiger started to gain on him. He reached the giant gear that was opposite the one had he'd removed and had thrown overboard and ran right up it. **SKISH! **Ricky launched himself up into the air and flew up overhead as the tiger flew under him.

"YAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "NOWHERE TO RUN NOW!" **Tnk! **Eneru tapped the top left drum on his back. "THIRTY MILLION VOLTS… HINO!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **The giant bird made of thunder flew through the air at Ricky.

Ricky was caught at the peak of his jump and had nowhere to dodge. **SHOOOM! **The tiger jumped up off of the gear towards him while the bird flew straight at him.

"RICKY! YOU CAN'T DODGE THEM BOTH!" Nami yelled.

"I know," Ricky realized. **SWISH! **Ricky spun in midair and threw Nami away from him. He raised his sword and swung it around him as he spun. "Red Storm… TORNADO!" **SWISH! **The red-blade flew out from him in a wide circle and cut through the lightning bird. But it had no effect and the two halves of the lightning bird continued to fly at him. "DAMN IT I HATE BIRDS!"

"NOOOOOO! RIIIICKYYYY!" Nami screamed from the ground as the lightning bird struck Ricky, went through him and flew out his back. **BZZZZOOOOOOM! **Ricky dropped limply from the air but then the lightning tiger flew up and hit him again. **BZZZOOOOOOOOMM! **The tiger flew up through Ricky and out his back for another powerful attack. Ricky's charred and smoking body dropped and hit the gold gear. **THUNK! **Ricky bounced limply off the gear then hit the deck then rolled across it until he came to a stop at Nami's feet. "Ricky…"

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed. "NO MORTAL IS A MATCH FOR GOD!"

"Ricky, noooo! Noooo! NOOOOO!" Nami cried as she pressed her ear to his chest. She couldn't hear a heartbeat. "RIIIICKYYYYYY!"

**-x-**

"Calm down Suu," Conis instructed the Cloud Fox when she arrived back at the Going Merry. "Tell me what happened."

"Suuu… susu!" the fox cooed

"But wait… neither Sanji or Usopp are in any shape to be moving around," Conis pointed out. "Why aren't they here? What did they go? Come on… tell me!"

Suu decided that there was only one way to properly communicate what had happened. INTERPRETIVE DANCE!

Suu jumped up and curled her eyebrows. **The guy with the cool eyebrows woke up first…**

"Sanji woke up…" Conis translated.

Suu laid down and stretched her snout then sat back up. **He woke the guy with the long nose…**

"And woke up Usopp…"

Suu jumped up on her hind legs and ran in place. **They ran very hard…**

"And they both ran…"

Suu jumped up and down and flapped her front paws. **After the flying ship…**

"To the… to the flying ship?" Conis questioned. "You're sure?"

"Su suu!" Suu chirped and nodded. She had been very clear in her dance, thank-you-very-much.

"But they're not fully healed!" Conis exclaimed. She looked around the galley and noted all the medical supplies that she and Nami had been using to treat Usopp and Sanji's injuries. "Oh, and look at this place. It's a mess!"

"Suu-suuu!" Suu agreed.

**-x-**

In the middle of the Upper Yard forest, Usopp stood at the base of a cliff with his grappling belt at the ready while Sanji stood at the top of the cliff and waited for the Maxim to get in range.

"ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS?" Usopp called up to Sanji. "THE WIND'S REALLY STRONG! Maybe we should wait… Seriously! I have a severe case of 'I'm-Afraid-of-Heights-eosis'! It's incurable! Take the rope Sanji! You don't need me!"

"STOP RAMBLING AND FOCUS!" Sanji snapped at him. He looked back up at the ship as it flew closer then gave the order. "GO, NOW! LAUNCH IT!"

"THIS IS ON YOUR HEAD!" Usopp yelled at him. "Usopp AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAAH!" **BANG! **The grappling hook shot out of Usopp's belt and flew up the cliff towards Sanji.

"Here goes… NOTHING!" Sanji shouted as he swung his leg and kicked the hook. **THWAK! **The grappling hook flew up into the air overhead. **KLAK! **AND HOOKED ONTO THE BOTTOM OF THE MAXIM!

Sanji grabbed onto the rope and he and Usopp were pulled off after the flying ship. **WHING!**

**-x-**

"Ricky…" Nami hissed as she frantically pumped her hands on his chest. "Don't leave me alone with this maniac!" She switched over and latched her mouth onto his then breathed into it. "Damn it… I finally told you how I felt…" Nami went back to frantically pumping his chest. "You said you'd take me shopping…" Nami latched her mouth onto his and breathed into it again. "Come on! We actually agreed on a name for our first kid!" Nami pumped his chest even harder. "DAMN IT! DON'T LEAVE ME!" **WHAK! **Nami slammed her fists down on Ricky's chest then dropped down and rested her head on his chest as she started sobbing.

Eneru sat in his throne and grinned to himself. "Now that the Ark Maxim is activated, nothing can save this nation from its inevitable destruction!" he announced. "The Sky Island is destined to fall! While My Destiny as the Almighty God, shall be to ascend to the land without end, My rightful utopia, the Endless Vearth! All is as it was meant to be!"

Eneru was caught up in his monologue so never noticed Nami's desperate sigh of relief.

"That's right," Eneru mused, "I mustn't forget… there is a certain treasure I need to claim along the way." Eneru cupped his chin as he thought back to his conversation with Robin.

"_I guess the huge golden bell and belfry that were the pride of Shandora must have only been another legend," Robin had said. "It's a shame that I'll never be able to lay my eyes on them."_

"A golden bell…" Eneru remarked. "None are more deserving of such a prize than I, the man who rules the very heavens!" Eneru watched as the heartbroken human finally gave up her futile efforts of reviving her mortal boyfriend then stood up and glared at him. "What's wrong? You're lucky to have made it this far. Abandon on thoughts of him and your other incompetent playmates and embrace the glorious future I've given you."

"Yeah, thanks, you're a swell guy," Nami retorted. "But one thing's more precious to me than gold. It's a treasure known as Nakama." Her mind flashed back to the party they'd had the night before with the Cloud Wolves. Usopp beat a drum as he danced along with the Cloud Wolves. Luffy howled like a wolf while Chopper and Sanji cheered. Zoro sat to the side and drank while Robin laughed at their antics. Ricky held her in his arms as they danced around the fire together.

"What good is owning all the world's wealth… without my Nakama to share it with?" Nami questioned. "This island is filled with riches I'd love to get my hands on. But sacrificing my Nakama and enduring your ego is too steep a price to pay! So your treasure, its yours! I don't want it! I don't want anything from you!"

"Really?" Eneru asked. "You don't want anything?" **Bzzzt!** "Not even… your life?"

**-x-**

"Aaaauugghhhh…" Usopp cried as he dangled from the bottom of his rope while Sanji tried to climb up it. "I CAN'T DO THIS!"

"SHUT UP!" Sanji shouted at him.

"Yes sir!" Usopp whimpered and gave a midair salute.

"USOPP!" Sanji yelled. "STOP SWINGING!"

"GAAAH!""OOOH!""WAAHAAHAAHAA!" Usopp let out a variety of different shrieks, shouts and whimpers as he swung back and forth from the rope as it was blown by the combination of the wind and his hopeless struggle to remove his belt. Eventually, he broke down and cheered. "WEEEEEEE!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Sanji berated the sniper who was making climbing a lot more difficult.

"Usopp Aaaah-Aaaah-Aaaaaaaahh…" Usopp wailed. "Usopp Aaaaaaah-Aaaaaaaah-Aaaaaaaah!"

Sanji glared up at the Maxim, "God of the White Sea or not, if he lays a finger on Nami, I'LL BE HIS PERSONAL BLUE SEA NIGHTMARE! I'M COMING, NAMI-SWAAAN!"

**-x-**

**Bzzzt! **Eneru's body sparked. "Really, that was not a wise thing for you to say," he remarked. "You've chosen foolish ideals over your own survival. If you do not wish to be aboard this ship, there is but one path left for you…" Eneru grinned, "…death."

"_He's toying with me but I won't give in,"_ Nami vowed to herself as she stood over Ricky. The faint sound of his quiet breathing was practically music to her ears. And she intended to keep it that way. _"Listen Ricky, even if it takes all my brains and energy… we WILL survive this! I'll get us out of here! We're gonna live to sail the seas with our Nakama!" _Luffy, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Usopp flashed through Nami's mind before she looked back down at Ricky. _"It's okay Ricky… this time I'm gonna save you!"_

**-x-**

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	30. Two Rats

**Another Nakama III**

"Well, here we are," Ricky prompted.

"You know," Nami said as she stood next to him in front of a large temple. "After spending so much time stuck inside a snake, I think I've had my fill of them…" The sight of the two large snakes that coiled together to form the entrance were rather unsettling.

"Then you might want to wait out here, Ms. Navigator," Robin warned her as she studied an inscription that had been carved into the two snakes. "This temple is dedicated to an entity known as 'QPython' but is actually a tribute to an even more powerful entity known as 'Oda'… Something tells me that with a name like 'Q-Python' we may have to deal with some snakes."

"Of course, then you'd miss seeing the gold tablet we came all this way to find," Ricky added.

"Gold? What're we waiting for?" Nami exclaimed as she dashed into the temple.

"Nami wait!" Ricky called out as he ran after her. He chased her into the temple and caught up to her as the hallway split in two. Nami made a quick decision and went right. "Nami, these temples are filled with…" **Click! SWISH! **Ricky grabbed her and yanked her backwards just in time.** THWHAM! **The ceiling of the hallway slammed down to meet the floor. "Booby-traps."

Nami paled as she watched the stone ceiling that would've reduced her into a bloody smear rise back up into its original position. "Right… let's not go that way," Nami suggested.

"I'm afraid we'll have to, Miss. Navigator," Robin informed her as she walked into the middle of the fork and read a tablet that was carved into the wall. "This temple appears to be a maze. The inscription states: 'guess right and prepare to die, guess wrong and wander for all eternity.' Neither option sounds very pleasant but I believe this means that the correct path through the maze will be marked with deadly traps. Sounds exciting."

Ricky crouched down and studied the floor of the right hallway. "Usually there's a loose tile that triggers the trap. I don't see one this time. I heard a click thought." Ricky looked over at Nami. "Did you feel your foot sink down?"

"No, I ran, there was a click and then 'WHAM'," Nami recounted.

"Hmm…" Ricky hummed to himself as he moved to the side so he was nearly against the wall the stretched his foot in and gingerly put it down on the hallway floor. **Click! THWHAM! **They watched as the twelve-foot section of the ceiling rose back up. "I guess this means that entire section of floor is pressure sensitive."

"I can't jump that far," Nami admitted, "You'll have to throw me."

Ricky picked Nami up, spun around and threw her clear across the floor. **WHOOSH! TMP! **Nami landed safely beyond the rigged floor. "All clear!" she called out.

"It's a good thing they didn't rig the floor after the first portion," Robin commented. "Then you could have thrown her to her death."

Ricky flinched. "Usually there's only been one trap at a time," Ricky recounted. "But we could always be more careful…" He took a few steps back, ran forward and jumped. **SKISH! **Ricky landed next to Nami.

"Robin…" Nami said. They quickly turned towards Robin… and found her casually walking over the rigged floor on a bridge made of two chains of arms. Robin hopped off of the last set of arms and landed on the ground then the bridge vanished.

"I do hope I'm not holding you back, Mr. One Eye," Robin remarked.

"No… of course not…" Ricky replied with a strained smile.

They continued onward and came to another fork. "Left or right…" Nami wondered.

"Hold on, I have an idea," Ricky said. He turned and went down the left hallway. Nothing happened. He kept going. Still nothing. Ricky turned around and came back. "No trap. That means both left paths are endless wandering. Maybe they were being literal when they said 'choose right'?"

They stared at the seemingly innocent right hallway. But there was something off about it.

"There's three holes in the walls," Robin observed. The wall was split on both sides in three different places. The splits were five feet in and about a foot apart.

"I bet something unpleasant comes out of them," Ricky mused. He took a step forward. **Click! SWISH! **Three large swinging blades swung down out of the splits on the left and sank into the splits on the right before the swung back the other way. **SWISH!**

"Hey, this one's not so bad," Nami noted as she approached the swinging blades. "You've just got to time it right. Just stand by the wall it comes out of and run passed when it goes into the other side." **SWISH! **The first blade swung passed her and Nami quickly jumped passed it before it came out the other side. **SWISH! **Ricky followed behind her. **SWISH! **"And, go!" **SWISH! **Nami jumped passed the second swinging blade. **SWISH! SWISH! **Ricky jumped after her. **SWISH! **Nami jumped by the final blade. **SWISH! SWISH! **Ricky followed after her.

"You okay, Robin?" Ricky called back. **SWI—WHAP! **Ricky and Nami turned to see the blades stuck in place. Arms had grown out of the ceiling and were holding the blades back as Robin casually walked passed them.

"All set?" Robin asked them.

Ricky looked over at Nami. "Its almost as if she's taking all the fun out of it." They continued onward and came to a round opened doorway. They walked through it and came to a large, opened round chamber.

"Two forks, this doesn't seem like much of a maze," Robin remarked.

"Would you have preferred to nearly get killed by more booby-traps?" Ricky questioned.

"Yes," Robin answered which caused Ricky and Nami to twitch. "This seems anticlimactic."

"Well don't hold your breath," Ricky told her. "The last two times I came to one of these temples some stone guardians attacked in the last room." Ricky looked around him. "But… I don't see any statues." Ricky stared across the round room from them then looked upward and noted a large round almost pipe-like structure coming out of the wall. The round opening to the pipe was sealed and there was a small rectangular block coming out of the bottom that pointed downward.

"Hey, there's a dial on this pedestal over here," Nami called out from the middle of the room. Ricky and Robin walked over to her and looked down at the three-foot pedestal in the middle of the room. The dial in question was a ring with a double-headed arrow going over the edge closest to them. It was pointed back at the round door they had just come through. Now that they looked back at the door, they noticed a rectangle sticking up from the top of the round door.

Ricky reached down to the dial and turned it. **Click! SHOOM! **The dial turned away from the door they'd come through and it slammed shut.

"Great, you locked us in," Nami pointed out.

"Yes, but I bet if I turn the dial towards that other opening that'll get it to open," Ricky reasoned. "I can sense treasure through that door. We need to open it to get the gold tablet."

"What're you waiting for then!" Nami exclaimed. "Turn it! Turn it!" **Click! **Ricky turned the dial again and it was now at the three o' clock position.

"Wait a minute…" Robin said as she looked back at the round doorway with the block on top of it, the ring shaped dial with the double-headed arrow, the round pipe with the rectangle hanging downward. **Click! **The dial was now at forty-five degrees from the top. "Don't you notice something odd? The door, the dial, the pipe, even this room… they're all in a specific shape. They're all 'Qs'. This temple is dedicated to an entity known as Q—"

**Click! SHOOM! HISSSSSSS!**

"PYYYTHOOOON!" Nami screamed as the massive head of a giant snake came slithering out of the 'Q' shaped opening. "CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT!"

"I can't its sinking into the floor!" Ricky told her as the pedestal disappeared and left them trapped in the round room with the hundred-foot snake that had just come out of the pipe.

"Ya know," Nami commented as she eyed the huge snake, something was missing, "I got swallowed by that huge snake on Upper Yard, this one seems kinda small in comparison."

"Does that mean you want to handle it?" Ricky inquired.

"NO!" Nami yelped as she jumped behind him. "Protect me, meat shield!"

**HIISSSSS! **The massive snake shot towards them.

Ricky looked over at Robin, "Any simple solutions for this one?" Ricky asked.

"Viente Fleur!" Robin crossed her arms and a net of arms grew out of the top and bottom of the snake's mouth and forced it closed. **HHHIIIISSSS! WHAM! **The snake drove its face into the floor and crushed Robin's twenty arms underneath it. "YAAH!" Robin yelped and clutched her real arms. "Nope, too big. This one's all yours."

Ricky raced forward to meet the snake, it lunged towards him but he dropped downward then shot his knee upward, "JAVELIN KICK!" **THWAK! **Ricky slammed his foot into the massive snake's head. The snake reared back and flailed around as Ricky took off running to the side. **HIIIIISSSSSSS! **The angry snake chased after Ricky as he ran to the wall of the round room. The snake closed in as Ricky reached the wall but at the last second he jumped up. **SKISH! **The snake kept going and slammed head first into the wall. **WHAM!**

Ricky flipped through the air and drew his sword then slashed it downward. "Red Storm… AVALANCHE!" **WOOSH! **A red air blade flew down off of Ricky sword and cleaved into the top of the snake's neck. **SLISH!** Ricky flew down after it and sliced his sword the rest of the way through the snake. Ricky sheathed his sword and turned to Nami and Robin. "Either of you ladies interested in a new pair of snake-skin boots?"

"Let's just get that tablet and get out of here!" Nami decided. They made their way over to the pipe and Robin provided a chain of arms for them all to climb up.

They followed the pipe and came to a fork but this one had a massive snake sized hole that went down and a smaller human-sized hole that went upward.

"The treasure's up there," Ricky announced. **SKISH! **Ricky jumped up and grabbed the edge of the hole then pulled himself up through it. He came out in a small chamber and spotted a gold chest on another pedestal.

Ricky whipped out his lock picks and had the chest opened before Nami and Robin finished climbing up Robin's chain of arms.

"You got it?" Robin asked.

"Yup," Ricky answered as he pulled out the shining gold table.

"Great, now how do we get outta here?" Nami questioned. "I don't wanna have to backtrack through the maze again."

"Look, there's an opening in the wall that the tablet will fit into," Robin pointed out.

Ricky walked over to the opening and put the gold tablet in it. **SHOOM! **A portion of the wall slid opened to reveal clear blue sky.

"MINE!" Nami yanked the tablet out of the wall then ran out of the temple.

"HEY! NAMI!" Ricky called after her. "WE NEED THAT TO START THE STORY!"

"LIKE HELL!" Nami shouted back. "I NEARLY DIED! I'M NOT COMING AWAY FROM THIS EMPTY HANDED!"

The thief ran off and never looked back.

Ricky looked over at Robin, "Nami just stole the disclaimer…"

"Now what do we do?" Robin wondered.

"Well, they usually say something along the lines of 'QPython doesn't own One Piece and makes no money off of this story'."

"Do you think that will work?" Robin asked.

"It has to…"

**-x-**

**30. Two Rats:**

**-x-**

"If you do not wish to be board this ship… there is but one path left for you," Eneru stated as lightning sparked through the gold-lined maxim behind him. "…death."

Nami stood over the charred body of Ricky with Luffy's straw hat tied to her belt and the three blue segments of her ClimaTact hidden behind her back.

"_There's no way I can possibly beat this guy," _Nami thought to herself, _"But I'm not gonna stay on this ship. That's for sure. I have no regrets."_

"Yes, I know what you're thinking," Eneru boasted. "And by now I'm sure you realize you won't be leaving this ark safely." Eneru grinned. "That is… unless you're pinning your hopes on those two rats who've awakened and just snuck on board… Yahahahaha!"

Nami stiffened. Someone else was on the ship?

**-x-**

"LET ME OFF THIS CRAZY THING!" Usopp yelped, "Sanji! Listen! If we go any higher we won't be able to get down! Not to mention the fact that GOD IS ON BOARD! OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"

"We're already here, stupid!" Sanji snapped at him as he finally reached the end of the rope and the bottom of the Maxim. "So just deal with it!"

"But what're we gonna do, Sanji?" Usopp questioned. "LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS THING! I've seen smaller mountains! There could be hundreds of guys on board! We can't fight them all! Besides, if God or those Priests are here… ooohh…"

"Oh just get over it already," Sanji growled. "You're the one that's always prepared for this kind of stuff. You've got all the cool equipment."

**Shunk! Shunk! **"Oh, this?" Usopp asked as he held the rope and walked up the bottom of the Maxim with a pair of small octopuses on his feet. The suction cups on the octopuses tentacles kept him stuck to the sideways wood surface. "Not what I had in mind when I made 'em!"

Sanji pulled himself up the end of the rope and stood in a simply massive doorway at the back of the ship as he waited for Usopp. "Well the bad guys have got that Mantra ability which means they can predict our moves. No point in trying to be sneaky. In fact, I'd bet my favorite carving knife they already know we're here."

"They know where here?" Usopp repeated as he held onto the floor at the end of the grappling hook behind Sanji. "So what're we supposed to do?"

"Stop freaking out for starters," Sanji suggested as he held his hand down to Usopp. Usopp took it and Sanji pulled him up onto the ship along with him. "Once we're safely inside we'll split up and head for the main deck. Nami's gotta be up there."

"Hold on!" Usopp cut in, "Did you say 'split up'? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? WHY WOULD WE DO THAT? WE HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY BAD GUYS ARE ON BOARD! JUST GETTING UP HERE WAS DANGEROUS ENOUGH!"

"You dumbass," Sanji replied, "If we don't split up we could _both _die."

**Gulp! **Usopp swallowed. "Both die? I don't suppose you'd care to elaborate? Wait a minute… you're not gonna…" Usopp started sweating. "You mean… to save Nami…"

Sanji turned and put his hands on Usopp's shoulders. "Usopp, listen to me," Sanji instructed. "If it'll save Nami, I'll gladly sacrifice your life."

"YOU JERK! WHY I OUGHTA!"

Sanji turned and shouted into the Maxim, "ALRIGHT THEN! I'M COMING MISS. NAMI!"

"I'M NOT DONE YELLING AT YOU!" Usopp hollered after Sanji as he ran off.

"HOLD ON, NAMI-SWAN!" Sanji called out.

"WAIT! SANJI!" Usopp yelled as he ran after the love-cook. "HOLD ON! PLEASE! BUDDY! PAL! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

**-x-**

"Yahahaha," Eneru laughed as he got up from his throne and made his way down toward Nami. "It seems the two rats are quite serious about your rescue. Fools to the bitter end."

"_Who can it be?" _Nami wondered. _"No one besides Luffy can still move. Besides, how could they even get on board the ark?"_

**BZZT! **Eneru's arm sparked.

"_Oh crap lightning!" _Nami exclaimed in her mind. _"I've gotta dodge before he fires…" _Then she looked down. _"No… I can't move. Ricky can't move. If he takes another of those lightning attacks and he'll be dead for sure!"_ **THAWK! **Nami kicked Ricky's body and it flew to the side towards her Waver. Nami screamed and dove after him as Eneru fired a blast of lightning at her. "WAAAAH!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM!**

**Fwump-wump-wump! **Nami dropped down and rolled across the deck then sat up.

"Yahahahaha," Eneru laughed in mild amusement. "Though help may have arrived, it doesn't mean you've been saved yet. Nor am I obligated to wait for them. Before two new rats arrive, I'll finish the last of the two that I'm already dealing with."

"_I've got to grab Ricky, jump overboard and hope for the best," _Nami realized _"If I stay here, I'm dead for sure. I'm up against lightning. What else can I do?"_

**-x-**

**THWAK! **Sanji kicked down a door and stepped through. He found himself inside the Maxim which was filled with all types of golden machinery, this particular area and numerous spinning gold gears and churning gold pistons.

"What's all this?" Sanji wondered as he started to run up a long flight of steps, he hoped towards the main deck.

**Bzzzt! Bzzzt! **Sanji stopped two floors up and watched as lightning surged through a web of thin gold pipes. He walked across a catwalk and noted gold-lined glass vats of a mysterious chemical.

"It looks like this whole ship is automated," Sanji noted as he stared at the bubbling green liquid in one of the vats. "Hm… I guess that means he doesn't need henchmen or underlings.

"_Creepy bastard,"_ the cook thought to himself.

**-x-**

In another part of the ship, Usopp ran frantically passed more machinery down another catwalk. "There's no one here!" the sniper realized. "But this ship is huge! Does it run without anyone operating it? And how does it fly anyway? I've never heard of a flying ship before. Just the thought of being up in the air like this makes my knees all wobbly. Oh, I feel sick."

"I wonder what the power source for this things is…" Usopp mused as kept running through the massive Maxim. "Oh, what do I care! As long as it doesn't decide to fall!"

"Wait!" Usopp exclaimed. "I just realized… even if Nami is on the upper deck, we're way too high up now to jump off. WHAT THE HELL ARE WE GONNA DO?"

**-x-**

Robin sat beside Giant Jack in the ruins up above Shandora with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. The bodies of Gan Fall, Chopper and Kiko were all behind her while she used her powers to create legs underneath Zoro and Wyper and walked them up towards her.

"_The sky… it keeps getting darker," _Robin thought to herself. _"He's going to begin the great destruction soon. And then… he'll steal the golden bell… and take it up with him."_

The Maxim continued to fly higher and higher up above her.

**-x-**

"AAAAAHH!" the Skypieans screamed as they ran to the harbor at Angel Island.

"Onto the boats!" a White Beret called out. "Don't get left behind!"

Once a boat was filled to capacity, it was cast off and sailed for Cloud End.

"Hurry, to the White Sea!" a man encouraged some others as loaded boat after boat cast off. "We're running out of time!"

A man stood on one of the boats and stared up at the Maxim as it flew above Upper Yard.

"Look at it, it's terrifying!" the man exclaimed. So much for Eneru's idea that his flying gold ship making people happy when they saw it. "This is really it! The end of the world!"

**-x-**

Down in the Shandian Village, the Shandians were preparing to evacuate as well.

"Leave the village?" one of the Shandians repeated. "But Chief, what about the warriors? They're still not back from Upper Yard."

"There is no need to wait," the Chief told him.

"But Chief…" the man protested.

"We have no choice," the Chief responded. "The warriors aren't children. They can avoid the dangers they face. Have faith in them." The Chief looked up and addressed everyone else. "Eneru will destroy everything. We know that. Just like as he did to his homeland Birka. So to shall he do here. We must escape. Now! We must prepare the ships! Our first task is to save the lives of the villagers here!"

The Shandians stared in surprise as the Chief's words sank in.

"LET'S GO!" The Shandians scattered and ran off to evacuate the village.

"_Everything is coming to an end," _the Chief thought to himself. _"Wyper, let it go. You've done everything you could."_

**-x-**

Conis stood on the front deck of the Straw Hats' empty ship. She'd finally gotten it to the designated meeting place and now she was just waiting for the Blue Sea Pirates to return.

"_Did you come from the Blue Sea World?" Conis had asked when she first met the Straw Hats._

"_If that's what you call it," Luffy replied, "We sailed up a river of clouds to get here. Speaking of here, is this your home?"_

Conis looked up and saw the Maxim next to Giant Jack as black clouds loomed above it.

"_Everything is happening in this forest right in front of me," _Conis realized. _"And I have no way to know what's going on. All I can do is wait." _Conis hugged Suu to her. _"Everyone… I hope you're all safe."_

**-x-**

Down in the hole where the Maxim once rested, Aisa cried over the body of Pierre.

Luffy had protected them from Eneru's lightning but he'd fallen away from them afterwards. While they fell down into the hole, Pierre had flipped over and had shielded Aisa from the fall while he took all the impact himself.

"Horsy-bird! Horsy-bird, I'm sorry!" Aisa cried. "You were trying to protect me!"

"**Aaaaiiisaaaa!" **a muffled voice called out from somewhere nearby. **"AISA! AAAIIISAAA!"**

Aisa stood up on top of Pierre. "Luffy?" she questioned. "Are you alive? WHERE ARE YOU?"

"**OVER HERE!"** Luffy shouted back. **"THIS WAY! AISA!"**

Aisa turned and spotted the giant gold ball. She rushed over to it and found that it was on top of the big gold gear that had fallen before them.

"**GET THIS THING OFFA ME!" **Luffy shouted from inside the gear. His hand waved frantically on top of the ball which had covered the hole in the middle of the big gear.

"HOW DID YOU LAND LIKE THAT?" Aisa yelled.

"**EVERYTHING'S GOLD! I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!"**

"Luffy, the balls on top of you!" Aisa told him. "It's way too big for me to move it! You have to push it up! Maybe it'll roll off!"

"**UP? WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?" WHAM! **The gold ball rolled to the side and the rubber pirate jumped out of the hole in the gear.

"Whoa…" Aisa gasped as she watched Luffy heft the big gold ball that his arm was trapped in up onto his back.

"Uuugghhh…" Luffy groaned as he spread his stance to support the additional weight. "Damn it! I still can't get this golden ball off!"

"What do we do then?" Aisa asked. "Nami's still up there with Eneru."

"Let's just get back to the beanstalk where Robin was," Luffy decided. "I won't let Eneru get away with this!"

"Okay," Aisa agreed.

"Nice try jerk!" Luffy snapped as he stared up above them. "But it takes a lot more to stop me! Your ark's toast! And I know just where to find you!"

**-x-**

**Frontline of the Rescue:**

**-x-**

**BZZZZZT! **Eneru shot a blast of lightning at Nami.

"YAAH!" Nami yelped as she frantically swung her ClimaTact. **BA-ZOOOOOOM! **The lightning flew passed her off the side of the ship.

Nami held on tightly to her fully assembled ClimaTact and panted heavily.

"Yahahahahahaaha! Congratulations, young lady!" Eneru laughed and praised Nami. "That was rather amusing!"

"I did it…" Nami realized.

"Such clever toys you have down on the Blue Sea," Eneru remarked. Nami tensed as Eneru fired another blast of lightning at her. **BA-ZOOOOOOOM!**

Nami swung the blue pole in front of her, "THUNDER BALL!" A yellow orb came out of the end of her ClimaTact but because she was swinging it over her, it distorted and arced over her. **BZZZOOOOM! **Eneru's lightning blasted into the yellow 'force field' and followed it over Nami's head and off the side of the ship.

"Creating a path for the lightning to follow," Eneru observed, "A clever tactic. You're obviously well acquainted with weather phenomena."

"But its not enough," Nami realized.

**Bzzztzzzztzzzt! **Eneru's hand sparkled as he held it out beside him as he charged another attack. "You realize of course it's futile," Eneru pointed out. "All I need do is raise the voltage and your trick won't work, well it?" Eneru grinned. "Now I'm a very busy man. BEGON!" **BZZOOOM! **White lightning exploded around Eneru as the voltage in his attack jumped from one million to two hundred million.

"_I CAN'T DODGE THIS ONE!" _Nami realized.

"**WHY DON'T YOU BE GONE? EXPLODING BULLET!" BANG! **A red bullet shot at Eneru before he could get his attack off and exploded. **KA-BOOOOM!**

The cloud of dark smoke around Eneru faded to reveal that he was completely unharmed. He simply held his hand out and had blocked the explosion.

Eneru stared in the direction the projectile of the explosion and found Usopp standing in an opened doorway that led into the Maxim. Smoke drifted out from the nozzle of the flintlock pistol as it shook in Usopp's hand.

Usopp flinched and covered his eyes under Eneru's harsh gaze. "Oops… I'm sorry…"

"USOPP?" Nami exclaimed.

"I know you," Eneru realized, "From the ship."

Usopp uncovered his eyes and took in the situation in front of him. God was staring right at him. Nami was behind him. But there was no sign of anyone else on the deck.

"Hey! Where's Sanji? Or Ricky?" Usopp questioned.

"Ricky's already down," Nami told him, "You mean Sanji's here too?"

"YOU MEAN HE'S NOT UP HERE YET?" Usopp demanded.

"But…" Nami gaped at the sniper. Of all her Nakama that she'd want to come and save her, Usopp was at the bottom of the list of potential rescuers.

"I see," Usopp realized. He was alone against God. "LATER!" **Krek! **The door slammed behind him as he slipped back into the ship.

"PANSY!" Nami yelled after him. And that was exactly why he was at the bottom of the list.

On the other side of the door, Usopp's body shook and a cold sweat ran down his face and dripped off his long nose.

"_Be a man, Usopp!" _Usopp encouraged himself. _"What are you running for?"_

**WHAM! **Usopp spun around and slammed the door back opened. "BRING IT ON GOD!"

**BA-ZOOOOOOM! **Eneru fired a blast of lightning at Usopp.

"EEEEEYYAAAAHHHH!" Usopp screamed like a little girl and dove out of the way. **SKISH! **Usopp landed on his feet but Eneru turned and fired at him again. **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **"WAAAAAAHH!" Usopp screamed and jumped out of the way again. **FWUMP! **He tumbled to the ground and wound up next to Nami.

"Usopp!" Nami called out to the sniper. Eneru slowly turned to face them.

Usopp's eyes narrowed as he stared hard at God. "Nami!"

"Yeah?" Nami asked. "What? Tell me what to do! I'm on it!"

"Please save me!" Usopp squeaked.

"LIKE HELL!" Nami shrieked as she ran over and swatted him over the head. **WHAP! **Nami grabbed him by the collar and started shaking him. "I THOUGHT YOU CAME HERE TO SAVE ME, YOU SPINELESS CHICKEN!"

"Yeah um…" Usopp mumbled when Nami finally stopped shaking him. Had that been the plan? Sanji was the one who wanted to come up here. But he was nowhere in sight. "I'm not even sure what's going on anymore…"

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Nami berated him as she shook him again.

"Well…" Usopp whimpered.

"WELL, WHAT?" Nami snapped. "HURRY UP AND SAVE ME RIGHT NOW!"

Usopp looked over at Nami with a sheepish smile. "And how do I do that exactly? We are fighting God… right?"

"Oh yeah…" Nami agreed with a sheepish smile of her own. **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **Eneru fired another blast of lightning and they both screamed and dove out of the way.

Eneru remained stoic as he followed after them.

"By the way Nami," Usopp said as he glanced down at the hat on Nami's belt. "About that hat?"

"Yeah, it's Luffy's," Nami confirmed. "He was here a little while ago but Eneru threw him overboard. But he's not dead, I'm sure of it!"

"The ark's gaining altitude," Usopp pointed out. "We can't count on Luffy to save us." Usopp shivered. "Um… is Ricky still here by any chance?"

"Ricky was trying to stall Eneru until Luffy came back but Eneru got him," Nami answered. "Now he's over by my WAVER! THAT'S IT!"

"You've got a plan?" Usopp questioned. "TELL ME! 'CAUSE I'M NOT A FAN OF DYING!"

**BA-ZOOOOOM! **"I'M WITH YA THERE!" Nami agreed as they jumped in different directions to avoid another bolt of lightning.

Nami looked up from her spot on the ground and saw Usopp cowering behind the glass tubes at the front of the ship. "Huh?"

"Here, come hide behind this tube thingy," Usopp instructed. "I'm betting it's pretty important. So he might not use his big attacks."

"Usopp, look over there," Nami motioned across the deck.

Usopp looked in the direction she had pointed and saw Ricky's charred body on the ground next to Nami's Waver. "A Waver!"

"We'll have to jump off on that," Nami reasoned.

"JUMP FROM THIS HEIGHT?" Usopp questioned. "ARE YOU NUTS?"

"No," Nami replied, "Look…" Nami motioned off the side of the ship towards Giant Jack. There was a white patch of cloud below it. "There's a patch of island cloud in the middle of the forest. If we can reach that, we just might make it."

"Of course!" Usopp realized.

**BA-ZOOT! **Usopp saw a bolt of lightning shoot over him. He looked up to see it hovering overhead. "DAMN IT!" **BZZZZOOOOOOM! **Usopp dove out of the way and the lightning shot down and struck the spot where he'd just been.

Usopp flew through the air and did a graceful backflip with a double spin… **KONK! **Then banged his head on the railing and fell in a heap.

Usopp pulled himself back up but now sported a large lump on his head, "I'll go try to create a diversion!" Usopp told Nami, "Get it ready!"

"RIGHT!" Nami agreed as she ran for the Waver.

Usopp ran and quickly scrambled up the glass tube and jumped up on top of it.

"TAKE THIS GOD!" Usopp shouted, "BEHOLD, UUUSOOOOPP SPELL!" Usopp stood tensed with his arms spread. "**A splinter embeds itself deep under your fingernail!**" Usopp shivered at the painful thought. "Ewww…"

"UUGGHH!" Nami stopped and shuddered, "That hurts just thinking about it!"

"COVER YOUR EARS, YOU IDIOT!" Usopp yelled at her. "THIS STUFF CAN KILL YOU!" Usopp tensed again as he turned back to Eneru. "**A piece of paper… cuts across the skin of your knuckles!**" Usopp flinched again.

"…" Eneru stared blankly up at Usopp.

"**Five canker sores inflaming your gums!**"

**BZZZT! **Eneru flew up off of the deck and up to Usopp then whacked him with his gold staff. **WONK! **Usopp was knocked off the glass and crashed to the deck then tumbled and rolled across it. **WHUMP-WUMP! Skuuussshhh… **Usopp skidded to a stop and laid on his back.

"USOPP, NO!" Nami called out in alarm.

**Tmp! **Eneru landed and stalked towards Usopp.

"_Come on Ricky…" _Nami said in her head as she hefted him into the Waver then jumped in.

"**Uugghhh…" **Ricky let out a low groan.

"Ricky!" Nami exclaimed as she grabbed the handle bars. "Hang on, we're getting out of here!"

**WISH! **Eneru swung his staff then smacked Usopp with it. **WHACK! **Usopp rolled to the side and Eneru struck him again. **WHACK! **

**VRRRRRR… **Nami sped over to the railing on her Waver. She skidded to a stop and stared off the side while Ricky silently sat up behind her.

"_Looks good," _Nami mused to herself as she stared off the edge of the flying ship. _"The Island Cloud is directly below that beanstalk!"_

Nami turned and called across the deck, "I'M READY, LET'S GET—" **BZZZZOOOOOOM!**

There was a bright flash and Nami watched in horror as Usopp charred body hit the ground. Ricky's eye opened and he turned to look in the direction of the thunder crash.

"UUUUSOOOOPP!" Nami screamed.

"Though you may desperately want to run away," Eneru addressed Nami, "Facing me it will not be that simple." Nami tensed. "But please, do try it again. I always enjoy a deadly game of tag. Yahahahahaha!"

"Tag?" Ricky repeated with a smirk.

**VRRRROOOOOOM! **Nami spun the Waver around and sped towards Eneru. **VRRROOM! **Then raced right passed him. "USOPP, GRAB MY HAND! COME ON!"

The sniper was still conscious and was barely twitching as he laid on the deck. He groaned and exerted himself but managed to raise a shaking hand up off of the deck.

"Ricky, pull him in!" Nami ordered as she sped towards Usopp. **VRRRROOOOOM!**

Ricky made no move to grab him.

**BZZZT! **Eneru appeared next to Usopp and drove Usopp's hand back down to the mat with the end of his staff. Nami stared back in horror. They'd lost their chance.

"For you there is no hope of salvation," Eneru addressed Usopp.

Ricky stood up on the Waver behind Nami.

"Ricky!" Nami exclaimed. "What do we do, we've got to grab him and get outta here!"

"Why?" Ricky asked. "Heh-heh-heh. I'm right where I want to be."

Nami stiffened then spun around and stared in shock as Ricky pulled off his eye patch. "But… but… Ricky said you didn't work when you were covered!" Eneru was now the second to last person she wanted to be trapped on a ship with.

The Eye of the Devil glowed and Ricky's hair stood up in spikes. "Ricky…was wrong." **Shink! **Red Eye reached down and drew _Akakyuuketsuki_. "You die first."

"AAH!" Nami flinched back in terror.

**BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **Across the deck, lightning pooled around Eneru's hand as he aimed it down at Usopp.

**TMP! TMP! TMP! TMP! **Suddenly, Sanji ran up behind Eneru. He hooked his leg around Usopp and kicked him towards Nami. **THWAK! **Usopp went flying and slammed into Red Eye. **WHAM! **Red Eye was knocked out of the Waver and Usopp landed inside it.

"SANJI!" Nami yelped. She turned and realized that while the cook had just saved her - and saved Usopp in the process - he'd just stepped in front of Eneru's lethal lightning attacks. "RUN!"

"Get out of here," Sanji said as stood in between the Waver and Eneru.

**Whap! **Usopp reached up and grabbed the throttle of the Waver over Nami's hand. "Gun it Nami!" **VROOOOOOM! **The Waver sped away towards the railing.

"EEEL THOOOORR!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOM!** Eneru fired a thick column of lightning that completely enveloped Sanji then kept going and blasted off the side of the ship.

"USOPP, WAIT!" Nami called out in a panic. "LET OFF THE GAS! WHAT ABOUT SANJI! HE'S NOT JUST TRAPPED THERE WITH ENERU BUT RED EYE TOO! HE'LL DIE!"

"DON'T STOP, WE'VE GOTTA ESCAPE!" Usopp shouted. "NOW STOP MAKING MY PLAN SOUND BAD! AND KEEP GOING!" **VRRROOOM! **The Waver sailed up a chunk of rubble on the deck and shot up into the air and over the railing.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Nami and Usopp both screamed as they dropped off the side of the ship.

**BZZZT! BZZZT! **Eneru's body cackled as he stood on the Maxim and laughed. "Yahahaahaha, so they jumped. Do they still not understand the range of my powers? They haven't escaped me in the slightest."

"**Uugghh…" **Eneru heard a groan and turned to see that even though Sanji had taken his attack head-on, the cook was still on his feet. "Hey… God… There's something I wanted to tell you. Oh, but first… I… should… thank you…" Sanji raised his cigarette to his mouth and inhaled. "I was looking… for a light… Appreciate it…"

"Right…" Eneru drawled. "Do you have a point?"

"Yeah," the deep-fried cook replied. "Get ready… to cry… bastard…" **FWUMP! **Sanji dropped to the deck and laid still.

"Hmph…" Eneru grunted as he turned away.

"**Have you noticed yet that your attacks don't kill anybody?" **came a voice.

Eneru spun around and saw what appeared to be Ricky seated on the gold gear behind him casually running his finger along the red blade of his sword.

"You…" Eneru growled. "I killed you!"

"You tried, you failed," Red Eye stated. "I like ruthlessly murdering people as much as the next guy but you're really bad at it. But at least you have this ship to make up for your shortcomings."

"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" Eneru demanded.

"Oh that," Red Eye scoffed. "The girl restarted his heart, got him breathing again. He's unconscious now which means I get to come out and play."

"You get to…" Eneru trailed off and his eyes narrowed, "And who are you exactly?"

"I'm the brat's better half," Red Eye answered as he slipped off the gear and approached Eneru. "I'm Red Eye. But down below they call me by another name… 'the Demon'."

**-x-**

**God and the Demon:**

**-x-**

"Demon?" Eneru repeated dismissively, "As if such a thing exists."

**KA-POW! **Ricky's fist slammed into Eneru's face and he went flying across the deck.

**THUD! **Eneru landed hard then sat up and held his face. "Im-impossible!" he protested. "I'm lightning incarnate. I'm God. You're not even rubber. You can't touch Me."

"I just did," Red Eye pointed out. "If you'd like I can do it again. But I'd rather not."

"What do you mean?" Eneru demanded as he stood back up.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually a fan of yours," Red Eye answered. "Well, not you running around calling yourself God and failing to kill people, but this ship of yours is truly impressive. With this ship you can harness that cute lightning of yours and destroy entire villages. It may lack the personal touch you'd get from murdering villages of people yourself but burning down every building and erasing all those lives all in one shot is too convenient to pass up. I'll take it."

"What… take… that… THIS IS MY SHIP!" Eneru snapped at him.

"Yes, and of course I realize that the ship needs you to work properly," Red Eye admitted, "An unfortunate package deal. I don't like most people but if sparing you means I can kill thousands more in your place, I'll give you a chance. How would you like to work for me?"

"WORK FOR YOU?" Eneru thundered. "I'M NO ONE'S LACKEY! I'M GOD!" **BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared then reappeared ten feet backwards with his hand engulfed in lightning. "EEEL THOOOR!" **BA-ZOOOOOM! **Eneru fired a powerful column of lightning at Red Eye.

**WOOOSH! **Red Eye snapped his hands down and shot up into the air over the blast. He flipped in midair and landed behind Eneru. Eneru spun around to face him. **SLISH! **Red Eye lashed out with the blood red sword and sliced Eneru across the shoulder.

Eneru staggered backwards and held his bleeding shoulder in shock. "You… you… cut me…"

Red Eye held up the red sword and licked the blood off of it. He frowned and shook his head. "Hate to break it to you but your blood tastes like any other person's. There's a hint of airiness in it that tells me you're from the sky… but that's it. It's just regular, red blood… too bad, so sad."

"What… WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU?" Eneru exclaimed. "Wait… you come from down below… your three brothers are that rubber menace, that shape-shifting beast and the third controls fire. Your 'pops' has the power to destroy entire islands… YOU'RE A DEVIL!"

"Oh baby, keep dirty talking me, I love it!" Red Eye exclaimed.

Eneru jumped backwards in shock, "Excuse you?"

Red Eye grinned, "I just get—" **KA-BOOOOM! **He was cut off when an explosion rang out from inside the Maxim. Black smoke started to pump out of the chimney instead of cloud.

Eneru turned and stared in horror, "Wha-what is this? The Ark!"

Eneru remembered Sanji's cryptic words, _"Get ready… to cry… bastard!"_

"The fool! He didn't!" Eneru exclaimed. "DAMN HIM! HE DID SOMETHING BELOW DECK! WHAT HAS HE DONE TO MY ARK?" **KA-BOOOOM! **Explosion continued to ring out from inside as the Maxim started shaking. Lightning started sparking around the smoke-filled opening of the chimney.

"You mean it's broken?" Red Eye questioned. "Then what the heaven do I still need you for? Now I have no reason _not to _kill you."

"You fool!" Eneru snapped at him. "The gears have come unaligned! If the Ark crashes we'll both die!"

"Nah, I'll bail out before it wrecks," Red Eye replied. "This ship was just a passing fancy for me. I never got too attached to the idea of using it to destroy villages. You're the one whose hopes and dreams lie on this thing. I'll tell you what though, if you hold still for a moment, I'll cut out your intestines and you won't have to worry about your Ark anymore."

"I don't have time for this!" Eneru exclaimed. **BZZZT! **There was a bright flash and Eneru disappeared inside the ship.

"Well that was rude," Red Eye remarked. "Here I was going to do him a favor of eviscerating him and he goes and runs away." Red Eye sheathed his sword and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he made his way through the opened doorway and followed Eneru into the Maxim.

Neither Eneru nor Red Eye noticed the grappling hook that hung onto the railing.

"Uugghhh…" Usopp grunted as he used the rope and his octopus shoes to climb up the side of the Maxim. Usopp peered over the railing and scanned the deck of the massive ship.

"_Good… they're gone," _Usopp observed. Usopp jumped over the railing and quickly slipped off his shoes then ran over to the charred and prone form of Sanji.

Usopp reached the cook and knelt down next to him. "Don't you worry," Usopp reassured him. "Nami fell safely into some Island Clouds." Usopp hefted Sanji onto his shoulder and carried him over to the railing. The sniper flinched as he stared off the side of the flying ship at the ground that was now miles below him.

"_So high…" _Usopp thought to himself, _"Not the jungle… Not the ruins… Focus on falling into the Island Clouds."_

**TMP! **Usopp stomped his new shoes which were purple with big springs on the bottom.

"USOPP HOPPING!" **BOING! **Usopp sprang off the railing and jumped off the ship.

Usopp fell through the air but to his horror veered away from the fluffy patch of Island Clouds and fell towards the hard trees of Upper Yard. "AAAAAHHH NOOOO! I JUMPED TOO FAR! I JUMPED TO FAAAARR! AAAHHH-HAAAA-HAAAA-HAAA! OOOOHH NOOOO! WE'RE GONNA CRASH! WE'RE GONNA CRASH AND THEN WE'RE GONNA DIE! YAAAAAHHHH!"

The trees and the hard forest floor rushed up to meet him. Usopp came an inch away from having his nose smeared all over the floor when suddenly… **YOINK! **His rope was pulled taught and he was yanked back up into the air. **WOING!**

"WAAH!" Usopp gasped. "HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO UNHOOK IT?"

**Krek-krek! **Usopp's grappling hook scraped along the railing then fell off. **WHING!**

"YAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Usopp screamed as he plowed into the Island Clouds. **PLOOOSH!**

Nami saw where Usopp had landed and sped over to him on her Waver. **VVRRRROOOOOM!**

"USOPP! SANJI!" Nami called out to them.

"**Nami? Is that you?" **Usopp called out from where his face, shoulders and chest were all stuck in the squishy Island Clouds while he legs kicked helplessly above him. Sanji laid unconscious nearby. **"Sounds like you made it down alright. What a relief." **Usopp continued to mumble into the cloud while Nami jumped off of the Waver and knelt down next to Sanji.

"Sanji, are you okay?" she asked. "Oh, you got burnt to a crisp for us! I'm so sorry! I promise, I'll make it up to you somehow!"

"**I CAN'T BREATHE!" **Usopp yelled as his legs continued to kick. **"CAN'T BREATHE! NAMI HURRY! HURRY UP AND PULL ME OUT! I CAN'T BREEEAATHE!"**

"Oh, sorry," Nami said. She popped back up and grabbed Usopp's legs and pulled upwards. "Alright… let's get the heck out of here… Ugghhh… Why… won't… you… come… out!"

**-x-**

Up overhead, the Maxim continued to shake. Inside, the vats of chemicals cracked and started leaking, gold pipes exploded and lightning sparked through the broken circuits.

Red Eye paid all this no mind as he wandered along a catwalk. "Ooooh, God! Come out and die! You know, if you wanted to play tag you should've said something. There's nothing I enjoy more than a fun, rousing game of a cat and the crazy guy that catches and murders it."

**-x-**

Eneru stood on a catwalk several floors down from Red Eye and surveyed the damage that was done to his ship.

"Curse you, Blue Sea Dweller…" Eneru growled as he stared at the damaged machinery. Eneru scanned the gears and spotted two that were stuck.

"This vessel is not so easily brought down," Eneru mused. "I am fully acquainted with the Ark's drive circuits. We may lack electricity but a backup system harnesses the wind-power of two hundred Jet Dials that I gathered in My Homeland of Birka."

**FIIISSSSHHHHH! **Down below, wind rushed out of a series of long holes on the bottom of the Ark courtesy of Eneru's two hundred Jet Dials.

"Those will keep this ship aloft for quite some time," Eneru continued as he walked over to the broken gears. **KLANK! **Eneru pushed hard and managed to force the gears back into alignment. "No matter those feeble beings try… this land and all of its pathetic inhabitants will perish!"

All around Eneru the system started up again. The gears began to spin. The pistons pumped and electricity no longer sparked all around him. Eneru had managed to repair his ship.

"**Oh, does this mean you fixed it?"**

Eneru spun around to see Red Eye crouched on the railing behind him. "Found you."

"YOU!" Eneru snapped. **BZZZZTZZZZT! **Eneru's hand glowed white with lightning.

"Whoa there, careful!" Red Eye warned him. "You wouldn't want to break this ship again after you went through so much effort to fix it."

"FOOL! THIS SHIP'S CIRCUITRY IS MADE OF GOLD! MY POWERS WON'T HARM IT!" **BA-ZOOOOOOM! **Eneru blasted lightning at Red Eye.

**WOOOSH! **Red Eye snapped his hands down and launched himself through the air.

Eneru jumped backwards and disappeared into the machinery behind him. **BZZZT! **Then he came out of a gold gear behind Red Eye.

The Blue Sea Demon spun around to face the Sky God and lashed out his fist at him. **WOOSH!**

Eneru weaved to the side and avoided the punch then spun his staff and struck Red Eye with it. **WHACK! ** Red Eye crashed to the ground and rolled across the catwalk.

"I'll admit that you caught Me off guard before, Blue Sea Dweller," Eneru confessed. "But your mind-tricks won't work on Me! You're no Devil! You're not even a real Demon! But on this gold-lined ship in the sky, I AM STILL THE ALMIGHTY GOD!"

"YOU CAME HERE FOR GOLD, BLUE SEA DWELLER?" Eneru shouted as he sank his hand into a giant gold gear behind him. "THEN TAKE SOME! GLOAM PADDLING!"

**WOOOOSSHHH! **Eneru threw his arm forward and sent a tidal wave of molten hot liquid gold at Red Eye.

"Whoa, whoa! It was the other guy that came here for gold!" Red Eye protested as he sprinted along the catwalk to escape the rushing gold. "I came to spill blood and reap eternal vengeance!"

Red Eye reached the end of the catwalk and jumped up and grabbed some pipes just as the molten gold wave crashed down behind him. **SPLOOOOSHH!**

Red Eye looked back at the gold-coated catwalk then scanned the area for Eneru.

But he was gone.

"Damn bastard ran away again," Red Eye complained.

**-x-**

"Hey guys, check out that huge vine," Nami instructed the newly freed Usopp and the still unconscious Sanji as she pointed at Giant Jack. "If it's the same one that I saw when I was down in the ruins, then it stands to reason that we're on the Island Clouds right above them."

"Ruins?" Usopp repeated as he brushed himself off. "OH! The City of Gold! It's real?"

"It's real," Nami confirmed. "But Eneru took all the gold that was there for himself and made that ship. If the ruins are beneath us, Zoro and the other should be down there."

"I may not know the lay of the land," Usopp admitted, "But I do know one thing. Staying here is dangerous."

**VRRRRM!** Nami hopped back on her Waver and revved the Jet Dial-powered engine. "You've got that right. Hop on, let's find everyone and get off this island!"

"Now that's a plan," Usopp remarked.

Nami looked up at the Ark overhead. "There are no safe places left is Skypiea."

**-x-**

**BONK! BONK! **The gold ball bounced along the stone ground as Luffy ran through the ruins of Shandora and dragged his trapped arm behind him.

Further behind, Aisa struggled to keep up as she carried the unconscious Pierre by his beak.

Luffy ran down a hill and the gold ball bounced up into the air. **KLANG!**

"AH! LUFFY!" Aisa called out in warning. "LOOK OUT!"

Luffy looked back in time to see the gold ball crash down on top of him. **WOING! **

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy screamed as the big ball started to roll down the hill. He spun helplessly alongside it. "TOOOO FAAAASST!"

"NO! WAIT! LUFFY!" Aisa called after him as he rolled away down the hill. "THAT'S THE WRONG WAY! GO LEFT! LEFT!"

"There's no way I can turn that sharp," Luffy realized as he stared ahead at the incoming wall at the bottom of the hill. There was another road that ran alongside the wall but he'd have to turn at a ninety degree angle to avoid crashing. "GUUMM GUUUMMM HOOOOK!" **SHOOOOOM! **Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed the corner of one of the buildings behind him.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed as he started to slow down. **KREK! **The old, worn brick that Luffy had grabbed came loose and Luffy rolled the rest of the way down the hill and smashed into the wall. **BOOOOM!**

"STOP DESTROYING MY HOMELAND!" Aisa hollered after him. "GIANT JACK IS OVER THAT WAY!"

"I KNOW!" Luffy yelled back. "BUT—" **KRASH! **But Luffy continued to roll through the ancient city and smashed through walls as he went.

"STOP BREAKING THINGS!" **KROOOM! **"STOOP IIT!"

**-x-**

On the Maxim, Eneru stood on the deck in front of the gold face and surveyed his repair work.

"Hm, the thunder clouds are gushing out nicely now," Eneru mused to himself. He turned and glanced around the deck and noticed that Sanji was gone. Along with Nami and Usopp.

"So the rats have scurried off," Eneru noted. "They're shrewd but so restless. No matter, the festivities are close at hand. There's only on rat left to deal with."

**BZZT!** Eneru disappeared then reappeared through the still-opened and much used gold door. **THUD! **Eneru slammed the door shut and sank his hands into the gold above it.

"GLOAM PADDLING!" Eneru pulled the molten liquid gold down and sealed the door shut. Eneru pulled his hands out of the gold and it hardened and turned the door into a solid gold wall.

**BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared then reappeared in front of the door on the opposite side of his throne and repeated the process. Both doors became solid gold walls.

"Now he can't get in the way of my plans," Eneru resolved.

**-x-**

After several wrong turns and even more smashed stone walls, Luffy took labored breaths as he finally stood at the sight of the first battle against Eneru.

"Aw man, Robin and the others are gone," Luffy noted. "Zoro… and Chopper…"

"And Wyper and Kiko and Gan Fall," Aisa continued for him as she stood nearby and stared down into the hole that still remained from Eneru's last attack on Wyper.

"Well where the heck did everybody go?" Luffy wondered.

"I'm guessing they must have climbed up already," Aisa reasoned.

"Yeah, Robin must've helped 'em," Luffy reasoned. "Let's go." Luffy turned and started to drag the ball off towards the beanstalk but he stopped when he realized that Aisa hadn't moved from her spot at the edge of the hole. "Hey, Aisa?"

Aisa's lips trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. She remembered Robin's words from earlier.

"_Listen carefully… If we don't do something… Skypiea… will disappear…"_

"_What?" Luffy had asked. "It'll disappear?"_

_Aisa whimpered. "My homeland will be completely gone?"_

"_Everything will fall…" Robin had said, "He said this nation in the sky was unnatural… He said he'd send it crashing to the ground…"_

"Hey… Luffy?"

"What's up?" Luffy asked.

"Will the Sky Island really be destroyed?" the girl asked as she cried.

**-x-**

**The Impending Doom of Sky Island**

**-x-**

"Ruuuuggghhhhh!" Luffy groaned as he ran up the side of the Giant Jack. He had Aisa and Pierre on his back and was dragging the big gold ball straight up behind him.

Luffy kept running until they passed through the Island Clouds around the top of the beanstalk.

"_Wyper and the others… they're right through here," _Aisa thought to herself.

**-x-**

Up overhead, Robin stood in front of the beanstalk and stared up at Eneru's ship which was almost lost in the mass of black thunder clouds.

"_I suspect the ship is moving towards the Grand Belfry," _Robin reasoned._ "I wonder what happened to the Captain, Mr. One Eye and Ms. Navigator. If they're still on that ship it could mean they're…"_

**PLOOOSH! **Luffy burst through the clouds nearby and kept running up the beanstalk with Aisa, Pierre and the hold ball hanging off of him.

"WAAH! LUFFY DOWN THERE!" Aisa shouted when she spotted the bodies of Wyper, Kiko, Zoro, Gan Fall and Chopper. "STOP! STOP!"

Luffy looked down and spotted Robin. "ROBIIIN!" Robin looked up and spotted Luffy. "LOOK AFTER THESE TWO FOR ME!"

**WHING! **Robin quickly grew a web of arms out of one of hers and caught the girl and the bird as they were thrown to her. **WHAP!**

Meanwhile, Luffy was dragged partially down the beanstalk by the big gold bell but dug the fingers of his free hand into the beanstalk and scraped down it until he slowed to a stop.

"Luffy!" Robin called up to the Captain.

"WAAAAAHHHH!" Aisa screamed. When she realized that the woman who had caught her had used a web ten arms to do it. "YOU GREW EXTRA HANDS! GYAAAAAAA!"

"What is that on your arm?" Robin asked.

Luffy didn't answer and instead asked a question of his own. "Robin, the golden bell is at the top of this vine, right? And Eneru is trying to get his hands on it, isn't he?"

"That's right," Robin confirmed. "If the Grand Belfry exists, then the bell would be there. But he's already…"

"Good!" Luffy cut her off as he started to scramble back up the beanstalk.

"Luffy!" Robin called after him but the rubber pirate didn't even slow down, instead he picked up speed as he deadlifted the big gold ball after him. "Gone, just like that." Robin looked down and finally addressed her new companion. "So, young lady… have you seen our First Mate and Navigator? A man with red hair and an eye patch and a woman with orange hair, they're most likely together."

"You mean Nami and Two-Voice?" Aisa questioned. "She's on the ship…" Aisa trailed off as she looked up at the flying ship. "I only hear two voices coming from the sky. One's Eneru's and the other is Two-Voice's scary other voice."

**VRRRROOOOM! **Just then Nami came around the beanstalk with Usopp and Sanji. "THERE THEY ARE!" Aisa's face lit up at the sight of Nami.

"WHOA! ROBIN!" Usopp called out.

"Ms. Navigator with Mr. Long Nose and Mr. Cook too," Robin noted.

"Aisa!" Nami exclaimed as she skidded to a stop. She got off the Waver and caught Aisa as she ran over to hug her waist.

"Nami!"

Usopp looked passed Robin and spotted the others, "Zoro! Chopper! Weird Old Guy! Guerrilla! Pink Hair-guy! Wait… I don't know those last two…"

"Aisa, where's Luffy?" Nami asked. "Wasn't he with you?"

"Luffy climbed up the vine to rescue you!" Aisa answered. "The only one left up there is your scary boyfriend's other voice!"

Nami stiffened, "I know… Luffy might be able to hold his own against one of them alone but he doesn't stand a chance against the two of them together."

"Hold on, what's going on?" Robin inquired.

"I… do you know about Ricky's other eye?"

"The Eye of the Devil?" Robin questioned. "I confronted him about it back in Jaya. He said it was an evil parasite that gives him special abilities but is trying to take over his body. Are you saying that…?"

"Eneru zapped Ricky and the Eye took over while we were trying to escape," Nami explained. "Ricky said it wasn't supposed to work when it was covered. But somehow the Eye took over."

"It's not an eye…"

Nami whipped around to stare down at Aisa. "What? Don't be silly. Ricky's got a second eye that he hides under an eye patch."

"I've been hearing your boyfriend's other voice since he fought Shura yesterday," Aisa stated.

"Boyfriend?" Robin repeated.

"Not now Robin!" Nami snapped. She looked back at Aisa. "You've mentioned him having a scary other voice before. I just thought you meant the eye."

"The second voice wasn't coming from an eye," Aisa insisted, "It was coming from him. Now that's the voice that I can hear up there with Eneru's."

"Ricky…" Nami mumbled. "That's why his sin was wrath... He doesn't even know…" Nami looked upward and her eyes narrowed. "I need to get up there. Red Eye could provoke Eneru and get Ricky killed. And Luffy doesn't know he's running up towards both of them."

"Wait… you want to _save_ Red Eye?" Usopp questioned.

"Screw Red Eye!" Nami snapped. "I'm going up there to save Ricky and Luffy!"

"Nami, we don't have time for this!" Usopp reminded her. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Then go on without me!" Nami told him. "Find some way to get back to the Merry. I'll catch up once I get Ricky and Luffy."

High up above them, Luffy continued to race up Giant Jack towards the Maxim.

"Oh man, that ship is movin' fast!" Luffy complained. "EENEEERUUUUUU!"

**-x-**

The Shandians rushed to evacuate the village.

"Quick, get on the ships! The whole sky is turning black!"

The Chief walked up to a woman named Isa. She had short dark hair and facial features that matched a certain little girl's. "What's wrong?" the Chief asked. "We need to flee at once."

"My daughter Aisa," Isa answered, "She still hasn't…"

"Ah, she still hasn't returned," the Chief realized. "Aisa is a bright child. We must have faith that she's with some warriors and will be protected."

"Right…" Isa agreed.

**-x-**

"HURRY! HURRY UP!" McKinley yelled as they continued to evacuate Angel Island.

"Captain!" one of the White Berets called out to McKinley. "If we don't use the boats at the dock we'll never fit everyone in!"

"They'd have to sail all the way around," McKinley realized. The dock was on the opposite side of the island from where they needed to evacuate to. "You men, use Dials to create rivers inside the islands at once!"

"Yes, sir!" the White Beret said before he rushed off to carry out the order. "Heso!"

McKinley gritted his teeth as he stared up at the dark sky and remembered Conis' warning.

"_EVERYONE! You have to go to Cloud End at the edge of the clouds, right away before it's too late!"_

"_ENERU PLANS TO DESTROY THIS LAND AND EVERYONE ON IT! IF WE DON'T EVACUATE NOW, WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"_

"_If we know anything about Eneru, we know this! He's always had the power to bring us to despair! To make us suffer and break us! I TELL YOU, WHAT HAPPENS NOW MAKES OUR PASSED SUFFERING INSIGNIFICANT! IT'S NOT GOING TO DO ANY GOOD SITTING AND WAITING FOR A MIRACLE! ITS TIME TO FACE THE FACT THAT AS FAR AS THIS LAND IS CONCERNED, GOD AS ABANDONED US! BEFORE WE PRAY, BEFORE WE CLOSE OUR EYES TO WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING HERE, WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE CAN TO SAVE OUR SELVES! We can't survive by hiding behind his victims any longer! IF we do nothing, NO MATTER WHO WE TRY TO BLAME, WE'RE ALL GOING TO LOSE OUR LIVES! AND IT'LL BE OUR FAULT! Now… IF WE WANT TO LIVE WE MUST LEAVE!"_

"HOW MANY OF THE ISLANDERS ARE LEFT?" McKinley demanded.

"Almost half of them!" one of the White Berets answered.

"PEOPLE ONLY!" McKinley yelled. "NO MORE BAGGAGE! GET EVERYBODY OUT TO SEA RIGHT AWAY!"

"YES SIR!" the White Berets chorused.

**-x-**

Some of the Skypiean ships that had cast off had made it down from the White White Sea and were headed to the White Sea.

Amazon frantically took pictures of the people as they fled passed. "HOLD IT!" the woman called out. "NOBODY'S LEAVING UNTIL EVERYONE PAYS THE TWO BILLION EXTOL DEPARTURE FEE!"

"AMAZON, HURRY!" a man called out to the batty old woman as she took pictures. "You can still escape with us! Hurry to Cloud End! THE SKY ISLANDS ARE ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED!"

No one bothered to pay the fee as they raced passed. Amazon stopped snapping pictures and stared after the boats in shock.

"Ohh…" she sighed.

**-x-**

Conis stood on the front deck of the Going Merry and stared out at the Upper Yard forest.

"The wind has stopped," she noted.

Everything grew quiet.

Then… **KRAKA-THOOOOM! **Thunder crashed.

**BZZOOOM! **Lightning shot down and struck one of the trees at the edge of the island. It was instantly engulfed in flames and toppled over into the Sea Clouds.

**-x-**

**BZZZZOOOOM! **Lightning struck one of the tall buildings in Angel Island as the people ran frantically through the streets.

"RUN! RUN!"

**-x-**

**KRAKA-THOOOM!**

Usopp whimpered while the other all stared in horror as lightning shot down out of Eneru's black thunder clouds and struck Upper Yard.

**-x-**

All the way up on the Ark, Eneru made his way over to the railing.

"Now then, let us begin the festivities," he resolved as he jumped up onto the railing. "The time for endings has come! Mamaragan!"

**BZZZZTT! **Eneru took on a white glow as he stretched his arms up towards the sky.

**KRAKA-THOOOOM! **There was another crash of thunder and then powerful lightning began to rain down all over not just Upper Yard but all the Sky Islands from his black thunder clouds.

**-x-**

"GET AWAY FROM THE ISLANDS!" someone screamed back on Angel Island as lightning struck buildings and caused them to burst into flame. "RUN! EVERYONE RUN!"

"THE LIGHTNING KEEPS GETTING BIGGER!"

"THE BOATS AT THE DOCKS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!"

"TO THE WESTERN END OF THE BEACH! QUICKLY!" a white beret yelled. "THERE ARE STILL BOATS THERE! RUN TO THE WEST!"

"MOVE, PEOPLE!" McKinley shouted. "LEAVE YOUR BELONGINGS!"

**-x-**

**BZZZOOOOM! BZZZOOOOOOM!**

Lightning rained down into the Sea Clouds all around the Going Merry.

Conis closed her eyes and hugged Suu to her chest.

**-x-**

"Chief, we need to get you on a boat," a Shandian insisted as the Chief stood in front of a large statue of a man with wild hair and a spear.

"_Great Warrior Calgara!" _the Chief prayed to the legendary warrior that the Shandians saw as their guardian. _"I beg you. Protect us all."_

**-x-**

**BZZZOOOOOM! **Usopp and Aisa screamed like little girls as lightning struck the nearby ruins. "EYAAAAAAHHHH!"

The ground shook enough to wake the dead. Or at least the heavily wounded and unconscious. Wyper's eyes snapped opened.

"MAN THOSE LIGHTNING BOLTS ARE HUGE!" Usopp exclaimed as he stared at the burning remains of some of the formerly giant trees. "WE'RE GONNA END UP SKY DUST IF WE STAY HERE!"

**VRROOOOM! **Nami revved the Dial Engine on her Waver. "GUYS! GO NOW!" she ordered. "ONCE I GET LUFFY AND RICKY WE'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

"Uh, yeah, right!" Usopp agreed. "I gotcha!"

**VRRROOOOOOOOOM! **Nami sped off up the beanstalk after Luffy.

"Is she really going to risk facing Eneru and his ship to save her evil boyfriend?" Aisa asked.

"**Uugghhh…" **Zoro groaned and sat up. "Is Nami telling people Ricky's her boyfriend again?"

"Mr. Swordsman," Robin greeted him. "She never confirmed that they were together so I'm feeling confident in my bet for the pool."

"Oh, what did she guess?" Zoro asked Usopp.

"Robin's guessed that they'd get together after Ricky gained control of the Eye," Usopp replied.

"WAIT! RICKY LOST CONTROL OF THE EYE!" Zoro shouted. "AND YOU GUYS LET HER GO UP THERE?"

"She went up after Luffy," Robin clarified, "He doesn't know that this… Red Eye is up there with Eneru."

**KOFF! KOFF!** Kiko spat up smoke as he sat up then stared up at the black lightning filled sky. "Did we lose? Is the world ending?"

**Klank-klank! **Gan Fall's armor rattled as the Sky Knight sat up.

"Weird old guy!" Usopp exclaimed. "Oh good, you guys are awake now! There's not a moment to lose. Do you guys think you can walk yet?"

"So… Eneru has begun," Gan Fall realized.

Sanji, Chopper and Pierre still remained unconscious.

"We must all hurry," Robin resolved, "There is nothing more we can do here."

"Wyper?" Kiko called out as the Descendant of Calgara stood up and stared silently off in a distance as Eneru's lightning bombarded their lost homeland.

**-x-**

"_I've gotta save them._ _I have to get Luffy then we'll get Ricky and get out of here!" _Nami thought to herself as she raced up the beanstalk after Luffy. He'd gotten a huge head start and was a ways ahead of her. _"We need to leave before this entire island is obliterated!"_

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as he stood on the railing with his arms spread and watched as his lightning stuck the Sky Islands over and over again. "MAGNIFICENT!"

"**Well isn't that a pretty sight."**

Eneru whipped around to see Red Eye behind him.

"DAMN!" Eneru cursed. "How'd you get out here? I sealed both doors!"

"There are two big holes in the floor." Red Eye pointed over his shoulder at the two holes that Eneru and Luffy had smashed through the deck during their battle.

"Oh…" Eneru said as he sweat-dropped.

"You're lucky I like this destructive little ship so much or I would've started smashing things in retaliation for you trying to seal me inside it," Red Eye remarked. "I must say that this lightning storm of yours has a special level of flair to it. It may lack the personal touch of killing people yourself in the favor of causing mass collateral destruction but I can see how effective it is."

Red Eye grinned. "I'll give you one more chance. Join me and I'll let you pilot this ship of yours as I lay waste to the Blue Sea World below this one."

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Eneru thundered as his body glowed white. "I REFUSE TO SERVE ANYONE! I AM GOD!" **BZZZZOOOOOOM! **Lightning shot down out of the sky and struck the deck where Red Eye was standing.

Keyword there: was.

"WRONG ANSWER!" Red Eye yelled as he flew towards Eneru and lashed out his fist.

**-x-**

But while the proclaimed God and Demon resumed their battle up above. Luffy continued his race up the beanstalk.

"RAAAHH! YOU'D BETTER NOT THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I'M GONNA LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS ENERU!"

**-x-**

Some people think of the Skypiea Arc as a waste of an arc because it takes place all the way up in the sky and doesn't really effect the rest of the world. I disagree. It's the first place where the people are actively using Haki (or Mantra anyway) and I plan to use it for all its worth. Here are the three big reveals:

First, Ricky's Treasure Sense and the Eye's 'telepathy' are a form of Mantra/Color of Observation Haki. Zoro was able to sense the 'rhythm of all things' when he was close to death in his battle against Daz Bones. Ricky's latent and untrained Haki has allowed him to sense the 'rhythm' of valuable treasure from a young age.

Second, Ricky was able to punch Eneru because the Eye's 'telekinesis' is a special form of Color of Armaments Haki. It's the same reason why Red Eye was able to hit Luffy "like Grandpa" back in my Sin story arc. In short, the Red Eye gives Ricky unique ways to access his latent Haki.

Third, is the one from Aisa this chapter: it's not the Eye that's evil… it's Ricky himself. Or part of him anyway. My original One Piece explanation for how this is possible was going to be Usopp and Sniper King. But the most recent arc in the manga has provided me with a better one: Cavendish and Hakuba. The explanation of _how _comes later.

I'm mentioning all of this now because Ricky doesn't know it himself to properly explain it. Is it so out-of-character for Ricky to lie and trick someone? That's what his evil half did to him.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	31. Calgara and Noland

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** This is embarrassing. I had a disclaimer. But it was stolen. The nerve of some people.

**A/N:** I'm skipping through the Calgara/Montblanc Noland flashback.

**Calgara and Noland:**

**-x-**

"Aw crap!" Usopp exclaimed as he hefted Sanji onto his shoulder while lightning continued to strike the ground all around Upper Yard and the neighboring Sky Islands. "He's not holding back! We've gotta move! Everything here is done for!"

**-x-**

High up overhead on the Maxim, Eneru's battle with Red Eye continued.

**SWISH!** Eneru weaved to the side to avoid a punch from Red Eye.

"HOLD STILL, YA BASTARD!" Red Eye yelled as Eneru jumped away from him.

"Yahahahahaha," Eneru laughed. "This is the same case with that rubber fool. You may be able to hit Me but with My Mantra, I am more than capable of dodging all your attacks."

"I don't need to hit you to hurt you!" Red Eye insisted. He leapt at Eneru and lashed out his fist. **SWISH! **Eneru leaned back and the punch stopped short. "RED EYE… PUNCH!" **WOOOSH! **But the force of the punch still kept going and plowed into Eneru's face.

Eneru went flying across the deck and crashed to the floor. **THUD! **He rolled across it until he hit the railing and finally came to a stop. Eneru reached up and pulled himself up with the railing. "That was a... cheap trick..."

Eneru stared off the side of the Ark for a moment. "So, that's where those detestable Shandians have hidden their village," Eneru realized. "They're originally from the Blue Sea, surely they would love to go home. Yahahahahaha!" Eneru jumped up onto the railing. "NOW! FALL TO THE WORLD BELOW!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOOOOOOM! **A huge bolt of super-charged lightning shot down out of the sky and struck the Shandian Village. The Island Cloud exploded upward and the teepees and other objects that hadn't been taken when Shandians evacuated were blown backwards by the force of the explosion.

"Our village! NO!" a Shandian exclaimed as he hid with some other Shandians inside a bunker. "Its been destroyed!"

Two little girls whimpered and hugged their mother.

"That could have been us if we had waited any longer," another Shanidan realized as they watched their village burn in a distance. "We'd be ashes."

The fire that had been caused by the explosion spread and consumed most of the village. In the middle of it, the statue of the Great Warrior Calgara stood tall over the burning flames.

**-x-**

"_In the name of the Great Warrior Calgara… Light the Fire of Shandora!" _

The Chief's words echoed in Wyper's head as he watched the lightning strike Upper Yard.

Aisa ran over and grabbed Wyper's hand. "WYPER!" She tugged on his arm and tried to get him to come after the Straw Hats.

But Wyper was still lost in what the Chief had told him when he was a boy.

"_Great Warrior Calgara, your distant ancestor had many reasons for wanting to take back our homeland. But one you may not know."_

"_He had another reason?" Wyper had questioned._

"_Yes," the Chief confirmed. "It would become his greatest regret. Now listen, Great Warrior Calgara had a very close friend."_

"_Calgara had a friend?" Wyper repeated._

"_That's right," the Chief Confirmed. "He came to know Calgara four hundred years ago. His name… Montblanc Noland."_

The Chief then told Wyper of the tale that had been passed on through generations of their people. They story of how the Great Warrior Calgara, known as 'the Monster' had become friends with the explorer and botanist Montblanc Noland.

On the skull-shaped island of Shandora, Calgara was known as a monster. In order to protect his homeland from being revealed to the outside world he sank ships with his big chain ball and slaughtered crews with his spear. His people were suffering from a deadly plague and dying crops so it was decided that they needed to perform a sacrifice to appease the Gods. One the day of the sacrifice, Commodore Montblanc Noland was drawn to the island by the majestic ringing of a bell. He easily identified the plague as Tree Fever and being a botanist by trade knew how to find the cure. Noland arrived at the sacrificial altar in time to see the Shandians about to sacrifice an innocent young woman called Mousse to the giant snake Kashigami that the Shandians referred to as a God. Noland interfered in the sacrifice and saved Mousse but he ended up getting stabbed with Calgara's spear. Noland pleaded with the Shandians that sacrifice wasn't necessary and that he could cure the plague and fix their crops. The Chief agreed to give Noland until sunset the next day to solve their problems otherwise his captured crew would be executed at the altar.

Noland spent the night exploring the forest and managed to find a Kona Tree which would provide a cure for the Shandian's Tree Fever 'plague'. But early the next day, there was an earthquake. Calgara held a bitter resentment towards Noland for interfering in the sacrifice and was pleased to find him trapped in a crack in the earth. Calgara sat down and decided to watch Noland squirm until his men were executed. Noland attempted to reason with Calgara and told him that sacrifices were pointless deaths. The lives of actual people were more important than Gods. But Calgara was set in his beliefs. His people had lived that way for centuries. The sun had begun to set and Noland's men were brought to the Altar along with Mousse to be sacrificed. Noland continued his attempts to reason with Calgara. He said that sacrificing an innocent girl with no remorse was less than human. Calgara turned around and revealed that the 'innocent girl' Mousse was his own daughter. He was so set in his beliefs that he'd sacrifice his own family to save his people. He insisted that there was power in the words of their Gods and that they wouldn't listen to their pleas without a proper sacrifice.

A massive child of Kashigama appeared. Calgara insisted that it was 'a child of God' come to reap vengeance on Noland for murdering Kashigama. Noland tried to explain that Tree Fever was a plague that he had experience with from his own home village. But they had found a cure. No one in the outside world had died from Tree Fever in decades. Noland revealed that he'd found the Kona Tree the night before and that he could use the bark he'd collected to cure the Tree Fever. He insisted that he could use the cure to save all of the Shandian's lives and that letting him die would mean that Calgara was dooming his people to die from the plague. The child of Kashigama lunged to finish off Noland but Calgara cut it down with his spear. Calgara pointed out that he'd just broken one of the sacred commandments of his people. He'd just murdered a God. He asked again if Noland could really save his people. Noland agreed that he could and would. And he did. Noland and his crew's doctor used the Kona Tree bark to create a cure for the Tree Fever and the Shandians were saved. Afterwards, Noland and Calgara had encountered another snake. This one was small and a baby. Calgara remarked that "that snake had a grandchild". Noland pointed out that Calgara had just referred to 'their God' as 'that snake' and the two shared a hearty laugh. Noland had broken through the spell that had been over Calgara in the form of his closed-minded beliefs. The two became friends.

Calgara repaid Noland for helping his people by teaching him his people's ways and brought him down through a hole in the ground to the City of Gold Shandora. The city's name itself actually translated to 'the Skull's Right Eye' which was exactly where it was hidden on the island. The familiar stone buildings of Shandora of the present day were all lined in solid gold. The Shandians happily allowed Noland's men to take some gold as a thanks for saving their people. However, the most beautiful part of the city wasn't the gold buildings but the magnificent golden bell that was in the middle of it. It was the same bell that had drawn Noland to the island in the first place. And Calgara revealed that the real treasure that they'd been protecting all these years had actually been the Poneglyph on the front of the Grand Belfry. The Shandians couldn't read the Poneglyph they just knew that it needed to be protected at all costs. Calgara explained that the golden bell was known as 'The Fire of Shandora' and that ringing it was lightning the fire of Shandora. The Fire of Shandora's majestic ringing was said to be a beacon that could bring home all the spirits of their ancestors. The young snake had followed them down to Shandora and seemed to enjoy the ringing of the bell. Calgara commented that one day it could grow to be even bigger than Kashigama.

The friendship between the Shandians and Noland's crew continued to grow. Noland gifted the Shandians with some special seeds while Calgara even offered to let Noland stay and marry his daughter Mousse but Noland declined and said that he had a wife and kids back home. He was staying until he finished cataloging the large forest on the island. But then things changed. The Shandians discovered that in the process of cataloging the forest, Noland had cut down a grove of the trees. The Shandians grew cold towards Noland and his crew and wanted nothing to do with them. Calgara had even attacked Noland and insisted that the only reason they hadn't killed Noland and his crew was out of respect for them curing their Tree Fever. Noland's crew was confused by the sudden hostility and Noland told them that they'd leave the next day as he'd finally finished studying the forest. That night, Calgara's daughter Mousse came to explain her people's anger. Lighting 'the Fire of Shandora' was said to bring the spirits of their people back to the island and those spirits would rest in the trees, the same trees that Noland had cut down thus destroying the spirits of their ancestors. When Noland found out he was so ashamed that he ordered his men to leave the gold the Shandians had given them behind and they prepared to set off without it the next morning.

But while Noland and his men were setting off, Mousse had returned to her father and revealed the reason that Noland had cut down the trees. They were already dead. Tree Fever got its name because it affected people and trees as well. The trees died and acted as carriers for the disease and spread it to people and nearby trees. The trees that Noland had cut down were the ones that were carrying Tree Fever and by removing them he had removed any chance of the Tree Fever coming back. Now it was Calgara's turned to feel regret. He raced after his friends and caught Noland as he was sailing off. Calgara apologized profusely and begged Noland to please return someday. Noland smiled and assured Calgara that he would. The two friends vowed that they would once again meet on the same land one day.

It took five years. When Noland returned to his home of Lvneel in the North Blue, people weren't sure if Noland's stories about Shandora the City of Gold were even true. They were too incredible. But five years later, the King of Lvneel had finally gotten approval from Mariejois for a return trip to Shandora. Noland was happy for a chance to finally see his friend again while the King was more interested in getting his hands on some of the gold that Noland had mentioned. The King of Lvneel told Noland that he and his army would be going with Noland on this trip. But before he could return, the Knock Up Stream struck and blasted half of Shandora up into the sky. It went up through the White Sea and landed in the White White Sea. It landed on a long twisted beanstalk which jabbed through the bottom of the island and sent the golden bell flying up out of the city much to the disappointment of the young snake that Calgara had named Nola after his dear friend. When Noland and the King finally arrived at what remained of Shandora, the King was furious while Noland was shocked and wondered where anyone had gone. The King ordered Noland to be executed for lying to him about the city of gold. Noland's last thoughts were him begging Calgara to light the Fire of Shandora one more time so he'd know that the Shandians were okay. Up in the sky, the fat and greedy God of Skypiea had seen the island of Vearth land in his domain and demanded that it become his new home. The God of Skypiea and his enforcers attacked the Shandians and while the Shandian's survived the first battle despite not being used to the thinner air in the sky, they were eventually driven from their home.

"_And the Great Warriors Calgara continued to shout," the Chief concluded his story to young Wyper, "Just once would have been enough. But he believed that the Fire of Shandora would echo and tell the world that we are here. But the bell never rang once. And then, everything was explained to our villagers. Sailors from the Blue Sea that Noland, to whom we owe so much, had such pride for our city that he refused to deny Shandora's existence and died known as a liar. But, it was too late. The Great Warrior Calgara had died honorably in battle here in the sky. He was never able to convey his message. And that, was the Great Warrior's biggest regret."_

"_Do you think we'd still be able to reach him?" Wyper had asked. "If we rang the bell now, do you think we'd still be able to reach Noland? Tell me the truth!"_

"_That's a good question," the Chief replied as tears ran down his face. "Well… we are close to heaven…"_

"Wyper!" Aisa continued to tug on the unresponsive Shandian Warrior's arm as he silently watched the destruction of his lost homeland. "Come on! We'll die if we don't leave now! Uh! Please Wyper!"

"Eneru…" Wyper growled. "What gives you the right to take away everything that we know?"

**-x-**

"HEY! QUIT DESTROYING STUFF!" Red Eye shouted at Eneru.

"And why would I do that?" Eneru questioned as he turned to face Red Eye. "The sky is God's Domain. Everything is an eyesore! The people, the trees, the land! It should all return to where it belongs!"

"YOU CUT THAT OUT, RIGHT NOW!" Red Eye shouted at him.

"What's the matter 'demon'?" Eneru taunted. "When I'm done everything will rain back down to your domain in the Blue Sea. Don't tell Me you've actually grown to care for those fools in the Shandian Village?"

"NO!" Red Eye snapped. "If you destroy it all, THERE'LL BE NOTHING LEFT FOR ME!"

"Then you should have stayed in the Blue Sea!" Eneru remarked. "This is MY Domain and I can destroy it as I see fit! Watch Me lay waste to Angel Island!" Eneru raised his arm up into the air.

**-x-**

**BA-ZOOOOOOM! **McKinley's eyes went wide in horror as a huge bolt of lightning shot down out of the clouds towards the middle of Lovely St. **BZZZZOOOOOOOOOM!**

McKinley's mouth dropped open in shock. "It… missed…" The lightning bolt had completely bypassed the village and plowed into the Island Cloud beside it.

"_Eneru's never missed when targeting something before," _McKinley thought to himself. He looked up at the Maxim. _"What's going on up there?"_

One of the White Berets ran up to McKinley. "Sir! What do we do with the people that have been injured?"

"HURRY!" McKinley barked. "WE'LL TREAT THEM ONCE THEY'RE IN THE BOATS! THERE'S NO TIME TO LOSE!"

"_What would have happened if that girl had warned us any later?" _McKinley wondered. _"I hope she's alright."_

**-x-**

Conis remained still and silent as she hugged Suu to her chest on the Going Merry.

**-x-**

"HEH-HEH-HEH!" Red Eye laughed. "AS I THOUGHT! YOU CAN'T STRIKE SOMETHING PROPERLY WHEN YOU'VE GOT MY FIST BURIED IN YOUR FACE!"

Red Eye pulled his fist back from Eneru's face and he fell backwards off of the railing.

**BZZZT!** Eneru disappeared then reappeared on the middle of the deck again.

"You bastard!" Eneru growled as he rubbed his cheek where Red Eye had hit him. "It seems I won't be able to get any actual work done until I'm rid of you."

"Oh, so does that mean I've finally gotten your attention?" Red Eye asked. "Because I told myself the next time that you ran off and ignored me that I'd just stab you."

"Yes, Blue Sea Demon, you now have My Full Attention!" Eneru announced. **Bzzzzzbzzzzztt! **Eneru's entire body took on a bright white glow. "THAT WILL BE YOUR LAST MISTAKE!"

**-x-**

"He's far above now," Robin noted as they stared up at the Arc as it neared God's Shrine, the tiny bit of Island Cloud near the top of the beanstalk where God had once resided. "It's only a matter of time until his ship reaches the top of the vine."

"I don't get it," Gan Fall said, "What is it that Eneru wants up there?"

"I believe he's trying to get to the golden bell," Robin answered.

"A bell?" Gan Fall repeated.

Wyper stiffened and finally turned to look at the others.

**-x-**

"Why do you defend them, Blue Sea Demon?" Eneru demanded. "What could those foolish angels possibly mean to you?"

"Nothing," Red Eye replied. "I don't wanna save anyone. I just wanna kill _you_. First you ran away from me, then you trapped me inside your ship, then you refused my generous order to let you join me and live… twice, and then you ignored me to cause mass destruction. You know, normally I just kill people for no reason. BUT YOU'VE GIVEN ME FOUR!"

"FOOL!" Eneru shouted. "YOU CAN'T KILL ME! I AM GOD!"

"That's not gonna stop me from trying," Red Eye retorted. "And when I succeed, they'll call me 'Red Eye the God Slayer'. And then I'll kill them too!"

"DIE!" **BAA-ZZOOOOOM!** A powerful bolt of lightning shot down out of the sky.

**SKISH! **"YOU FIRST!" Red Eye shouted as he jumped back onto the railing and avoided the lightning. The smoke cleared and revealed the large hole that the lightning had made in the deck.

"Right where I want you!" Eneru exclaimed as his entire body glowed bright white. "SANGO!" **BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **The large beam shot off of Eneru's body, easily four time as thick as his much-used El Thor attack that only came from his arm. Eneru's powerful attack blasted off the side of the ship, shot across the gap and blasted the buildings that had made up God's Shrine.

The bright light faded and revealed that Eneru had destroyed a large chunk of his ark's railing. Beyond that, God's Shrine had been reduced to nothing.

**-x-**

"WAAAAAHHH!" Nami yelped as she saw the lightning shoot off the side of the ark and destroy whatever was on the Island Clouds up above her. _"Red Eye's fighting him…"_

**-x-**

**SKISH! **Red Eye jumped up and landed on the edge of the ark where the railing had once been. "Ya missed," he taunted. He looked over his shoulder at what had once been God's Shrine. "Well, I hope you didn't hold any attachment to that old place. It looked kinda nice."

Eneru gritted his teeth and glared at Red Eye, "I don't need God's Shrine anymore. Shandora is useless to me as well. There is only one thing in this land that I want… the Gold Belfry!"

"Gold Belfry, huh?" Red Eye repeated as he looked upward. "Well we've still got a ways to go. LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO REACH IT!"

Eneru stared at Red Eye but then he frowned. _"Hmm… suddenly I'm sensing two voices…_

**-x-**

**VRRRRRMMM… **_"How can he run so fast?" _Nami wondered as she struggled to catch up with Luffy, who despite the big gold ball molded onto his arm, was still way up ahead of her. "LUFFY! YOU'VE GOTTA BE CAREFUL! RED EYE'S FIGHTING ENERU UP THERE!"

Luffy was too far above Nami to hear her. He was convinced that she was trapped on the Maxim. "Nami, I'm coming! ENERU! I'LL NEVER LET YOU HAVE THE GOLDEN BELL!"

**-x-**

**Raigo's Advent:**

**-x-**

"A golden bell?" Wyper finally spoke up. Robin looked up from Chopper towards the warrior. "Tell me, that's what you said isn't it?"

"Yes," Robin answered.

"Who was talking about a golden bell?" Usopp wondered.

"She was saying something about it before she was struck by Eneru's lightning bolt too," Kiko recalled.

"The golden bell is what Eneru desires," Wyper resolved. "Now that we know what Eneru's going for, you have to tell me where it is."

"HOLD ON!" Usopp yelled. "CAN WE JUST THINK ABOUT THIS FOR ONE SECOND! YOU SAW THAT THUNDERBOLT! WE'RE AS GOOD AS DEAD IF WE DON'T GET OUT OF HERE!"

But Robin wasn't scared. She simply pointed behind her at Giant Jack. "It's up this beanstalk," Robin told Wyper. "Somewhere near the top."

"You're sure?" Wyper questioned. "How do you know this?"

"We promised Nami that we'd wait back on this ship," Usopp tried to remind the others. "She'll be back with Luffy and Ricky any time now! I'm sure!"

"That coward's right this time," Aisa chimed in.

"The ruins of Shandora are in the layer directly beneath us," Robin explained. "The giant beanstalk pierces the very center of the city."

Usopp whimpered and crawled towards the beanstalk, he stopped at the large hole that had Eneru had blasted through them when he brought everyone down to Shandora.

"Oh man, these ruins god blasted into dust!" he exclaimed. He looked back at the others. "And if we don't get out of here right now, we're gonna be next!"

"In the ruins is discovered a map the reveals the location of the Grand Belfry," Robin continued. "The map indicated that it could be found at the heart of the ancient city."

"HEY! WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME!" Usopp shouted.

Robin continued to ignore him. "To put it simply, when the Upper Yard was blasted into the sky by the Knock Up Stream four hundred years ago, it fell on top of that beanstalk. The force of the impact of the vine must have sent the bell hurling skyward to its present location. I may not have seen it but I am absolutely certain that the golden bell is up there. My First Mate has the ability to sense gold and treasure. When we first reached Shandora he insisted that he needed to climb that beanstalk. I know now that it's because he sensed the golden bell at the top of it."

"_Then it's directly above us," _Wyper realized.

"_The Island's Singing Voice,"_ Gan Fall thought to himself.

"…" Zoro remained silent. He thought back to a conversation they'd had about a golden bell when he, Luffy, Ricky, Chopper and Robin had first set off in the morning to find the city. Before the giant snake had attacked them.

"_Hey," Luffy had called out as he scraped his stick along a tree. "The City of Gold's got a really big bell in it, right?"_

**-x-**

Up overhead, the Maxim had finally reached the top of Giant Jack.

"We're finally above Giant Jack, Blue Sea Demon," Eneru announced. "You should count yourself privileged. This is virgin sky. Even I've had no reason to come this high up before."

"Then let's fill this virgin sky with your blood!" Red Eye decided. **SKISH! **He rushed at Eneru.

"_Mantra!" _Eneru scanned Red Eye and read his attack. _"He's going to throw a punch." _**SWISH! **Eneru leaned back and Ricky's fist stopped short of his face. _"Yes, I can still use My Mantra to read his…"_

"Red Eye … PUNCH!" A blast of what Red Eye called 'telekinetic' energy shot off of Ricky's hand and slammed into Eneru's face. **WOOOOSH! **Eneru was blasted back across the deck.

"Me damn it!" Eneru cursed yelped. "He did it again! He didn't even touch me!"

**ZZZZOOOOOOM! **Red Eye sped across the deck passed Eneru then spun around and jumped up as the midair God flew towards him. "Red Eye… FLIP KICK!" **THWHAM! **Red Eye slammed Ricky's bare feet into Eneru's back. Red Eye flipped off of Eneru and launched back the way he came while he landed on his feet.

**THUD! **Eneru crashed to the deck and rolled across the floor. He stopped short of the hole he'd blasted in the deck with his lightning and stood back up.

"How?" Eneru asked out loud, "He didn't even touch me…"

"Wanna see me do it again?" Eneru spun around to find Red Eye behind him. "Red Eye… BODYBLOW!" **WOOOSH! **Red Eye threw a punch but instead of a fist, an invisible force connected with Eneru's stomach. Eneru gasped and doubled over. "Red Eye… UPPERCUT!" **WOOOSH! **Red Eye swung upward and the same invisible force slammed into Eneru's chin. Eneru was blasted up off of the deck and flew through the air.

Red Eye snapped Ricky's arms down and shot up into the air after Eneru. **SHOOM! **Red Eye flew up passed Eneru then flipped over above him. "Red Eye… STOMP!" **BZZZT! **Eneru suddenly disappeared before the attack could connected. Red Eye flew straight down and landed on the deck. **Tmp!**

**BZZT! **Eneru reappeared on the roof of the Maxim up above the gold face.

"What sort of ability is this?" Eneru wondered as he stood perched on the ark roof. "Is it something from the Blue Sea? I'm made of lightning and he can touch Me. But he doesn't even need to. He can attack Me without even touching Me."

"What's the matter _God_?" Red Eye taunted. "Getting scared? Are you running away again?"

Eneru scowled at Red Eye but then something caught his attention. "Hmm?"

"**EEEENEEEERUUUUUUU!" **Luffy hollered at the top of his lungs before he ran up the last of the beanstalk and came out in the ruins of God's Shrine. "What's with this place?"

Up overhead, both God and the Demon stared down at Luffy. "Straw Hat…" Red Eye growled.

"Him…" Eneru observed. "It would appear that I have underestimated the little rat."

Luffy looked up and spotted the Maxim. "Gotcha!" Luffy jumped up onto the remaining bit of Giant Jack and ran straight up it towards the Maxim. "EEENNNEEERRRUUU!"

"Absurd…" Eneru muttered. **BZZZZOOOOM! **Eneru shot a blast of lightning at Luffy.

**SKISH! **Luffy jumped over the lightning black and kept running up the beanstalk.

**Krek-krek=krek! **But Luffy quickly realized he hadn't been Eneru's target. He'd jumped and Eneru had blasted the bottom of the last part of the beanstalk.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy screamed as the top of the beanstalk fell and took him with it.

"YAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as Luffy fell off the beanstalk and dropped passed God's Shrine.

**-x-**

"Uuugghhh…" the wounded Wyper's blood dripped onto the white cloud as he staggered toward the beanstalk.

"Wyper? What are you planning to do?" Aisa questioned."Don't tell me you're planning to climb the beanstalk!"

"Wyper, you'll never make it up there in your condition," Kiko insisted.

Usopp looked up and whimpered when he saw something large fall down past the Upper Ruins. "EVERYONE! GET AWAY FROM THE BEANSTALK!" he yelled as the top of Giant Jack dropped down from way overhead. "SOMETHING'S FALLING! WAAAAH!"

"HOOO!" Kiko howled as he grabbed Wyper and Aisa and dove out of the way.

**SHUUUNK! **Usopp dove out of the way just as the top of the beanstalk dropped down and impaled through the Island Cloud's he'd just been standing on.

"The top of the stalk!" Robin exclaimed. "What's happening up there?"

"Oh no!" Usopp gasped as he held his hand over his frantically beating heart. "Don't tell me Luffy and Nami fell with it! I just don't think I could take it!"

"Wyper!" Aisa cried as Wyper struggled to get up. "No! You can't go! Not in this condition!"

"Wyper, you're a wreck," Kiko pointed out, "You'll never survive the climb. And even if you did, that was the top of Giant Jack. There's no way to reach Eneru's flying ship now."

"The bell…" Wyper groaned. "It's directly above us. Ugghh… uuugghhh… Great Warrior Calgara longed to hear its sound."

"Great Warrior Calgara?" Kiko repeated.

"Yes," Wyper answered, "That is our true goal." Wyper stared up at the beanstalk, "Eneru! I swear that you will never take the bell!"

**-x-**

High up overhead, Luffy had managed to save himself by grabbing onto one of the large leaves that was growing out of the beanstalk. He hand the gold ball dangled in midair below what had once been God's Shrine.

"Yahahaha," Eneru laughed, "This little predicament will make it very difficult indeed for you to reach me won't it.

"Grr…" Luffy growled as he struggled to hold onto the leaf while the gold ball pulled down. "Just you wait!"

**SKISH! **Red Eye landed on the Maxim's roof in front of Eneru. 'I'd be upset about you getting distracted again but that rubber runt is a real pest," Red Eye admitted. "So I'll overlook it this one last time."

"I don't have time to deal with him anymore," Eneru stated. "I'm behind schedule now. I no longer have time to play with you either. But if you hang around a little longer, I'll show you both something miraculous." **BZZZT! **Eneru disappeared in a flash of bright light.

"There he goes," Red Eye growled, "Running away again." He looked down from the roof and saw Luffy hanging from the beanstalk down below him. "I'll deal with you later. But… that does give me an idea…"

Red Eye crouched down on the roof and twisted his head and shoulder's to the side. He raised his arms high up overhead then snapped them down. "Red Eye… ROCKET!" **SHOOOOOM! **Red Eye pushed off of the roof with all of his energy and spun up into the air with all the force of a rocket. **WOOOSH! **He shot up through the dark clouds like a spinning drill.

"_There is only one thing in this land that I want… the Gold Belfry!" _

"He's after the gold bell," Red Eye resolved. "Fortunately, I know exactly where it is. I'll get to it first and finally make him come to me."

**-x-**

"Was that… Red Eye?" Luffy wondered as he hung from the leaf.

**FWASH! **Lightning flashed in a distance. Luffy turned and saw a hole appear in the black clouds over Angel Island. Bright, almost white light shined down through the hole.

"Oh yeah, I guess I should get out of this while he's not around," Luffy decided. **Whup! **Luffy pulled himself upward with the arm above him then dropped down. The recoil from the drop went all the way down through the gold ball on the arm below him. Luffy's dangling arm stretched then bounced upward. **Whup! **Luffy pulled up and dropped again. The gold ball bounced again. **WHUP! **Luffy pulled harder and then dropped down faster which caused the ball to bounce even more .**WOING!**

Luffy kept going a few more times. The leaf struggled to hold the weight as he bounced around below it. **WOING! WOING! **Luffy continued to bounce up and down with the gold ball.

"GUUUMM… GUUUMM… YOYO!" Luffy gave one last massive pull which broke the leaf. **SHOOOOOM! **Luffy and the gold ball shot up into the air and flew back up the beanstalk to God's Shrine.

Nami rode upward as Luffy shot passed her back up onto the Island Clouds. "What is he doing?" she wondered out loud.

**WHUMP! **Luffy and the gold ball crashed down onto God's Shrine.

Luffy rolled the ball off of him and stood back up, "Wow! My plan totally worked!"

**VVRROOOOOOM! **Just then, Nami raced up onto the Island Clouds on the Waver.

"Right!" Luffy resolved. "Now's my chance to get on board that ark!"

**VVRRROO-SQUISSSSHHH! **Nami skidded to a stop as she accidentally ran over her captain with the Waver.

"Luffy!" Nami exclaimed as she looked down at the rubber pirate under her Waver.

Luffy twisted his head around and stared up at Nami, "What're you doing here Nami?" he asked. "I haven't rescued you yet."

"I came to rescue you, you dolt!" Nami corrected him. "Sanji and Usopp managed to save me. But Ricky got hit and now he's gone Red Eye again. I didn't want you to have to face both Eneru and Red Eye alone."

"Oh, so you were safe," Luffy replied. He completely ignored her warning. "That's great. I knew Ricky would look after you but I was still worried."

"Look, we need to—" Nami was cut off by a loud rumbling.

Luffy and Nami turned and saw the glowing hole in the thunder clouds go dark as an even darker sphere lowered through the hole.

"The thunder clouds, they're changing shape," Nami realized.

**-x-**

The remaining people on Angel Island grew even more panicked as the black sphere lowered towards them.

"THE SKY!"

"SAVE US!"

"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!"

"THE SKY IS PITCH BLACK!"

"MAMA!"

"DON'T STOP!"

"KEEP RUNNING!"

"TO THE SEA!"

"THERE'S A GIANT BALL FLOATING IN THE SKY!"

**-x-**

"I have a bad feeling about this," Nami said as she and Luffy stared at the black ball. "That ball coming through the clouds is a massive thunderhead. It bursting at the seams with hurricane winds and deadly lightning bolts!"

**-x-**

**BZZZZT! BZZZZZZT! BZZZZZT! **Lightning coursed around the outside of the black sphere.

"Its right above… Angel Island…" Aisa realized as she, Wyper, Kiko, Gan Fall, Zoro, Usopp and Robin all stared in shock at the black sphere as it continued to descend from the clouds.

"A condensed thundercloud shaped like a sphere," Robin observed.

"Aaaah…aaaahhh…aaaahhh" Usopp let out a terrified gurgling noise. "Unreal… This has got to be a nightmare…"

"What is this?" Gan Fall wondered. "What new horrors could he unleash next?"

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as he surveyed his latest instrument of mass destruction. "NOW EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT THE SKIES ARE MINE! RAIGO!"

**-x-**

**Save Angel Island:**

**-x-**

Bright light shined down on Red Eye from overhead as he walked across white clouds.

"Looks like I'm above the storm," Red Eye noted. He continued forward and the front of Ricky's body was suddenly bathed in a gold glow. Both of Red Eye's eyes widened as he stared at the gold bell known as the Fire of Shandora.

The bell was almost the size of the Going Merry and had intricate markings all on the outside and was covered in vines. The bell hung from and was framed by an equally intricate gold belfry.

"_It's beautiful…"_

"_**You!"**_ Red Eye growled at the voice only he heard. _**"Stay silent. I'm in control now!"**_

"_We need to…"_

"_**I AM NOT RINGING THAT BELL! And get another thing straight! There's no 'we'! I'M in control now, there's just ME. You, unfortunately, are now coming along for the ride."**_

**RRRMMMBBBLLLE!**

"_What was that sound?"_

"_**God's probably throwing a tantrum." **_Red Eye turned around and saw a hole appear in the white clouds in a distance. _**"What the heaven?"**_

Red Eye ran across the white clouds and reached the hole. He stared down into what was almost a tunnel of black clouds and saw the even darker sphere as it lowered towards Angel Island.

**BZZZZT! BZZZZZZZT! BZZZZZZZT! **Lightning coursed around the outside of the sphere.

"_That sphere is condensed thunderclouds! It's powerful enough to_ _destroy an entire island."_

"_**Well… I do need to find some way to get his attention…"**_

"_I may have an idea of you're interested…"_

"_**I told you, I'm not listening to you!"**_

"_But I've got a surefire way to piss Eneru off and make him sure to come after you."_

"_**Fine… WHAT'S YOUR IDEA?"**_

**-x-**

The Skypieans on Angel Island continued to panic as the black ball came closer to their homes.

"HURRY! TO THE SEA!"

"WAIT FOR ME!"

"SOMEONE SAVE US!"

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as he listened to the people scream below him. "WITH THE MAXIM AND MYSELF I AM UNSTOPPABLE! I HAVE BECOME TRULY OMNIPOTENT!"

**-x-**

The Skypieans that had evacuated in the boats watched in terror as the black sphere lowered.

"LOOK, ITS FALLING ONTO ANGEL ISLAND!"

Partially across the White White Sea, the Shandians stood above their village and watched the imposing black ball in horror as well.

The Skypieans ran frantically through the streets on Angel Island. Some of them dropped the positions that they had taken so long to gather and leave with.

"ITS TOO LATE!"

"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!"

"HURRY!"

"EVERYBODY RUN!"

"I'M SO SCARED!"

"GET OUTTA HERE!"

**-x-**

Red Eye's red eye glowed brightly as he drew his sword and swung it around in front of him.

"RED EYE… HURRICANE!" Red Eye focused all of his 'energy' into the attack. Instead of a simple red-tinted spiral air blade the attack increased in power ten-fold and became a solid, spinning, red vortex.

**WHOOOOOOSSSHHHH! **The red vortex plunged downward into the top of the black sphere. The red hurricane-like vortex spun down through the inside of Eneru's 'Raigo' and not only disrupted the hurricane winds inside it but Red Eye's vortex was spinning so fast that it actually drew in the wind in the Raigo and added it to itself. **WOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHHH! **The red vortex came even bigger and more powerful as it flew down through the rest of the condensed sphere of hurricane wind, lightning and storm cloud.

**SHOOOOOOOM! **A red column of spinning air burst out from the bottom of the black sphere and slammed down into Lovely Street, destroying a building in the process. But as the red vortex hit the ground it blacked the black sphere back up into the air. **SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!**

**-x-**

"WHAT? NO!" Eneru yelled as he watched lightning spark erratically out of both of the large holes that Red Eye's attack had punched through his Raigo. "THAT VORTEX DISRUPTED THE AIR FLOW INSIDE MY RAIGO! NOW ITS GOING TO…"

**-x-**

**BAAAAAAA-ZOOOOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!**

Everyone was momentarily blinded as the big black sphere exploded in a flash of white light.

When the bright white light from the explosion finally faded the topmost buildings on Angel Island had been completely vaporized by the lightning explosion. BUT ANGEL ISLAND WAS STILL THERE!

**-x-**

"I don't believe it… that's impossible…" a Skypiean gasped.

"That ball would have destroyed Angel Island… Our precious homeland would have been gone forever!"

"Someone saved us!"

"OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!"

"PRAISE THE SAVIOR!"

Across the White White Sea, the Shandians gasped at the sight of the near destruction but then the last minute rescue of Angel Island.

"Something disrupted the blast!"

"Who could have done that?"

**-x-**

"NO! NO! NO!" Eneru hollered. "SOMEONE DESTROYED MY RAIGO! WHO WOULD HAVE SUCH AUDACITY? SOMEONE'S ABOUT TO FACE THE WRATH OF GOD!"

**-x-**

Usopp shook as he stared at Angel Island in shock. "The ball… the black ball… it exploded… that would have destroyed the whole island!"

"Eneru…" Gan Fall dropped to his knees in shock. "He would have destroyed all their homes… Eneru! What monstrous cruelty! My people's homeland would have been gone! Who saved it?"

"I recognized that red spiral," Zoro stated. "It was definitely Ricky's handiwork."

"Two-Voice did that?" Aisa questioned. "I thought you guys said he was evil?"

"Ricky… Not evil…" Gan Fall repeated as he stared at Angel Island in shock. His mind flashed back to meeting the red-haired pirate when the Straw Hats had first arrived on the White Sea. Then it flashed to when he'd come to rescue Ricky and Chopper from Shura's Ordeal of String. But then he remembered falling to Shura and how the same pirate that he had come to save had fished him out of the Sea Clouds after defeating the Priest. "Ricky thank you… The Skypieans will forever be in your debt…

"We're not out of the storm yet," Robin, ever the pessimist, pointed out. "There are more storm clouds where those came from. Eneru could always create another sphere of thunderclouds."

**-x-**

"What was that explosion?" Conis wondered as she knelt on the front deck of the Going Merry.

"Suuuu!" Suu chirped.

"We'll wait," Conis responded as she scooped up her Cloud Fox and hugged her. "We have to take them back safely to the Blue Sea."

**-x-**

Red Eye grinned as he stood at the edge of the hole and surveyed his handiwork.

"_Hah-ha. Told you it would work."_

"_**Just because you had ONE good idea doesn't mean I'm letting you call the shots! The only reason I did it was to draw Eneru up here! I'll be known as the God Slayer here in the sky!"**_

"_I hate to break it to you… but they're not exactly calling you 'God Slayer' down below…"_

"_**Aw heaven! You turned me into a freakin' hero, you little bastard!"**_

But what he didn't notice was that the bright sun shined down on him from overhead and cast a shadow through the hole on the white clouds near Angel Island.

**-x-**

"LOOK! IT'S THE SAVIOR!" a Skypiean called out as he pointed at Ricky's shadow.

"HE SAVED OUR ISLAND FROM ENERU!"

**-x-**

Eneru's eyes narrowed as he saw the shadow on the white clouds below him.

"**Him…"** Eneru growled with pure loathing.

**Swweee-heeee! **A high pitched whistle came from overhead.

Eneru looked up through the hole he'd made in the thunder clouds to form his Raigo and saw Red Eye standing at the edge of the hole up above him.

"Ooooh, Eneru, I'm all alone up here… just me and this huge golden bell!" Red Eye called out. "I saw it first, so I'm calling dibs. It's my golden bell now!"

"Gold bell… Raigo… Demon…" Eneru sputtered as his pale face turned bright red in pure rage. "I'LL KILL YOU, BLUE SEA DEVIL!" **BZZZZZZTTTT! **Eneru's body became bright white as he blasted himself up into the air and rocketed up through the hole.

**-x-**

"Oh no!" Nami gasped. "Red Eye's pissed off Eneru… We've gotta get up there and save him!"

"Who?" Luffy questioned. "Eneru or Red Eye?"

"RICKY, YOU DOLT!" Nami snapped at him. "You saw that black ball that Red Eye destroyed! Think of what it could do to a non-rubber person! We can't let Red Eye get Ricky killed!"

"I need to get up there anyway," Luffy resolved. "I still have some unfinished business."

"Unfinished business?" Nami repeated. "What else is there for you to do here? Are you trying to get back at Eneru?"

"That golden bell is somewhere up there in the sky!" Luffy told her.

"You're after the bell?" Nami asked. "Luffy! Ricky's life is more important than gold! Look at that!" Nami pointed at the hole in the sky that Eneru's Raigo had made. "The lightning might not hurt _you_ and Red Eye might have destroyed the ball but Eneru can still kill Ricky a thousand other ways! If it's gold you want, you have a load of it on your arm! Give up the bell Luffy, for Ricky's sake!"

"Ricky won't die."

"Will you quit it already?" Nami snapped. "You—"

"You saw it right?" Luffy cut her off.

"Saw what?" Nami inquired.

"The City of Gold," Luffy said as he turned to look at her. "You know for a fact that it exists, right? Then it wasn't a lie! The old timer's ancestor…"

They both thought back to Montblanc Cricket, the descendant of Montblanc Noland who spent his days wreaking havoc on his body by diving into the ocean in search of gold.

"_I don't care if I find the city or not," Cricket had said. "I'm not here to prove Noland right or wrong. I have no interest in rewriting history. All I'm doing is following what I believe is my destiny. This is between me and Noland."_

"He wasn't a liar!" Luffy insisted. "I have to let the old timer and the others down below know… that the City of Gold is up in the sky. If I ring the bell, then they should be able to hear it. Otherwise old timer and his monkey pals will search the ocean floor until the day they die!"

"Luffy…"

"Eneru won't take the golden bell," Luffy resolved. "The sound of a bell that huge will be heard far and wide by people everywhere! So I'm not stopping UNTIL I HEAR THE SOUNDS OF THE GOLDEN BELL!"

Luffy thought back to the conversation he'd had with Ricky, Zoro, Chopper and Robin when they'd first set off in the morning to find the City of Gold .Before the snake had attacked them.

"_The City of Gold's got a really big bell in it, right?" Luffy had asked._

"_Noland did mention that in his logbook, yes," Robin had confirmed, "A great bell in the City of Gold."_

"_Why do you ask LuffY?" Zoro questioned._

"_Yeah, why do you ask Luffy?" Chopper chimed in._

"_SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "I got a really good idea!"_

"_Well… tell me!" Chopper prompted._

"_He wants to ring the bell," Ricky stated._

"_Yeah!" Luffy agreed. "If we give that ginormous bell a good ringing, I bet that old timer and those monkeys down below will be able to hear it, don't you think? Shishishi!" The others let out a light laugh too. "Yeah, I bet they would."_

**-x-**

Zoro sat at the bottom of the beanstalk and had just finished telling the others about Luffy's idea.

"When he says that he's gonna do something, he does it," Zoro stated.

"Huh? Wait… he's gonna…" Usopp whimpered.

"Yes, he did say that," Robin admitted. "But given the situation…"

"Ring!" Wyper growled. "He's going to ring the bell?"

"That's right," Zoro confirmed. "No matter what happens up there, Luffy won't leave until he rings that bell. You see, Luffy is after the same thing as Eneru."

**-x-**

Luffy stared up at the Maxim. "No one's on that flying ship now," he noted "Maybe I can climb up there and launch myself through the clouds…"

"Wait you can't go up there!" Nami protested.

"I just told you, I have to!" Luffy insisted.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Nami corrected him. "You can't go up there without me! Ricky doesn't know how to beat the Eye—I mean his—Aisa helped me figure out a way that he can finally beat it! I've gotta tell him!"

"I can't let you go up there Nami!" Luffy protested. "Do you have any idea what Ricky would do to me if you got hurt 'cause of me?"

"But he needs me!" Nami argued. "I have to tell him that the Eye isn't evil! Red Eye's a part of him! He's got an evil split-personality! He's never been able to beat it because he's been fighting the wrong thing!"

"Then I'll tell him that when I see him," Luffy told her. "If you die while you're up there telling him that then Ricky will never be able to beat it! YOU'RE MY BROTHER'S TREASURE! I'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE YOU STAY SAFE!"

Nami's eyes went wide in shock, "Ricky's… treasure…"

**-x-**

Red Eye jumped to the side as Eneru landed on the white clouds.

A glint of gold caught Eneru's eye and he was once again distracted as he turned and took in the legendary Fire of Shandora.

"So this is it," Eneru mused out loud. "Splendid! At last, the Grand Belfry that was once the pride of the legendary city of Shandora. A prize fitting of a God of My Glory. The fabled bell, the one that heralded the start of this lands four hundred year old conflict. Pathetic. To think they carried on their pointless little battle for centuries. Now its mine!"

"Nope!" Red Eye cut in, "I already called dibs on it. That means its mine."

"You… you kept Me from making that pathetic little island vanish from the sky," Eneru snarled. "I've finally found the ancient relic that I've been searching for…"

"It's my ancient relic," Red Eye interrupted.

"THEN I'LL KILL YOU AND CLAIM IT FOR MYSELF!" Eneru shouted. "Once you're dead I'll create another, even bigger, even more devastating Raigo to annihilate this abominable island in the sky once and for all! Then every inhabitant of Skypiea will suffer My Terrible Wrath! All will perish! Those two on God's Shrine below us! Your other friends, the Shandians and the Sky Knight that are all at the bottom of the beanstalk! I'LL DESTROY EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! I WILL ERADICATE THIS UNNATURAL LAND IN THE SKY ONCE AND FOR ALL! I WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED! THAT, IS MY SACRED DUTY AS ENERU ALMIGHTY!"

"First of all, I don't give a damn," Red Eye replied. "I'll kill them all myself once I'm done dealing with you. And second…" The sun shined down on Red Eye and Eneru as Red Eye pointed his sword at the Sky God. "Don't get ahead of yourself. If killing me was that easy, YOU'D HAVE DONE IT ALREADY!"

**-x-**

The sun continued to shine down overhead and now Eneru's shadow joined Ricky's on the white Island Clouds near Angel Island.

"LOOK! THE SAVIOR IS FIGHTING GOD!"

"Who is that anyway? He doesn't have wings…"

"Is he a Blue Sea Dweller?"

"WHO CARES? HE'S SAVED OUR HOMES AND NOW HE'S FIGHTING GOD FOR US!"

"PRAISE THE SAVIOR! THE SAVIOR OF SKYPIEA!"

Captain McKinley stared in shock at the two shadows on the clouds. "It's him…"

_**WHOOOSH! **__The Waver surged up into the air and flew straight at Captain McKinley._

"_Damn it Nami!" Ricky snapped, "What did I just say?" __**SKISH! **__Ricky dove off of the Waver passed Nami and lunged at McKinley "LOOK OUT!" __**WHUMP! **__Ricky tackled him to the ground and the Waver flew over them and crashed down onto the island clouds behind them and skidded to a stop. __**KRASH!**_

"_YOU JUST ASSAULTED A MEMBER OF THE WHITE BERETS!" McKinley had hollered. "THAT'S A CLASS-FIVE CRIME!"_

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ricky cut in, "I was just trying to keep you from getting creamed by that Waver-thing. Here, let me help you up there." Ricky stood up and pulled Captain McKinley back up to his feet and made a show of dusting him off. "I'm real sorry about that, y'see we're from the Blue Sea World and it was her first time driving one of those Waver-things. When she heard how much money we owe you it startled her and I think she lost control. I wasn't assaulting you, I was trying to save you. I wouldn't want such a fine, upstanding protector of Sky Island justice like you getting hurt because of an accident made by a rookie Waver-driver."_

"_Hmph," McKinley grunted. "Maybe calling you Fifth Degree Criminals was going too far."_

"He's not a criminal at all…" McKinley realized. "He came to save us from Eneru…"

**-x-**

"GLOAM PADDLING …" The trident in Eneru's hands glowed and cackled with electricity as Eneru pumped lightning into it and once again altered its shape. The three forks molded together and became a solid point. It was a staff again but then a large golden blade grew out of the side. The sharp gold blade took up the top third of Eneru's staff.

"_You know, if he wasn't evil and hell-bent on destroying everything in the sky… that would gold-molding thing would be a very useful ability."_

Eneru swung his new bisento beside him. "I'll tear you apart and burn whatever's left to a crisp!"

"Sounds lovely," Red Eye retorted "I'LL TRY THE SAME THING!"

**-x-**

"_Listen, everything will be alright," the bloody and beaten Cricket had tried to reassure Luffy. "I promise, we will send you to the sky."_

Nami looked on as Luffy stared up at the dark and shouted, "I'M GONNA RING THAT BELL!"

**-x-**

**Clash on the Clouds:**

**-x-**

Erratic bolts of lightning continued to strike around and on Angel Island and Upper Yard. But because Eneru was now suitably distracted, the bolts weren't guided by anything and were simply striking the land and the white sea at random. The result was that they didn't destroy much of anything.

**BA-ZOOOOOOOM! **Or not. A powerful bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky and struck the Milky Road that led up to the White White Sea from Heaven's Gate on the White Sea. The white road was blasted by lightning and broken apart.

"NOO!" a Skypiean cried, "Angel Island might have been saved but now we can't get back!"

"What do we do? Is the Savior is fighting God do we still need to run for Cloud End?"

**-x-**

"RAAH!" Red Eye roared as he charged at Eneru and slashed his sword.

**CLANG! **"Yahaha!" Eneru let out a short laugh as he blocked Red Eye's attack with his golden bisento. "I don't know what I was worried about. I can still predict your attacks just fine."

Eneru spun his bisento around and swung the blade at Ricky's head. **SWISH! **Red Eye ducked down and avoided behind decapitated. "But I can still predict _your _attacks!" Red Eye slashed his sword at Eneru's stomach. **KLAK! **Eneru lowered the staff part of the bisento and used it to block Red Eye's low strike.

Eneru spun the bisento and deflected Red Eye's sword then raised it up overhead and brought it down on Red Eye. **KLANG! **Red Eye raised his own sword and blocked Eneru's.

**-x-**

Down below, the Skypieans and Shandians watched as the shadows of Ricky and Eneru danced against the white clouds as the two continued to block and dodge high speed attacks.

"The Savior really is fighting God!"

"And he's actually holding his own!"

"PRAISE THE SKY SAVIOR!"

**-x-**

"You may be able to predict my individual attacks," Red Eye admitted, "But you're still missing the big picture."

"And what would that be?" Eneru asked as he blocked a strike with his gold blade. **KLANK!**

"Gold is a beautiful metal, it grants wealth and privilege," Red Eye stated. "But it has a major weakness." **SWISH! **Red Eye grinned as he jumped backwards to avoid a swing from Eneru's bisento. "ITS SOFT! Have a taste of your own medicine! RED EYE… LIGHTNING STRIKE!" **SLISH-WOOOOSHH! **Red Eye slashed his sword and a blood red diagonal air blade flew off the red blade of his sword at Eneru's chest. **KRESH! **Eneru's eyes went wide as the 'energy'-enhanced air blade broke through the golden blade of his bisento. He tried to weave backwards but it was too late and the red air blade kept going and cleaved into his chest. **SLA-SLISH!**

"AAUUUGGHH!" Eneru cried out as he fell backwards while blood dripped down his chest. The only reason that the wound hadn't been fatal was because Eneru's failed attempt to weave away from the air blade.

"HEH-HEH-HEH!" Red Eye laughed. "THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!"

**-x-**

"Hold onto me Luffy," Nami instructed down below as Nami stood on the Waver with Luffy behind her. "I'll get you up that bit of the beanstalk then you can shoot your way up from the ark. Hopefully this way that gold ball won't weight you down so much."

"Right!" Luffy agreed. "Let's do it Nami!"

**VRRROOOOOOOM! **Nami revved the Jet Dial engine of her Waver and they shot up the broken top of Giant Jack. "NOW LUFFY!"

**WOOING! **Luffy shot his rubber arm up overhead and grabbed onto the side of the Maxim. **SHOOOOOOOOM! **Luffy's arm retracted and yanked him up off of the Waver and into the air.

"WAAAHHH!" Nami weaved to the side and ducked her head as the gold ball flew after Luffy.

**WHUP! **Luffy landed successfully on the railing of the Maxim and stared up at the dark clouds.

"I'M COMING FOR YOU ENERU! YOU TWO RED EYE! I'M RINGING THAT BELL!"

**SHOOOOOOOM! **Luffy stretched his free arm out and grabbed the top of the Maxim above the golden face then kicked the gold ball. **THWAK! **The gold ball rolled backwards and stretched his arm out further. Luffy jumped up and yanked himself towards his free arm then dropped down towards his ball arm. The ball recoiled and Luffy shot back up towards the face again. This continued until… "GUUUUMM… GUUUUUMM… YOOOYOOOO!" **WOOOOOIIIINNG! **Luffy shot himself up and the gold ball up into the air, up passed the top of the Maxim and up into the clouds where two powerful enemies and the gold bell awaited.

**-x-**

"Oh… hey God!" Red Eye called out. "I think you dropped something!" A wide grin spread across his face as he reached down and picked something up off of the ground.

Eneru's jaw dropped opened. He recognized the familiar gold earrings in Ricky's hands.

He also recognized his own long earlobes that were still attached to them.

"AAAAUUUGGGHHHH!" Eneru screamed as he held his severed ears along with his chest. "YOU MONSTER! YOU BASTARD! YOU DEVIL! MY EEEAAARRRS!"

Eneru scrambled back away from Red Eye. As Eneru backed away from Red Eye and Red Eye followed him, they lift the edge of the hole and their shadows left the white clouds below them.

"HEH-HEH-HEH!" Red Eye laughed as he followed after Eneru. "WAIT! THIS REMINDS ME OF AN OLD CHILDREN'S SONG!"

"_Do your ears hang low_

_Do they wobble to and fro_

_Can you tie 'em in a knot_

_Can you tie 'em in a bow_

_Can you throw 'em over your shoulder_

_Like a World Government soldier_

_Do your ears hang low!"_

During the song Red Eye had tied Eneru's earlobes in a knot.

"YOU'RE A LUNATIC! A PSYCHOPATH!" Eneru shot to his feet and turned to run.

"LOOK WHOSE FINALLY CAUGHT ON!" Red Eye exclaimed. **ZZZZZOOOOOMMM! **Red Eye sped past Eneru and cut him off then grinned sadistically as he dangled Eneru's ears in front of him.

Eneru was admittedly horrified and terrified at this moment and as is the case when someone is terrified, they don't make rational decisions. As a direct result, the thought of teleporting away with lightning never crossed Eneru's mind.

"DON'T GO YET!" Red Eye taunted Eneru, "I'VE STILL GOT ANOTHER VERSE!"

"_Do your ears fall off_

_When you give a great big cough_

_Do they lie there on the ground_

_Or bounce up at every sound_

_Can you stick 'em in your pocket _

_Like that sailor Davy Crockett _

_Did your ears… fall… off…"_

Red Eye dropped Eneru's ears in front of him.

"Nowhere to run, Eneru!" Red Eye announced. "Now I'm gonna kill me a God!"

Suddenly the cloud in front of Red Eye started to shake. Both Eneru and Red Eye looked down.

"Hey look… your ears do bounce on the ground…" Red Eye noted.

**SHOOOM! **A gold ball suddenly burst out of the ground and slammed into Red Eye. **WHAM! **Red Eye was blasted up into the air as Luffy followed the fall up through the hole then landed on the cloud.

"YEEEAAAAH!" Luffy cheered. "I MADE IT! ENERU! RED EYE! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASSES AND THEN I'M GONNA RING THAT BELL!"

Luffy blinked. He spotted the gold bell. He saw Eneru. Red Eye was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, where's Red Eye?" he asked.

Eneru pointed up into the air.

Luffy looked up where Eneru had pointed.

"DAAAMN YOOOU STRAAAW HAAAATT!" Red Eye yelled as fell from the sky and dropped down into the hole that Luffy had just come through.

Luffy's eyes suddenly widened in alarm. "OH CRAP! NAMI'S DOWN THERE!"

Luffy stared at the gold bell… then he looked over at Eneru… then down at the hole Red Eye had just fallen through that would lead him down to Nami.

Bell… Eneru… Red Eye… Nami…

HOW WAS A RUBBER PIRATE SUPPOSED TO MAKE THESE KINDS OF DECISIONS!?

**-x-**

"WAAAHH!"

"Ricky!" Nami looked up in time to see the familiar red-haired figure fall through a hole in the clouds overhead.

**PLOOSH! **Ricky slammed down into the clouds of God's Shrine. Nami hopped on her Waver and sped over to him. **VRRRRRMMMM!**

Ricky sat up and lashed out his fist. **WHOOOSH! **The Waver was knocked off course and Nami fell off of it.

"WRONG AGAIN!" Red Eye taunted as he stood up and stalked toward Nami. "Straw Hat kept me from killing Eneru." Red Eye pointed his sword at her. "THAT MEANS I'LL HAVE TO SETTLE FOR KILLING YOU!"

**Gulp. **Nami stiffened and swallowed hard as the reality of the situation set in.

She was all alone against Red Eye. Well… not quite…

"_NAMI!"_

"_**Heh-heh-heh! Just watch brat! I'll murder your little girlfriend right in front of you!"**_

**-x-**

"Hey… what happened to your ears?" Luffy asked.

Eneru stared at Luffy in shock. "You… saved My Life just now rubber boy."

"I did?" Luffy questioned.

"That demented demon that calls himself your brother nearly killed Me!" Eneru exclaimed. "He might have succeeded if you hadn't interfered when you did. I… owe you a debt."

"I didn't come up here to save you," Luffy stated. "I came up here to kick your ass! Then to kick Red Eye's ass! Then to ring that bell!"

"You want the bell, you can have it," Eneru told him. "My Life means more to Me than that golden trinket. Let it never be said that God Eneru the Almighty fails to honor a life debt. Besides, the golden bell was just a passing fancy. Now I can focus on My True Goals! DESTROYING THIS NATION AND REACHING THE ENDLESS VEARTH!"

**BZZZZZZZTT! **Eneru flashed and disappeared.

"HEY! WAIT!" Luffy shouted. "COME BACK!"

Luffy looked over at the golden bell… then down at the hole that Red Eye had fallen through towards Nami and that Eneru had vanished into.

The golden bell… or Red Eye, Nami and Eneru…

Now the decision was much easier.

Luffy turned to look at the golden bell once more. "I promise I'll be back," he vowed. "And I'll ring you so the old timer and the monkeys know you're here!"

Luffy jumped back down into the hole he'd come up through.

**-x-**

Nami shakily held her ClimaTact in front of her as Red Eye advanced on her.

Luffy's words from earlier echoed through her mind. _"YOU'RE MY BROTHER'S TREASURE! I'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE YOU STAY SAFE!"_

"_Ricky's gotta be in there somewhere…" _Nami thought to herself.

"RICKY!" Nami called out. "You've gotta help me out with this one!"

"HE CAN'T HELP YOU!" Red Eye yelled. "I'M IN CONTROL NOW! RED EYE… PUNCH!" **WOOOSSHH! **Red Eye lashed out his arm but Nami dove to the side to avoid the unseen attack.

"_Nami… no…"_

"RICKY! IT'S NOT THE EYE!" Nami shouted as she sprang back off the ground. "IT'S YOU! IT'S A BROKEN PART OF YOUR OWN MIND! IT'S A SPLIT-PERSONALITY!"

"_It's… me?"_

Red Eye glared at her. "You shouldn't have said that." **SKISH! **He leapt forward before Nami could react and grabbed her by the throat.

"ACK! Ricky!" Nami wheezed as Red Eye lifted her up off the ground. "It's your body… and your mind… you've gotta… fight for it…"

"I THINK YOU'VE SAID ENOUGH!" Red Eye snapped at her. He drew back his sword and prepared to run it through her.

Nami closed her eyes and gathered what was probably her last breath and gave a desperate shout, "RICKY! I LOVE YOU!"

**Klak! **She wasn't dead. Nami opened her eyes. Both she and Red Eye looked down and saw that Ricky's left hand had gone limp and his sword had fallen to the ground.

Nami and Red Eye watched as the fingers on the left hand started to twitch.

"What the heaven?" Red Eye muttered before the left hand suddenly clenched into a fist and slammed into his own face. **KA-POW!**

Nami dropped to the ground while Red Eye fell nearby.

"Koff! Koff! Koff!" Nami held her throat as she crawled over and grabbed Ricky's left hand. "Thanks Ricky! Now keep going! You can do it! It's your mind! Take it back!"

**SKISH! **"NO HE CAN'T!" Red Eye as he shot away from her. "I'M STILL IN CONTROL!"

"_Then I guess I'll get some help…"_

Nami's eye widened as Ricky's left hand pointed to her ClimaTact then motioned toward him. "Right, coming right up," Nami agreed. She stuck two pieces of her ClimaTact together in an X-shape then swung it towards Ricky. "CYLONE TEMPO!"

"I'm not falling for that old trick!" Red Eye snarled as the blue 'X' flew towards him.

**WHAP! **Ricky's left hand shot up and caught it. **WOOOOOOSSSHHHH! **The concentrated wind blasted him backwards across the cloud.

Red Eye landed on his back while Nami ran closer and quickly reclaimed her weapon.

"Damn… you…" Red Eye growled as he sat up. "DAMN YOU BOTH!"

Ricky left hand raised and flashed Nami a thumbs up. Then help up one finger.

"One more time, huh?" Nami mused. "I'll have to make sure it packs a punch." Nami quickly reconfigured her ClimaTact into a T-shape and pointed it at Red Eye. "TORNADO TEMPO!" **BA-BOOM! Peep! Peep! Peep! **A pair of familiar wind-up birds shot out of the two side holes.

"You can't be serious…" Red Eye growled as he staggered back up. "You really expect me to just stand here and let you…" Ricky's upperbody lurched to the side to dodge the incoming birds but his feet remained rooted in place. "WHAT? NO!"

The two birds wrapped around Ricky's stiff left arm and right leg until the 'T' segment started spinning and pulled them tight. **FWUP! FWUP! FWUP! FWUP!**

"NO! NO! DAMN YOU BOTH TO HEAVEN!"

"_Give it a rest. No one's buying it anymore. You're not a demon. But you're driving SO HANG ON AND ENJOY THE RIDE!"_

**WHRRL! WHRRL! WHRRRL! **Ricky's body started to spun along with the ClimaTact. **BOOOOOOM! **The spinning 'T' pole shot off of the rest of the Clima-Tact and blasted Red Eye THROUGH Giant Jack. **KRASH-KER-RASH! **He landed in a tangled heap on the other side.

"RICKY!" Nami called out as she ran and dove through the Ricky-shaped hole.

**WHUMP! **"Uuughh!" Ricky groaned as Nami crashed down on top of him. "Geez Nami… You just blasted me through a giant beanstalk. I don't need you jumping on top of me right after that."

"Yeah, well I—" Nami trailed off. "RICKY! YOU'RE BACK!"

"He can barely hold his liquor," Ricky stated. "When he's disoriented he can't keep control. When you spun me through the beanstalk with that last attack it was almost too easy to take control again."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Nami gushed as she threw herself back down on top of him and hugged him.

"**Am I interrupting something?"**

Ricky and Nami's eyes whipped to the side to see Luffy standing there.

"What're you doing here?" Nami asked. "I thought you were going to ring the golden bell?"

"Eneru got away," Luffy answered. "And I saw Red Eye fall through the hole which led back to where you were. I came back to make sure you were okay. Guess I should've known better! Ricky was here too so you were perfectly safe! Shishishishi!"

Ricky blinked. Wait a minute… Blinked. Two eyes. "Nami! Eye patch!" Ricky quickly instructed. "Top left pocket."

Nami quickly fished it out and handed it to him. "You know it's not evil so you don't have to cover it anymore."

"I know that now but I can't take any chances," Ricky answered. "He doesn't have to pretend anymore so he can keep me off guard. He could come back at any time. Now put it on."

They were all silent for a moment as Nami slipped Ricky eye patch back on.

"Could you guys untie me?" Ricky requested.

"Oh, right," Nami quickly agreed.

"I'll help too!" Luffy offered as he rushed over and started tugging on the wires that were wrapped around Ricky's leg.

"Luffy, stop, stop, stop!" Nami protested. "You're making it worse. That'll just tangle them up. You have to unwind them like this…"

"So…" Ricky said as Nami and Luffy untied him. "How'd you find out?"

"Aisa told me," Nami answered.

"That girl you were with?" Ricky questioned.

"She's got powerful Mantra, like Eneru's," Nami explained. "She hears people's voices. She kept calling you Two-Voice. I thought it was because she was hearing the Eye's voice. But she insisted that it was coming from you."

Ricky frowned. "Robin was right."

"She usually is," Luffy chimed in. Ricky turned his head and gave his brother a look.

"Nah, couldn't be," Ricky mumbled.

"Hold on, Robin was right about what?" Nami asked.

"She figured out that I was Red Eye and confronted me about it while we were shopping in Mock town," Ricky replied.

**-Robin and the Eye Flashback-**

Ricky had gotten significantly paler as Robin's report went on. Now he was as white as a ghost. "So… what are you planning to do with this information?" he asked.

"Nothing," Robin answered with a faint smile. Ricky found that he could breathe again. "I enjoy solving puzzles and you presented me with an interesting one. I suppose this makes us even after everything you found out about me when we were investigating the Poneglyph." Ricky nodded and Robin's expression turned curious. "Can I see it?"

"Let me get this straight," Ricky requested, "you just learned that I've got something in my skull that caused me to go on a blood-crazed rampage and take hundreds of innocent lives. And you want to see it?"

"Yes." Ricky promptly face-faulted.

"I think it's only fair," Robin continued as Ricky got back up. "If you expect me to keep it a secret, I should at least get to see what I'm keeping a secret."

Ricky frowned then grabbed Robin's hand and pulled her down to the end of the alley.

"If anyone comes down, we grab each other and start kissing," Ricky instructed. Robin raised an eyebrow. "I… People are naturally repelled by PDAs. If someone sees us kissing they'll more often than not be embarrassed and move on."

"You know Mr. One Eye, if you're looking to kiss someone there's a perfectly willing girl back on the ship," Robin pointed out. "I doubt you'll even need an excuse."

Ricky's eye twitched. "Do you want to see it or not?" Robin nodded. Ricky took a deep breath then revealed his scarred right eye then opened it to show her the Eye of the Devil.

Ricky faintly flushed as Robin leaned right into his personal space for a closer look. "Fascinating," she remarked.

"It calls itself the Eye of the Devil," Ricky explained. "It gives me enhanced vision and grants me abilities like telekinesis and telepathy. Its also evil and trying to take over my body."

Robin blinked and pulled back. "It calls itself that?" Robin repeated.

"Uh… yeah," Ricky answered. "Why?"

"It just seems odd the only knowledge you have about it came from itself," Robin noted.

"I saw it displaying its abilities first hand," Ricky insisted.

"I'm sure you did," Robin agreed. "But if I wanted to take over your body, I certainly wouldn't tell you how I planned to do it. I'd want to be able to catch you off guard." **Whap! **Eight arms sprouted up out of nowhere. Four wrenched his arms behind his back, two locked his legs together, one hooked itself around his neck while the eighth slid his eye patch back down. "See?" The arms disappeared and Ricky could move again.

"Just something to think about," Robin said as she turned and headed out of the alley.

**-End Flashback-**

"You kissed Robin?" Luffy questioned.

"No, we were only going to if someone caught us," Ricky corrected him. "Try to keep up. The point is… she was right. He was lying to me about being the Eye so I wouldn't know how to fight him."

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed.

"What's so funny?" Ricky asked.

"You trick so many people," Luffy reminded him. "It was only a matter of time before you tricked yourself. What's that called again? Kama? Kayma? Kalamba?"

"Karma," Nami supplied with a smirk.

"Are you guys gonna kiss now?" Luffy blurted out.

"WHAT?" Ricky and Nami exclaimed at the same time.

"You guys usually kiss each other when you save each other," Luffy pointed out. "I thought that was your thing?"

"Since when do you pay attention to that sort of thing?" Ricky wondered.

Luffy shrugged.

"He's not wrong, you know," Nami remarked. But her smirk turned into a frown when she noticed the frightened look in Ricky's eye. "What's the matter?"

"Maybe now's not the best time?" Ricky suggested.

"Ricky… I just finished untying you," Nami stated. "But I'm not getting up until you tell me what's going on."

Ricky frowned. "I don't think…" he trailed off. "Does it suddenly seem like its lighter to you?"

All three of them looked up and suddenly saw long glowing splits forming in the sky overhead. The black storm clouds swirled together and formed another condensed sphere. The only differences, this Raigo was WAY BIGGER than the first one. And this one was centered over Upper Yard.

"YOU'LL ALL PERISH!" Eneru thunder from up overhead in the storm clouds. "I'LL DESTROY THIS ABOMINATION IN THE SKY AND ALL OF YOU ALONG WITH IT ONCE AND FOR ALL! THE SKY BELONGS TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD ENERU!"

**-x-**

As you can see, I made a lot of changes in the final battle with Eneru. It's part of the reason why this chapter took so long.

I'll post the next chapter next week. The battle with Eneru comes to an end. And in the chapter after that, the Skypiea Arc ends as well.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	32. Knock Down Giant Jack

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** The disclaimer's gone. Nami still hasn't returned it.

**Knock Over Giant Jack:**

**-x-**

A massive sphere-shaped condensed thunder cloud loomed overhead above the Upper Yard. This one looked much bigger and much more powerful than the one before it. Red Eye may have saved Angel Island by destroying the first one but this massive thunderhead that Eneru called a Raigo could easily wipe out the Upper Yard and Angel Island in one fell swoop.

"Aaaahhhh!" Usopp whimpered as they stared up at the black sphere of clouds from the bottom of the beanstalk.

"Eneru…" Wyper growled.

"Damn him…" Gan Fall cursed.

"Do you see that?" Usopp wailed. "THIS ONE'S EVEN BIGGER! Maybe we should get out of here? WH-WHILE THERE'S STILL SOME PLACE TO GET!"

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as he surveyed his massive Raigo. "SAY GOODBYE SKYPIEA!" Eneru smiled to himself, "I'm actually going to miss toying with their lives…"

**-x-**

Luffy, Ricky and Nami stood together on what had once been God's Shrine directly below the black sphere of thunderclouds.

"What the heck did you guys do to piss him off that badly?" Nami demanded.

"I'm pretty sure he was going to try to do this anyway," Ricky stated.

"I didn't do anything this time!" Luffy insisted. "Eneru was actually happy to see me!"

Nami turned and glared at Ricky. "What… did you do?" she growled.

"Well… the other guy… might have… cut his earlobes off…" Ricky admitted.

"YOU IDIOT!" Nami yelled. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"Hey, it wasn't me, it was the other guy!" Ricky insisted.

"TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY!" Nami shouted.

Ricky's eye widened and his mouth dropped open. Then he frowned and nodded his head. "You're right."

Something inside of Nami clenched. She got the strange feeling that she'd regret those words sometime soon.

"Hey guys! The ship's moving!"

They all looked up to the see the Maxim fly away from their Island Clouds and settle by the few remaining storm clouds that the golden bell was on top of.

"He's not even on board," Ricky realized.

**BZZZZZT! **Eneru appeared on top of the Maxim. "YAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Now he is…" Nami dead-panned.

"HOW FITTING!" Eneru bellowed. "YOU THREE GET A FRONT ROW SEAT AS I DESTROY THIS ACCURSED ISLAND IN THE SKY! YOU TRIED TO PREVENT ME FROM ACHIEVING MY DREAM OF REACHING THE ENDLESS VEARTH! NOW YOU WILL ALL PERISH ALONG WITH THIS ABOMINATION OF AN ISLAND!"

"EEENEEERUUUUUU!" Luffy yelled. He turned to Ricky and Nami. "I've gotta get up there!"

"He's too far away for even you to reach him," Ricky pointed out.

Nami stared up at Eneru's ship then looked over at the top of the beanstalk then across the clouds at her Waver. "I've got a confession to make… I haven't revved the Waver's Jet Dial engine all the way yet. I was kind of intimidated by what it could do."

"You want to drive up there on the…" Ricky trailed off. "That means we've got to…"

Nami nodded. "With Luffy's arm trapped in that ball, he can't steer it," she pointed out. "So I'm gonna have to drive him up with the Waver."

"The others are down at the bottom," Ricky stated, "I'll go pass on the message."

"Wait, what's going on?" Luffy asked. "Are you guys reading each other's minds? Is that some special ability you get when you're a couple?"

"We're not a couple," Ricky stated.

"We're not?" Nami questioned.

Ricky turned and darted over to his dropped sword. He quickly cut himself and then sheathed it. "Luffy, I'm trusting you to beat Eneru, ring that bell and keep Nami safe. Nami, I'm trusting you to get him up there so he can do it. I'll take care of the rest." Ricky ran across the clouds and grabbed the big beanstalk leaf that Luffy had saved himself with earlier then jumped off the clouds. **SKISH!**

Nami frowned as she stared after him then looked over at Luffy, "Do you ever get the feeling that you just made a really big mistake?"

"Well… sometimes I eat food that I know isn't mine," Luffy confessed, "I know that it belongs to other people and maybe I feel a little bad about eating it but then I forget all about that because it tastes so good when I eat it. I don't let stuff like that bother me anymore."

"Hmm..." Nami hummed. "Maybe it was just my imagination. But something told me that I'd regret letting him go off on his own just now."

"FOOLS!" Eneru yelled from overhead. "DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT I'M JUST GOING STAND HERE WHILE YOU ENACT YOUR PLAN?"

**BA-ZZOOOM! **Lightning flashed down from the clouds in the direction that Ricky had jumped.

"HE'S GONNA GET RICKY!" Nami yelped. "WE'VE GOTTA HURRY!"

**-x-**

"Hey! Eneru's ship moved!" Usopp pointed out down at the bottom of the beanstalk.

"Does that mean Eneru's found the golden bell?" Robin wondered.

Usopp suddenly squinted, "Wait… something's falling! LOOK OUT!"

They all looked up to see Ricky falling out of the sky as he held the beanstalk leaf over his head like a parachute. "Heads up!" he called out. The Straw Hats and Shandians dove out of the way. **PLOOOFF! **Ricky slammed into the ground and tossed the leaf away from him.

"Ricky!" Usopp called out.

"Two-Voice!" Aisa cried.

"Mr. One Eye," Robin casually greeted. "Good to see you're alright."

"Wait where are Luffy and Nami?" Usopp questioned. "We need to get outta here!"

Gan Fall pushed passed Usopp then knelt in front of Ricky. "Thank you. You saved my people's homeland. That is a debt we can never repay."

"Don't thank me yet," Ricky corrected him, "We've still got another one to deal with. Luffy elected to stay behind so he could finish the job and Nami's gonna help him do it."

Zoro stood up, "What's the plan and what do you need us to do?"

"We need to cut down this beanstalk and made sure that it falls to the west," Ricky answered.

"WAIT! WHAT?" Usopp shrieked. "We've gotta get outta here!"

Zoro eyed the beanstalk then looked back at Ricky, "Just one question: which way's west?"

"YOU MEAN YOU'RE ACTUALLY GONNA DO IT?" Usopp hollered.

"Of course," Zoro answered, "It's a plan devised by Ricky and Nami to get Luffy to fight someone. Why wouldn't I support it? That can't fail."

"We can't run away Usopp," Ricky told him, "There's way too much at stake here." Ricky turned back to Zoro. "Cut the beanstalk so it falls towards Eneru's ark. Luffy and Nami are going to race up it on the Waver so they can get to Eneru."

"Lemme get this straight…" Usopp recounted, "They're gonna jump to the ark… from the falling beanstalk?"

"Do you wanna climb up there and stop Eneru?" Ricky offered.

"NOPE!" Usopp exclaimed. "LET'S LEAVE IT TO LUFFY!"

**BAA-ZOOOOOOOOOMM! **Before anyone could react a powerful bolt of lightning shot down out of the sky and struck Ricky. The charred pirate dropped to the ground.

**-x-**

"YAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as he held up his glowing hand. "I FINALLY GOT HIM! TAKE THAT BLUE SEA DEVIL!"

"NOO! YOU BASTARD!" Luffy yelled up a Eneru.

"Luffy, the Waver's ready!" Nami called out. "We've just got to hope that Ricky got the message to them in time!"

"NOW I'LL FINISH OFF THE REST OF THEM!" Eneru thundered.

**-x-**

"HERE COME SOME MORE!" Zoro shouted in warning as he scooped up Chopper. Gan Fall had already hefted Ricky onto his shoulders.

"HUUGGHH!" Wyper grunted as he grabbed Aisa and dove out of the way.

**BZZOOOOM! **Another bolt of lightning stuck the ground and sent Ricky's leaf flying away.

"What the…" Usopp sputtered.

"Long Nose!" Robin called out. Six arms sprouted up into the ground and launched Sanji at him.

**Whap!** "I got him!" Usopp said as he hefted the comatose cook onto his shoulders and jumped out of the way just as another lightning bolt struck. "WAAAAH!" **BZZZOOOOOM!**

"DAMN YOU ENERU!" Kiko hollered as he ran away from the beanstalk. "HE'S GOING TO DESTROY THE CLOUDS AND BLAST US DOWN TO THE RUINS!"

"EVERYONE RUN!" Zoro ordered. "GET AWAY FROM THE BEANSTALK!"

Zoro ran with Chopper, Gan Fall took Ricky, Usopp had Sanji, Wyper carried Aisa and Kiko saved himself. Robin glanced at Pierre's body then eight legs suddenly grew out from under the unconscious horse-sized bird. Robin's extra legs worked as she and Pierre ran after the others and quickly reached a patch of stone ground.

**BZZZOOOOM! BZZAAAAT! **Lightning continued to rain down on the clouds at the base of the beanstalk.

"I'll take care of this," Zoro resolved as he tossed Chopper over to Robin. "We've gotta carry out their plan. All I've gotta do is cut the vine down towards that ship." Zoro looked up at the massive black sphere in the sky. "Eneru's gonna wipe this land away. Luffy and Nami are the only people who can reach him before he sets that thing off."

"Go Zoro!" Usopp cheered.

"Luffy, Nami, you'd better be ready!" Zoro resolved as he drew his sword.

**-x-**

Eneru scowled as he used his Mantra to hear what was going on at the bottom of Giant Jack. "You fools from the Blue Sea just refuse to give up," he noted. "It's far too late to change things. The minute you entered the Survival Game your fates were cast in stone... anything you do now is futile."

**-x-**

**SKISH! **Zoro jumped to the side to avoid a bolt of lightning. **BZZZZAAAT! **He didn't have long to recover before he had to lunged to the side to avoid another one. **BZZZZOOOOOOM! **The second bolt of lightning blasted a large hole in the island clouds where Zoro had been.

"Okay… he's going to be just fine…" Usopp whimpered as he watched the swordsman rush across the clouds. "ZORO, BUDDY! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO THIS! IT'S UP TO YOU!"

**BZZZZOOOM! **Zoro spun to avoid another bolt of lightning that struck ahead of him. **SKISH! **Zoro leapt up into the air. "UGH! ENERU! I'M SO SICK OF YOU! RAAAAHHH!" Zoro reached the beanstalk and slashed his sword. **SLA-SLISH! **He cut a spiral in the twisted vine. **BOOOM! **The large twisted segment that Zoro had cut blasted out from the rest of the beanstalk.

"ALRIGHT! HE DID IT!" Usopp cheered.

But after cutting through the vine, Zoro was suddenly rendered helpless in midair which made him an easy target for Eneru's lightning. **BA-ZZZOOOOOT!**

"ZOOOROOOO!" Usopp screamed as the charred swordsman fell down through a hole in the island cloud towards the ruins of Shandora.

**-x-**

"Insolent little worm!" Eneru growled as his hand glowed.

**-x-**

"HE DID IT!" Usopp cheered. "HE DID IT AND GOT ZAPPED! BUT HE DID IT!"

"Oh no…" Robin gasped, "The vine…"

"It's not falling!" Usopp cried out. "But he cut it!"

Zoro's attack had only cut through one of the two twisted coils that stretched up into the sky. The other half of the beanstalk was still intact. It wasn't going to fall.

"What is that thing made out of?" Usopp asked. "It looks like a plant but it's solid as a rock!"

"Pathetic," Wyper growled. "This is what you outsiders get for butting in."

"Wyper… what are you doing?" Aisa asked.

"We Shandians are the descendants of Calgara!" Wyper stated. "Not that kid in the Straw Hat! If anybody is to ring that bell, it should rightfully be us!"

"Don't listen to him Robin!" Usopp jumped in. "He's too banged up to stop us. Besides, Nami and Luffy are counting on us! Our only priority right now is knocking that thing down!" Usopp turned to stare at the partially damaged beanstalk. "Speaking of which, Zoro's already cut halfway through the stem. It probably wouldn't take too much to cut through the rest of it."

Usopp pulled his goggles down over his eyes and drew his slingshot. "My awesome Dance of the Exploding Stars should do the trick! After just one gentle hit, even a gentle breeze will knock that thing over! Once again it's up to me! The last line of defense in our merry band! Robin, leave all the dangerous stuff to me! You tend to our fallen friends!"

Gan Fall still had Ricky slung over his shoulders. It seemed that the Sky Knight was attempting to repay his debt by ensuring Ricky's safety while he was unconscious.

Robin looked over at where Chopper, Sanji and Pierre had been set down. They were all spooned together and had the beanstalk leaf wrapped around them.

"They look like an Oak Leaf Mochi Cake," Robin remarked.

"FORWARD!" Usopp hollered as he ran across the clouds towards the beanstalk.

Robin found herself alone with Gan Fall and the three Shandians.

"About that bell," Robin spoke up, "Four hundred years ago, an explorer from my world said he stumbled upon a City of Gold. People laughed at him and called him a liar but he has a descendant today who still believes the stories and has spent years searching the Blue Sea for any evidence of the City of Gold."

"WAAH!" **FWUMP! **Usopp tripped and quickly turned it into a dive as he leapt out of the way of a bolt of lightning. **BZZZOOOT!**

Wyper recalled the story of Calgara and Noland that the Chief had once told him and turned to face Robin.

"If that golden bell can be rung," Robin continued. "Everyone will know the City of Gold is in the sky and not a myth. That's the reason Luffy's up there. Now do you understand?"

"EXPLODING STAR!" **KA-BOOM! **Usopp's attack exploded harmlessly on the massive beanstalk.

"Noble isn't it?" Robin asked. "Trying to vindicate a man he'd never met."

**KA-BOOOM-BOOOM-BOOOM! **Usopp fired off shot after shot but none of his exploding attacks did any damage to the massive beanstalk.

"He's had chances to escape," Robin told Wyper, "But he's stuck around to see this thing through." Robin smiled fondly, "That guy's nuts."

"BRILLIANT EXPLODING STAR!" **KA-BOOOM! **"USOPP RUBBERBAND OF DOOM!" **Woing! **"REGULAR EXPLODING STAR!" **KA-BOOOM! **

Wyper's mouth twitched. Kiko stared at Robin then looked over at him. "Wyper, what's she talking about?"

"What… what is the name of this explorer's descendant?" Wyper asked.

"Montblanc Cricket," Robin answered. "Why?"

"The name of his ancestor who came here…" Wyper said as tears streamed down his face. "Please… tell me… was it Noland?"

"How…?" Robin questioned.

"Wyper?" Aisa spoke up. "What's going on? Why are you crying?"

"Wyper, what's wrong?" Kiko inquired. "I don't understand any of this,"

Wyper turned to stare at his fellow warrior. But with the tears filling his eyes combined with all his other injuries, Wyper didn't see Kiko. The 'Sky-Kama's' long, wild pink hair became blood red. His various piercings, make up and jewelry faded and were replaced by the familiar war paint that had once adorned the Great Warrior.

"Great Warrior Calgara!" Wyper gasped. "Is this a sign from you?"

**-x-**

"_Come Nola," Calgara said to the baby snake four hundred years ago as he led it towards the Grand Belfry in Shandora. "We'll ring the bell again today so the sound reaches the ends of the Earth! Let's send the sound you love to see our friend, Noland!"_

"_Julalalalala!" young Nola hissed as she followed Calgara. The young snake was eager to hear the beautiful sound of the golden bell again. "Julalalalalalal!"_

**JULALALALALALALA! **The full grown Nola let out a loud roar as she finally woke up down in the City of Gold. The now massive four hundred year old snake slithered across the village and rammed head-first into the bottom of the beanstalk. **WHAAAAM!**

**-x-**

"Waaaahh!" Usopp yelped up above as Nola made the beanstalk and the clouds above shake. "What the…? What just did that?" Usopp didn't look down so he didn't see the massive snake slump against the bottom of the vine down in the city below him. "Guess it doesn't matter. 'Cause it couldn't even budge that beanstalk."

Kiko went wide eyed as Wyper grabbed his shoulders.

"Calgara!" Wyper called out. "The descendant of your best friend is waiting in the Blue Sea! He's waiting for it! The ringing of your golden bell! It's time we rewarded his patience!"

Wyper turned away from the startled Kiko and crossed the Island Clouds then shoved Usopp out of the way. "Move." The injured and delirious Shandian climbed up the remaining half of the damaged beanstalk and knelt on top of it. He placed his bandaged hand down on the vine and then put his other hand down on top of it. "REJECT!" **BZZOOOOOOOOMM!**

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?" Usopp yelped.

"WYPER!" Aisa cried.

"DAMN HIM!" Kiko growled, "That's the third time he's used that Reject Dial today! Someone's gotta take that from him before he kills himself!"

"That fool!" Gan Fall gasped. "A Reject Dial!"

"**Hey old man… what's a Reject Dial?" **Gan Fall looked over and saw that Ricky was awake.

"You're awake, young friend!" Gan Fall exclaimed.

Ricky nodded. "I couldn't afford to stay unconscious for long."

Wyper's third usage of the Reject Dial blasted a hole into the remaining side of Giant Jack. It also blasted him off of the vine and he fell down into Shandora through the same hole Zoro had.

"_NOW FALL GIANT JACK!" _Wyper thought as he fell downward. _"FALL!"_

With a large hole now going through both of the twisted lengths of the beanstalk, Giant Jack toppled to the side and finally started to fall.

Usopp ran away from the falling beanstalk. "GUYS! WE'VE GOT TO RUN AWAY!"

**-x-**

**Vrrrooom! Vrrroooom! Vrrrroooom! **Nami revved the engine of her Waver. "THIS IS IT!" she called out. "GET ON LUFFY!"

Luffy jumped on the Waver behind Nami and wrapped his good arm around her. "Got it! Go!"

"Let's see how fast this Waver's Jet Dial can go when I rev it to maximum speed," Nami said. "Guess we're gonna find out now if it'll be too strong for me to control, huh?"

"GO FOR IT NAMI!" Luffy encouraged her.

"OKAY!" Nami replied. **VVRRROOOOOM! **"EEEYAAH!" The Waver took off at full speed as they raced across the clouds towards the beanstalk and then started to speed up it. They dragged the bold ball up behind them as they raced up the top of the now-falling beanstalk.

**-x-**

Across the White White Sea, the Skypieans and the Shandians watched as the beanstalk that towered over Upper Yard fell to the west towards Eneru's Ark.

"ITS FALLING!"

"What's… going on up there?"

"Is it the Savior?"

**-x-**

"Well, Nami, Luffy, good luck," Usopp said as he stood with the others at the edge of the forest. "We're counting on you! If we let this place be destroyed, we'll never get to ring that bell and Cricket will never hear it! He helped us so we gotta help him! Ring that bell and ring it loud! Jump to Eneru's ship and stop that guy! DO IT! EVERYTHING'S UP TO YOU GUYS NOW! YOU GOT IT?"

"DO IT!" Aisa cheered along with Usopp.

**-x-**

**VRRROOOOOOOOOMMM! **Luffy and Nami sped along the falling beanstalk towards Eneru.

"Now why can't you wait for the completion of Raigo like the rest of the insects?" Eneru mused as he stood on top of his ark. "Their impatience will be their undoing! Very well then..."

**BZZZZZT! **Eneru's body sparked and he shot lighting up into the thunderclouds above him. The lightning moved through the dark clouds to the pointed above the falling beanstalk and shot down at Luffy and Nami. **BAA-ZZOOOOM-ZOOOOOOOM!**

"AAAAHH!" Nami yelped as they continued at their high speed and struggled to avoid the bolts of lightning. "SOMETHING'S COMING!"

"DON'T SLOW DOWN!" Luffy shouted. "I'LL TAKE CARE OF WHATEVER IT IS!"

A face made out of lightning flashed up overhead before it became a bolt and shot down at Luffy and Nami. They weaved to the side and managed to avoid it. **BAA-ZOOOOOOOOM!**

"THAT SHOT WAS PATHETIC!" Luffy yelled up at Eneru.

"Yahahahahaha!" Eneru laughed. "That you should even try to reach me now is insolent far beyond the point of stupidity. Now pay for your folly! MAMARAGAN!"

Eneru raised his hand over his head and clenched it which caused another shower of powerful lightning bolts to pummel Upper Yard.

Nami narrowed her eyes, "That creep! He's trying to destroy the base of the beanstalk!"

"Ahhh!" Luffy gasped. "DO SOMETHING NAMI!"

"Like what!" Nami retorted. "We're going too fast and we're too high up! If this thing loses its foundation, it'll crash before we get to the top! We won't reach Eneru and we'll fall to our deaths!"

**-x-**

The Skypieans watched from a distance as lightning continued to rain down on Upper Yard.

"UPPER YARD'S BEING PUMMELED! THIS IS THE END!"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SAVIOR?"

**-x-**

"LUUFFFYYYYYY!" Usopp shouted as bolts of lightning obliterated the Island Clouds around the falling beanstalk.

**-x-**

**WHAM! **Luffy lashed out his good arm and deflected a bolt of lightning from him and Nami.

"Yahahahahaha!" Eneru laughed in amusement. "Lightning may not harm you but your attacks are useless if you can not reach Maxim! Now fall and face destruction with the rest of Skypiea! SAY GOODBYE BOY! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Luffy glared up at the laughing God as the continued to race up the beanstalk.

**-x-**

**Miracle on Skypiea:**

**-x-**

The Skypieans watched as the lightning shower picked up and the powerful bolts continually rained down on the island.

"Upper Yard… is crumbling…"

**-x-**

"LUUUFFYYYY! NAAAMIIIII!" Usopp screamed as the lightning shot down all around them.

**-x-**

**VVVVVRRRRRRRMMMMM… **Nami weaved the Waver frantically up the falling beanstalk.

"YOU KNOW!" Nami called back to Luffy, "I THINK HE'S TRYING TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GET NEAR HIM AGAIN!"

"Too bad!" Luffy growled. "He's mine!"

**-x-**

**BZZZOOOT! BZZOOOOM! **Lightning bolts blasted the Island Clouds above Shandora.

"HE'S BLASTING AWAY THE CLOUD COVER!" Usopp exclaimed.

"He plans to destroy the ground itself!" Gan Fall realized.

"But Wyper's lying on the ground down there!" Aisa reminded everyone.

"So is Zoro!" Usopp added. "THAT BASTARD!"

**BZZZZOOOOOOM! KROOOOM! **A large chunk of stone ruin was blasted off by a powerful bolt of lightning. Shandora started to crumble under the onslaught of lightning bolts.

"The ruins…" Robin said.

**-x-**

"It won't work Eneru…" Wyper mumbled as he laid on the ground in his crumbling homeland. "This city will never fall to you."

Wyper staggered up to his feet. "This land of Shandora was home to a proud race of warriors. This ancient city preserves and protects their memory. Once more, their memory protects this city. That mighty power will never fall to you! No matter how much forest you burn!"

Lightning continued to rain down around him but Wyper stood firm. "This land… won't fall!"

**-x-**

"AAAHH! WYPER!" Aisa screamed.

Kiko grabbed her and held her back. "It's too dangerous Aisa."

"NOOO! LEMME GO!" Aisa cried.

"Wyper will be fine," Kiko told her. "He's the descendant of the Great Warrior Calgara. He won't fall. And neither will our city."

**-x-**

"There, I can still hear the little fools whining down below," Eneru remarked as he held his hand to his ear. "Yahahahahahaha!" **Bzzzztzzzzztt! **Eneru extended his hand and sent a powerful blast of lightning down from overhead and completed covered Upper Yard. **BAAZZOOOOOOOM!**

The Skypieans and Conis looked on in shock as Upper Yard was bathed in white light from Eneru's powerful lightning attack.

But when the light faded and the smoke cleared… UPPER YARD WAS STILL THERE!

"_The Vearth…"_ Gan Fall mused to himself, _"Of course."_

The cloud covering over Shandora had been completely removed which left the city exposed. But the hard earth soil had withstood Eneru's lightning yet again and remained intact.

**-x-**

"It didn't fall!" a Skypiean gasped. "Upper Yard… IS STILL STANDING!"

"Its power is unbelievable!" a Shandian gasped.

**-x-**

"…" Eneru stared down at Upper Yard in annoyance.

**-x-**

"_It must be…" _Gan Fall thought to himself. _"The Vearth is so powerful!" _Gan Fall gathered up a handful of the dirt and let it sprinkle down through his fingers. _"What fools we've been! It was never something to be fought over! We've spilled so much blood… and lost so many countless lives! HOW COULD WE BE SO BLIND FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS!?"_

"WYPER!" Aisa continued to scream as Kiko held her back.

Now that the clouds were gone they could clearly see him standing in Shandora as he stared up at the falling beanstalk.

"WAAAAAHH!" Usopp screamed when he realized that the beanstalk was now falling TOWARDS THEM! "GET OUT OF THERE! THE BEANSTALK'S COMING DOWN! THIS WAY! LET'S MOVE IT! MOVE IT!"

"_NOW GO!"_ Wyper silently encouraged Luffy before he openly shouted. "GO! STRAW HAT!"

**-x-**

**VVVRROOOOOOMMM! **Nami and Luffy had finally reached the top of the falling beanstalk.

"HERE I COME, ENERU!" Luffy shouted.

"Those fools never learn…" Eneru muttered.

"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS AND RING THAT BELL!" Luffy hollered.

"That's enough!" Eneru growled. He extended his hand up towards the black thunderhead that he'd been charging up all this time. "The Raigo's ready!" **BZZZZT! **Eneru sent one last blast of lighting up into the black sphere. "NOW DISAPPEAR ALONG WITH THIS LAND! RAIGO!"

Eneru swung his hand downward and the Upper Yard was bathed in bright light as the Raigo began to lower towards the island.

**VRRRROoooomm… **The Waver flew off the beanstalk and the Jet Dial engine finally gave out.

"Thanks, for you help," Luffy told Nami. "IT WON'T BE FOR NOTHING!" **SKISH! **Luffy jumped up off of the Waver as it started to fall downward.

"WAAAAH!" Nami screamed as she fell back down towards God's Shine. "LUFFY, WAIT! THE ARK'S OVER THERE!"

**PLOOOF! **Nami landed hard on the soft clouds and looked up in horror when she saw that instead of going for Eneru on the Maxim, Luffy had jumped up TOWARDS THE RAIGO!

"NO! DON'T DO IT!" Nami shouted. "THE AIR CURRENT AND LIGHTNING DISCHARGES IN THERE COULD KILL EVEN YOU!"

Up overhead, Eneru glowed white as he grinned smugly at Luffy, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO AGAINST THIS KIND OF POWER, MAN OF RUBBER? YAHAHAHAHA!"

"RAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy roared as he flew up into the bottom of the black sphere. **BZZZZTT!**

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eneru laughed as his Raigo descended on the Upper Yard. "YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Down below, Giant Jack finished its call and crashed down on Upper Yard. **THOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

Inside the black Raigo, Luffy swung the gold ball on his arm wildly around him.

"GUUUUUMMMM… GUUUUUUUMMMM… FIIIIIIREEEEEWOOOOORRRKS! GOOOOOLDEEEEEN PEEEEOOOOOONYYYYYY! RRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

**SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!**

**-x-**

Everyone outside the Raigo stared in shock at it started to spark erratically. **BZZZTBZZZZZT!**

**-x-**

"YOU AND YOUR THUNDER AND LIGHTNING!" Luffy snapped as he flailed the golden ball around inside the Raigo. "WE MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO SKYPIEA AND YOU HAD TO COME ALONG AND RUIN THE WEATHER, YOU ELECTRICAL FREAK!"

**-x-**

Nami held her arm up over her head to shield her eyes from the brightly sparking Raigo.

"What's with… all the crazy lightning bolts?" she wondered.

"_I forgot," _Eneru realized, _"That golden bell stuck on his arm is a natural conductor!"_

"Well then," Eneru resolved, "I'll just drop it before you can discharge the electricity!" **BZZZZTT! **The Raigo continued to sparkas Eneru swung his arm down again and caused it to pick up speed. "LET EVERYTHING BE DESTROYED!"

**-x-**

"Captain McKinley, please stop it!" one of the White Berets pleaded. "This is God's Land! Its pointless!"

The Captain of the White Berets was on his knees with his hands clasped together in prayer.

"I don't care if its pointless," McKinley replied. "It's the only thing people can do when they're caught between life and death. A miracle saved our homes. Now all we can do is pray for another one that will save our lives. Praying is all that we can do."

**-x-**

Conis stared at the descending sphere in terror. Then she remembered something Gan Fall had said after he'd rescued her from God's Judgment and brought her to his house.

"_The song of the island," Gan Fall said as he watered his patch of green pumpkins, "When our ears hear that again. The war will have ended."_

"I wonder…" Conis confided in her Cloud Fox, "Are we all doomed? Maybe… if I'd had the courage to stand up to Eneru… our friends would have been spared all this… Oh Suu… Does God exist? If He does… why doesn't He save us?"

"Suu…" Suu cooed as she crawled into Conis' lap.

"Please…" Conis prayed, "If You do exist… YOU MUST PROTECT THOSE PEOPLE AND KEEP THEM SAFE! PLEASE! GIVE US A MIRACLE! PROTECT THIS LAND!"

All around the Upper Yard, the Skypieans and Shandians clasped their hands in prayer as they all prayed for a miracle.

**-x-**

**BZZZZT! BZZZZT! BZZZZZT!**

Their miracle came in the form of a rubber pirate.

"RRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Luffy roared as he continued to flail the gold ball around him.

**SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!**

The air current and the lightning charges inside the Raigo had been disrupted by Luffy's constant flailing and they burst outward.

A large crack formed and went all the way up the massive Raigo.

"CLEEAAAR THEEE SKYYYYYY!" Luffy hollered.

The one crack grew and spread across the black sphere. And then it exploded.

**-x-**

**The Love Song in the Clouds:**

**-x-**

**BOOOOOOOOOOOM! **

The Raigo exploded up in the air and bathed the sky in white light that blew away all the black storm clouds and caused the warm, bright rays of sunlight to shine down on Skypiea.

"That mass of thunder clouds has vanished!" a Shandian pointed out.

"What could have happened?" a Skypiean wondered.

"We've been saved again!"

"Ah…" McKinley gasped in shock.

"Oh!" Conis let out a cry of surprise.

"…" Nami silently gaped as she stared upward at the blue sky filled with peaceful white clouds.

"**YAAAAAAHHHH!" **Luffy shouted as he dropped down out of the blue sky.

"HE DID IT!" Usopp cheered. "YA-YEAH! YA-YEAH! YA-YEAH! GO LUFFY!"

Ricky smiled as he stared upward next to Robin, "That's our Captain."

"Luffy's incredible…" Robin admitted.

Ricky grinned as he turned to look at her. "You just called him by his name. You don't call any of us by our names."

"I… he's the Captain," Robin pointed out. "And he just saved all our lives."

"NOW RING IT STRAW HAT!" Wyper shouted. "LIGHT THE FIRE OF SHANDORA!"

"GO LUFFY! GO LUFFY!" Usopp continued to cheer and now waved flags.

"Let me hear it Straw Hat!" Gan Fall exclaimed, "The sound of the island!"

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy shouted as he dropped down out of the sky. He stretched his trapped arm out behind his back and twisted it up like a corkscrew.

"You… destroyed My Raigo!" Eneru growled. "INSOLENT BLUE SEA APE!"

"YOU'RE NEXT!" Luffy shouted. "I'LL RING YOU ALONG WITH THE BELL!"

"IMPUDENT FOOL!" Eneru snapped. His body glowed white and started to expand and grow. "TWO HUNDRED MILLION VOLTS AAAMAAARUUU!"

On top of the Maxim, Eneru's body had transformed into a huge, white, hulking beast made of pure electricity. He'd transformed into a Raijin one of the Thunder Gods of legend.

"What the hell is that?" Luffy exclaimed.

"Ring the bell?" giant Eneru snarled. "Is that what you said? You must be one of those fools that believes in the old legend that when the bell rings it will mean the end of the war between Skypiea and Shandora! I AM GOD!"

**BZZZZOOOOOOM! **Eneru sent a massive blast of lightning at Luffy from his giant arm.

"I DON'T CARE HOW STRONG YOU ARE!" Eneru shouted. "YOU'RE STILL JUST A PARAMECIA TYPE! YOU COULD NEVER MATCH THE MIGHT OF MY LOGIA POWER! NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY! NO MATTER WHAT YOU MIGHT DO!"

The light from Eneru's monster blast faded and Luffy dropped out of the sky and landed on Eneru's giant hand then started to run up Eneru's arm. "THAT WON'T WORK ON ME! AND QUIT CALLING YOURSELF GOD! WHAT KIND OF GOD DESTROYS EVERYTHING AND SAVES NOTHING? FAAAAAKEEEEE!"

**THWHAM! **Luffy reached Eneru's shoulder and kicked him in the face. His rubber foot smacked hard into the lightning monster's face and snapped its head to the side.

Luffy flew off Eneru's should and started to swing his twisted arm. **SHUNK!**

"AAAARRRGGHH!" Luffy screamed as he held the prong of a golden trident.

"Well done rubber boy," Eneru remarked, "Very agile of you! You grabbed it before you could be completely impaled!"

"LUFFY!" Nami shrieked from down below on God's Shrine. She looked up at the gold ball that was stretched out far behind Luffy as he dangled the trident in Eneru's massive hand like he was a piece of meat on a dinner fork.

"But what will you do now?" Eneru taunted. "You have nowhere to run! The pull of the golden ball on your arm will draw you deeper and deeper onto my trident! And if you should let go, you'll fall to your death below!"

"AAUUGGHH!" Luffy wailed as he held onto the still burning and freshly form gold trident.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed you made it this far," Eneru stated. "But this is the end for you, boy! And this land! Everything! I can easily create another Raigo!"

"Grrrr…" Luffy growled his skin seared and burned as he held onto the gold trident.

He thought back to all the pain and misery that Eneru had brought on the Sky Island.

"_It's the duty of every citizen on the island…" Conis cried as she knelt in front of Luffy, Usopp and Sanji after warning them about God's Judgment. "I'm so very sorry…"_

_Luffy and Aisa stood at the edge of a hole and stared down at Wyper's charred body. "Will the sky island… really be destroyed?" Aisa had asked as tears ran down her face._

**SWISH! **Luffy flipped off of Eneru's trident and started to drop.

"So you prefer to fall, do you?" Eneru questioned. "Yahahahahahaha!"

Nami gasped in shock as Luffy dropped down passed God's Shrine. "LUFFY NO!"

**WHAP! **But Luffy's hand shot back up and grabbed the edge of the white cloud.

"NAMI! GET OUTTA THE WAY!" Luffy ordered. "HURRY!"The gold ball had stretched far down below him as he held onto the edge of the white cloud. "RRAAAAAHHH!"

"WHAT'S THIS?" Eneru demanded.

"YOU SHOULD NEVER MESS WITH ME!" Luffy bellowed. "NO-LOBES! NOW GUUUUUUMMMM… GUUUUUUUUMMMM…" Luffy twisted his trapped arm again as the winded the gold ball up to him then shot himself upward with his other arm. "ROOOCKEEET! **SHOOOOOOOM! **Luffy flew up over the white cloud and raced up into the air towards Eneru.

Luffy swung his twisted arm and the gold ball out behind him as he drew level with Eneru. "GUUUUUUUUMMMMM… GUUUUUUUUMMMMM…"

"Are you going to try that same old trick again?" Eneru taunted.

"I'LL KEEP TRYING 'TILL THE BELL RINGS!" Luffy hollered.

**SHINK! **Eneru brought up a second trident and crossed the two in front of him. "THIS TIME I'LL SKEWER YOU, FOOL!"

"GOOOOOOLLLDEEEEEEEENNNN… RRRRIIIIIIIIFLLLEEEEEEEEEE!"

Eneru's eyes widened in shock as Luffy's twisted arm and the gold bell shot towards him.

"_Too fast!"_

**KER-WHAAAMM! **The gold ball and Luffy's fist smashed straight through Eneru's guard and blasted the giant lightning monster backwards off the top of the ark. Luffy's fist continued to race forward and whizzed across the white clouds to the golden bell.

"_When you finally return… what will you think when you see we're gone?" _Calgara thought to himself as he and the other Shandian Warriors tried to fight off the Sky God and his Enforcers. _"Hold on a little longer, I'll let you know that we're still here! NOLAND! LIGHT THE FIRE OF SHANDORA!"_

Wyper, Aisa, Kiko and the other Shandians stared up at the sky.

"The war in the sky began four hundred years ago," the Chief recited. "I didn't think I'd live… to see this moment…"

"…" down in Shandora, a tear ran down Nola's face.

"_Yes," Gan Fall had said in Conis' memory. "The Holy Land will sing once more! Someday it will!"_

Conis, McKinley and the other Skypieans stared up at the sky in shock.

Usopp continued to cheer and wave his flags while Ricky, Robin, Aisa, Kiko and Gan Fall stared up into the air from the edge of the forest.

Sanji and Chopper groaned as they finally woke up and sat up.

Down in Shandora, Zoro pushed himself up off of the ground.

"Six years ago, on the island of Jaya in the Grand Line, I saw the City of Gold," Noland professed as knelt on the execution platform with his hands bound behind him. "This City of Gold, does exist!"

"_Not one person in history has ever dis-proven the existence of Sky Island," Cricket had told Luffy once he had agreed to help him reach the sky. "I'm a romantic! Just like you!"_

"LEEEET IIIIIIT RIIIIIIINNNGG!" Luffy shouted as his fist, the gold ball and Eneru slammed into the side of the golden bell. **WHAAAAAAM! **The gold ball shattered against Eneru's body as he was slammed into the gold bell.

"_HEY POPS! CAN YOU HEAR IT? THE CITY OF GOLD IS HERE! FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS… THE CITY OF GOLD… HAS BEEN IN THE SKY!"_

**DONG!**

**-x-**

Ding-dong Eneru's done. Next chapter will mark the end of the Skypiea Arc at long last.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	33. Proud Fantasia Echoes

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** The disclaimer has been stolen. Currently searching for a replacement.

**Proud Fantasia Echoes:**

**-x-**

**DONG!**

Luffy fell downwards. The gold ball on his arm had been shattered when he'd smashed Eneru into the golden bell. Eneru had hit the bell so hard that not only did the clapper strike against the side but he and the golden bell and had been blasted off of the cloud. Eneru, the bell and Luffy all dropped down out of the sky.

"YOU LISTENING POPS!" Luffy shouted. "SARUYAMA BROTHERS! I DID IT!"

**-x-**

Miles below on the Blue Sea, Shoujou and Mashira boht gasped. "Eh?"

Cricket smiled as he sat on his stump and stared up at the sky.

**-x-**

"THE CITY OF GOLD!" Luffy hollered. "IT WAS RIGHT HERE!"

**DONG!**

**-x-**

**DONG!**

"Aha-ha! That bone-head!" Usopp exclaimed. "HE DID IIITT!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Ricky asked.

"Unbelievably beautiful," Robin remarked as she heard the majestic ringing of the gold bell.

"Aw!" Chopper gasped. "That sound is…amazing! What is it?"

"Oh, you're finally awake," Ricky realized. "Luffy just rang the golden bell."

"…" Aisa gaped silently up at the sky.

"The Fire… of Shandora…" Kiko mumbled.

"It's come," Gan Fall resolved. "As I always knew it would. Destiny."

"Ah, this was the ringing that Noland heard," Sanji observed. "Now I get it."

"Piiieee! Piieee!" Pierre crowed as the sound of the bell.

**-x-**

**DONG!**

"Singing…" Conis commented as she heard the bell on the Going Merry and hugged Suu to her. "Listen… the Vearth is singing a song…"

"Suuu…" Suu cooed.

**-x-**

**DONG! **

The golden bell gave another loud ring as it fell from the sky.

McKinley and the White Berets stared upward in awe. "This is proof… God is real…"

**-x-**

**DONG!**

"This is surely a miracle," the Shandian Chief announced, "I had almost abandoned hope that we would ever hear the golden bell again. After nearly four hundred ears of silent, Great Warrior Calgara! Can you hear it? The unmistakable echo of the Fire of Shandora!"

**-x-**

**DONG!**

The Skypieans that had abandoned Angel Island heard the ringing on their boats.

"Good heavens!" one of them exclaimed. "What must have happened to this land?"

"What is that strange chiming?" another asked. "Could it be?"

"The legendary bell…"

"Did the Savior ring it? Is Eneru finally defeated?"

**-x-**

**DONG!**

"Montblanc Noland…" Wyper whispered down in Shandora as Zoro sat nearby. "Can you hear the bell sounding from beyond your grave? I'm sorry you've been kept waiting so long, may these chimes reverberate all the way to your descendants. Now rest in peace, Noland."

"…" Zoro stayed silent and smiled at the sound of the bell.

**JULALALALALALALALA! **Nola let out a loud roar as she sang along with the bell.

"_You like the bell's ringing too?" Noland had asked Nola four hundred years ago. "Yeah, I bet you do."_

**JULALALALALALALALALA! **Nola continued to sing. After four hundred years of silence the beautiful sound of the bell that she loved had returned to the island.

**-x-**

Miles down below in the Grand Line, the South Birds scattered and flew frantically in the air above the forest of Jaya.

"Old man, this is it," Mashira announced as he, Shoujou, Cricket and the rest of the Saruyama Alliance stood together at the shore of Jaya. They had all gathered to listen to the ringing of a majestic bell up in the heavens.

**DONG!**

"Yeah," Cricket said. "There's no doubt about it. Only one bell in this world could echo so far… and with such emotion."

"Awesome," Mashira remarked.

"Absolutely," Shoujou agreed.

"You know those giants you see on the Cumuluregalus Clouds?" Cricket questioned. "The story goes a little something like this… Whenever a human inhabits the sky and the sun's rays shine upon him, his shadow is reflected on the deep mist and then cast far across the horizon. To onlookers, the shadow looks as it if it's a gigantic monster looming above."

"You mean those aren't really giants?" Masira asked. He still remembered seeing the giant monsters in the sky when he'd first met the Straw Hats. "They're actually somebody's shadow? That would mean that we've already found irrefutable proof that people do live in the sky. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Cricket confirmed. "I once thought the story was a meaningless fantasy and dismissed it altogether. But it seems there is truth to this legend."

**DONG!**

"My ears are filled with the resounding cries of the golden bell," Cricket continued, "Heh, if a golden bell exists then why not an entire city? Noland was telling the truth! His reputation can finally be redeemed and with it our family name."

Cricket smiled. The Noland the Liar storybook still laid behind him on his stump.

"That's the reason you rang the bell, isn't it kid?" Cricket asked the large figure in the sky. "Shrewd move. You have my thanks. I won't forget this."

Sure enough up overhead was the shadow of a familiar man.

A man wearing a vest, shorts and a Straw Hat.

Cricket chuckled as he and the rest of the Saruyama Alliance stared up at Luffy's shadow in the clouds until it faded away. That was concrete proof that the Straw Hats had made it to the sky and that Luffy had been the one to ring the golden bell.

Cricket doubled over and suddenly started crying.

"Cricket!" Shoujou exclaimed as everyone crowded around him. "What's the matter?"

"It's those kids," Cricket sobbed as tears ran down his face, "I'm just glad they're safe. I was… I guess I was just… so worried."

"Aaahahahahaaa!" Shoujou and Mashira laughed. "Ookeekee!"

**-x-**

**SPLOOSH!** The golden bell continued to fall and splashed down into the Sea Clouds between Angel Island and Upper Yard close to where Giant Jack had fallen.

The large white wave that resulted from it rocketed the Skypiean ships that were nearby.

If that wasn't enough to frighten the Skypieans, the sight of the Maxim falling out of the sky certainly was. With Eneru out cold, the Maxim no longer had its power source. The Jet Dials that had been keeping it in the air finally gave out and it started to fall down out of the sky as well.

"Look! Up there!" as the Maxim fell towards them.

"Hey that's… God's ship!"

**SPLOOOSSSHHH!** The Maxim plunged into the water and caused all the ships to rock sky backwards. None of them noticed Eneru's unconscious body as he fell into the Sea Clouds along with his flying ship.

The ships finally recovered and the Skypieans stared in shock as the Maxim disappeared below the surface.

"He sunk!"

"God Eneru and His ship are…"

"Falling…"

And word quickly spread, Eneru was finally defeated. Their miracle had come at last.

"The bell's ringing ignites the Fire of Shandora," the Shandian Chief recited. "That long gone city that took pride above all in its prosperity. The reverberations serve as the island's song, proclaiming the end of the battle, a melody longing to be heard by the island and generations of its natives and supporters for four hundred years."

**Although the journey of this restless island seemed nearly endless, time can not fade even its most distant memory. For long ago, people entrusted their words in the sound of the golden bell, placing each ring with words of faith and hope which resounded across the distant sea.**

**-x-**

"My friends…" Cricket sighed as he smiled and stared up at the sky.

**-x-**

Nami sat beside Luffy who had fallen and landed on her cloud.

"It rang," Luffy resolved. "Hey I wonder if… if pops heard it."

"Yeah, I'm sure he did," Nami assured him.

"_We're… right here…" Calgara's words had echoed with the golden bell to transcend life and death and finally reach Noland in the afterlife._

**-x-**

**The Battle Ends:**

**-x-**

Some of the Skypieans had come to investigate Upper Yard upon Eneru's defeat.

"Bind the ropes to the strongest trees," one of the them instructed as they tied ropes to the massive trees in the forest of Upper Yard so the others in their group could climb up them.

The Skypieans stopped briefly to revel at the Vearth they now stood on before they stared ahead at the gigantic forest that was ahead of them.

**-x-**

"Hey kid," Ricky called out to Aisa as Usopp and Chopper ran off.

"Two-Voice!" Aisa said as she stared warily at him.

"Thanks to you Nami was able to warn me about my other voice," Ricky told her. "If it hadn't been for you, I never would've realized what it was."

"I can't hear your other voice now," Aisa admitted.

"Nami warned me in time and I was able to beat it," Ricky explained. "It's quiet now but I know it'll be back eventually. Thanks to you, I now know what I'm up against. I'll never be able to properly repay you for that so please accept my sincerest thanks and know that you've helped me more than you can ever imagine."

"Hmm…" Aisa hummed to herself as she cocked her head to the side and stared up at Ricky.

"What's the matter?" Ricky asked.

"I don't know," Aisa replied, "Nami mentioned her boyfriend a lot while I was with her. I guess I expected you to be different."

Ricky frowned. "I'm not her boyfriend."

"You're not?" Aisa questioned. "But she said you were."

"Nami was… getting ahead of…" Ricky trailed off when he turned to stare at the forest. Aisa turned and looked in the same direction and her eyes widened in surprise as Laki walked out.

"Aisa… were you scared, dear?" Laki asked. She held up Aisa's newly filled bag of Vearth, "Surprise, your treasure."

"So what!" Aisa snapped. "Who cares!" Aisa burst into tears as she ran to her older cousin and hugged her around the waist. Laki smiled a hugged her back.

Ricky turned to face Kiko. "Hey Skykama, now that the battle's over you should probably find the rest of your group. Eneru's attacks look impressive and they hurt a lot but I don't think they killed anybody. Once you find them, get Eneru's forces out of here."

"Normally I wouldn't take orders from a Blue Sea Dweller," Kiko stated. "But after what you and your crew did, I'll make an exception." Kiko turned to Laki, "Laki, he's right. We need to move on Eneru's men while we still can."

"I'll look after this kid," Ricky offered. "After what she did for me and my crew, it's the least I can do. My crew's doctor just woke up. He's the best in my world so I'm sure that he can take care of Wyper."

Laki nodded and she and Kiko turned in time to see Kamakiri stumble through the trees with the help of another Shandian.

**-x-**

"Uuugghh…" Braham groaned as two Shandians helped them up. "The others?"

"They're fine," one of them reassured him. "Don't try to speak."

**-x-**

"Who's that over there?" a Shandian called out as he spotted Genbo slumped against a tree.

"_Am I still alive?"_ Genbo asked himself in surprise.

Despite all their injuries, all twenty-one of the Shandian Warriors and Laki appeared to still be alive.

**-x-**

"No, you have to be treated right away," Chopper stated as he and Usopp stood in front of Zoro.

"My wounds aren't that severe, really," Zoro told the Doctor then motioned over to Wyper "That guy, he needs more help than me. Look after him."

Chopper and Usopp turned and saw Wyper lying unconscious nearby. After he'd heard the sound of the golden bell that had signified Eneru's defeat, the Shandian Warrior had finally passed out. Chopper ran over and began to assess Wyper's various electric burns from Eneru's attacks.

"It's true," Chopper realized. "His body's worn out. He's dying."

"Yeah, but he was trying to kill us," Sanji reminded everyone as he walked over. "We don't owe him anything."

"I know," Zoro agreed. "Doesn't make much sense but he was going all out like the rest of us."

"He's a hero?" Sanji questioned, "Seriously?"

Ricky led Aisa over to the others and she immediately went over to Chopper and Wyper.

"Help him raccoon-doggie," Aisa requested.

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper snapped. "Antlers! See?" Chopper sighed. Maybe the Sky Island didn't even have reindeer. "Don't worry. He'll survive."

Aisa's face lit up with a wide smile. "Thanks reindeer!" she exclaimed.

**-x-**

"Pierre, you're going to overexert yourself," Gan Fall admonished his faithful steed as they followed the path from Shandora to the Maxim's hanger. "Go rest with the Blue Sea People."

"Pieee!" Pierre refused.

"Very well," Gan Fall resolved as they entered the Maxim's hanger. "Then I want you to go gather the families."

**-x-**

"But I guess anything's possible," Sanji remarked as Usopp finished bringing him up to speed. Ricky, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin were all together with Wyper and Aisa in Shandora. "What do you think happened with Eneru and the bell?"

"Don't know," Usopp admitted. "I guess they must've crashed."

"The bell got knocked out of the clouds," Ricky stated as he tossed a Dial in the air and caught it. "Luffy must've smashed Eneru into it. "I sensed it falling from the sky while it was ringing."

Sanji shook his head as he glanced around him at the ruins. "So we have a City of Gold but in name only."

"This just means that our adventure in poverty continues," Zoro replied.

"Poverty?" Ricky repeated as he continued to catch the Dial. "What? Is a turtle filled with ship-loads of treasure back home not enough for you?"

"Uh… well we don't have that much money here," Zoro amended.

"I'll have you know that I managed to remove a gold gear half the size of the Going Merry from Eneru's ship," Ricky informed him. "Actually, I think I'll go find it."

Ricky caught the Dial and stuffed it in his top right pocket.

"Hey Ricky, where'd you get that Dial from?" Usopp inquired.

"Really? I just told you that I've got a solid gold gear that's half the size of our ship and you're focused on the Dial that I found?" Ricky questioned. "Why do I even bother?"

The bandages on Wyper's right hand were notably absent.

"I'd rather have Dials over gold," Usopp insisted. "That's something we just can't get from the Blue Sea."

"I'm to the point where I'd settle for some concrete news," Sanji said. "I hope Miss. Nami's alright. And where's Conis? This not knowing is driving me crazy."

"I'm sure they'll turn up eventually," Ricky said as he headed off. "When they do, tell Nami that I went to find some treasure."

**-x-**

The Going Merry sat silent _and empty _at the shore.

**-x-**

"Do you think it's a good idea to leave Wyper with the Blue Sea Dwellers?" Braham asked as the twenty-one Shandians gathered in the forest.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Laki reassured him. "It appears Aisa has befriended them."

"The Blue Sea Dweller was right," Kiko announced. "We have to act quickly. If the enemy awakens before we leave, we're finished. Let's banish Eneru's Priests to the clouds! HOOO!"

"Yeah!" the other Shandians cheered.

**-x-**

Back at Shandora, Chopper had moved onto Zoro and was wrapping bandages around his arm.

"So did you have a chance to patch him up?" Zoro inquired.

"All he needs now is rest," Chopper told him.

"**HEEEEEEEEEYYYYY!" **a familiar voice rang out.

The Straw Hats turned to see Luffy and Nami running towards them. They'd clearly stopped back at the Going Merry because Nami was now wearing a blue sweatshirt and they had Conis and Suu with them. Luffy had a fish stuffed in his mouth and was dragging a massive sack of food behind him.

"MISS. NAMI! MISS. CONIS!" Sanji sang out.

"LUFFY!" Usopp shouted.

"WE'RE BACK!" Conis exclaimed. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Suu…" Suu chimed in.

"I was afraid I wouldn't see any of you again!" Conis cried.

"Aaahh! She was worried!" Sanji sighed as he twirled around with hearts in his eyes.

"Oh please!" Usopp scoffed at him.

"I'm glad you guys grabbed some food," Zoro commented. "Where's it from?"

"We found the Priests' storage locker on our way back through the forest," Nami explained. She scanned the crew but couldn't find a familiar face.

"You're not-boyfriend left," Aisa informed Nami.

Nami blinked. Was she being called out by a child?

"It's a bit odd actually," Robin admitted, "You just missed him. He usually has better timing when you're concerned Miss. Navigator."

"How'd you guys get down anyway?" Usopp wondered.

"My Gum Gum Balloon," Luffy answered.

"Conis, where's your old man?" Zoro inquired.

Conis stiffened and looked down at her feet. "He… he um… well he… he protected me…" The sight of her father get blasted by Eneru's beam of lightning was still fresh in her mind. "And then Eneru…"

"I'm sorry…" Sanji apologized.

"Yeah, me too," Pagaya agreed.

"Me three," Luffy echoed.

"…"

The Straw Hats spun around and found Pagaya standing behind them.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" they yelled.

"Sorry, I'm alive," Pagaya pointed out.

"FATHER!" Conis cried out as she ran over and hugged her father.

"You were on the Lower Level of the White Sea?" Nami repeated after Pagaya explained how he'd managed to survive Eneru's blast.

"I found myself down there after being blasted from the ledge," Pagaya confirmed. "And I wasn't alone. Countless others ended up in the same spot while making their way towards Cloud End. Yet as we speak they're on their way back via the restored Milky Roads. They're returning to their homes on Angel Island now."

Yet another person had managed to survive Eneru's lightning.

**-x-**

"Oh wow," Ricky remarked. He arrived at the Maxim's hanger and found Gan Fall there with several members of God's Enforcers. "I didn't realize you guys were locked in here. But it was probably a good thing that we didn't get you out when we initially came by."

"Yes, all that lightning was devastating," Gan Fall admitted. "The Vearth of Upper Yard proved to be resistant to it though so being in this Vearth cave while the battle was going on was probably the safest place for them."

Just then, Pierre flew back into the hanger and was followed by a number of other Skypieans. Ricky smiled as wives reunited with lost husbands that they hadn't seen in years. He silently excused myself and went over to the gold gear that he'd come here for.

Gan Fall's formerly trapped enforcers and their wives bowed to Gan Fall. "Thank you, we owe you our lives God."

"It's just Gan Fall," Gan Fall corrected them. "I no longer go by that title. You were all forced to work in a place like this for six long years. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize Gan Fall," a woman said as tear ran down her face. "We owe you our lives and our homes."

"Oh no, that wasn't me," Gan Fall assured them. "When it came time to fight Eneru, I stood by and watched." Gan Fall turned and motioned to Ricky. "That young man from the Blue Sea is the one that saved your homes."

Ricky was in the process of rolling the huge gold gear towards the entrance when he suddenly found himself the focus of all the Skypieans.

"It's the Savior!" one of the women exclaimed as she recognized Ricky from his shadow. They dropped down bowed to Ricky.

"Whoa there," Ricky said. "I didn't save you guys. I just kept Eneru busy until the real savior could get there. If you want to thank someone, find my Captain. He's the one with the straw hat. He beat Eneru and rang the bell."

"But its thanks to you that we still have homes to return to," one of the women insisted.

"How can we ever repay you?"

"_I can tell they're not going to let this drop…" _Ricky realized. He looked over at the gold gear. "Well… I got this gear off of Eneru's flying ship. I know now that you guys were the ones that were forced to build this ship over the last six years… but do you think you could…"

"Carved it into a golden statue of you?" one of the enforcers suggested. "Consider it done."

"That won't be necessary," Ricky replied, "I was going to say break it up into smaller—wait, did you say golden statue?" Ricky shook his head. "No. No. That'd be vain. No statue. Could you just break it up into smaller pieces so its easier to move, store and sell?"

"Of course, Savior!" one of the enforcers quickly agreed.

Ricky shook his head, "I'm no savior."

**-x-**

The Shandian Chief and some of the other Shandians had joined the warriors on Upper Yard.

"God's army is gone," one of the Shandians reported. "But I don't think…"

"My Chief, do you really believe the four-hundred year rift can be mended so easily?" another Shandian asked.

**-x-**

"Ah, boy!" Usopp exclaimed. "I stuffed myself."

The Straw Hats had gone to town on the from the storage locker that Luffy had brought back. Luffy and Usopp were both swelled up like balloons.

"Well its getting pretty late you guys," Zoro pointed out. Night had fallen.

"It's time to hit the ship," Nami resolved.

"Whoa, you're not talking about leaving are you?" fat Luffy questioned.

"Relax," Nami told him. "All I meant was it would be a nice change of pace to go back to the ship and sleep in a warm bed."

"Usopp, can you believe what she just said?" fat Luffy asked.

"Hardly, it's sick," fat Usopp scoffed. "I mean, the thought doesn't even cross her mind to go out and look for gold. And she calls herself a pirate."

"Probably 'cause her _boyfriend_ is already off getting some," fat Luffy remarked.

"Where is he anyway?" fat Usopp wondered. "Shouldn't he be back by now?"

"Maybe he got lost," Zoro suggested.

"HOW'D YOU TWO LIKE FAT LIPS TO GO WITH YOUR FAT BELLIES!" Nami shouted.

**-x-**

Late into the night, no one noticed the Maxim as it flew upward through the dark sky.

A bloody and battered Eneru sat at his throne, "Its time," he resolved. "And soon, I will return! To the wide opened sky, the perfect home for a God! Pristine and unobstructed, yes, and best of all no rubber pests or Blue Sea Demons to get in my way! Yahahahahaha! I'll be sure no one gets near it! My own private paradise! A land boundless, exquisite, it's just like a dream which comes to life!"

Eneru's face lit up and pale light shine down on him. "MAXIM! Set sail and deliver Me to My new floating kingdom which shines brightly in the night! The land without end, THE ENDLESS VEARTH!"

And so Eneru flew straight up… towards the moon.

**-x-**

Down in the City of Shandora, Wyper's eyes finally snapped opened and he found himself heavily bandaged and in a beat.

"Where am I?" Wyper wondered.

"Inside the ruins of Shandora," a familiar voice answered. Wyper turned to see Gan Fall.

"Gan Fall!" Wyper gasped.

Suddenly Conis leaned over Wyper. "You shouldn't move yet," she warned him.

"You! You're a Skypiean!" Wyper realized.

"Rest Wyper," came another voice. Wyper turned again and saw the Shandian Chief.

"Chief!" Wyper exclaimed. "Please explain. Why are we here? Have we been captured by the Skypieans?"

The Chief shook his head, "We are all bound together. Made brothers by the war."

Wyper had spent his entire life at war with the Skypieans. But having spent so long in battle against the Skypieans and against Eneru, he couldn't seem to grasp that the war had ended.

"The golden belfry!" Wyper called out. "It's the Shandians sacred duty to defend it to the end!"

**BONG! BONG! BONG! **The sound of drums rang out in a distance.

Wyper sat up in a panic. "Listen, that's the sound of war drums announcing battle." He looked through the opening of the tent and saw a burning fire. "There's the signal fire too!"

"Patience Wyper," the Chief tried to placate him. "Rest a while longer. The heroism of our ancestors is clear. But whatever violence happened in the past, you must allow it to stay there. Our future starts here. This is our home now and we Shandians will make it a good one."

"I know," Wyper said, "But looking out there, I…"

"Yes, most often the call for vengeance can not be ignored," Gan Fall told him as he came over and helped the Chief carry Wyper out of the tent. "But today, it has been drowned out by a sea of voices screaming in celebration!"

Wyper's eyes widened shock. The signal fire was a huge bonfire. And the war drums were drums of celebration that Skypieans, Shandians, the Blue Sea Pirates and even the giant Nola were all dancing to.

"WE DID IT!" Luffy shouted as he stood by the fire in the middle of the party. Usopp and a collection of Skypieans and Shandians cheered along with him.

Sanji was dancing with a large lady, Laki was sitting with McKinley, Chopper was dancing with Aisa. Zoro was drinking with Braham and Genbo, Robin sat off to the side drinking by herself, Kamakiri was laughing, Kiko was dancing on top of Nola's head.

Gan Fall and the Chief both laughed at the sight of the joyous celebration.

Now reunited in the afterlife, even Calgara and Noland were celebrating and drinking together.

The battle was finally over.

There was only one person who wasn't happily enjoying herself. Nami sat to the side drinking on her own. Her eyes scanned the party for a familiar head of red hair.

"**Hey…"** Nami stiffened and realized that she'd been looking the wrong direction. She turned to see that Ricky had come up behind her without her noticing.

"There you are!" Nami exclaimed. "You've been missing for ages. Where have you been?"

"Well… I went to go get that gear," Ricky recounted, "And I had to spend a long time convincing some Skypieans not to make it into a golden statue. We eventually came to a compromise and I ended up having to bring a lot of stuff back to the ship."

"Well, you certainly know how to keep a girl waiting," Nami remarked. "But you're here now. So you can make it up to me. Come dance with me." Nami stood up then grabbed his hand and attempted lead him out into the party but Ricky stood rooted in place.

"About that…" Ricky stalled. "I think we need to talk."

Nami's eyes narrowed as Ricky's hand slipped out of hers and headed around one of the ancient buildings. Nami folded her arms across her chest and stalked after him.

Their disappearance went mostly unnoticed by the others who were celebrating. Mostly.

Nami rounded the corner and Ricky turned to face her. He opened his mouth to say something but Nami cut him off. "No."

"I haven't even said anything yet," Ricky pointed out.

"You said plenty," Nami said, "You said 'we need to talk'. That can only mean that you're about to try and break up with me. I'm not gonna let you do it, so I'm gonna save you the trouble giving me that speech you've no doubt been rehearsing since you jumped off that beanstalk."

"Nami, I can't…" Ricky started again but Nami cut him off again.

"This is obviously about the Eye, or your other personality," Nami said. "I understand. You don't need to push me away."

"No, you _don't_ understand," Ricky insisted. "All this time I've been hiding behind the excuse that I wasn't in control of my actions when I was Red Eye. That it was the Eye that did all those horrible things. I can't hide from that anymore. It wasn't the Eye, it was _me_. I'm a psychopathic murderer. I almost killed _you_."

"But you didn't!" Nami argued. "We beat it! We beat it together! I can help!"

"HOW?" Ricky snapped. "Everything I thought I knew about it was wrong! All I know now is that I've got a psychotic second personality that's obsessed with killing as many people as possible! I have no clue how it got there or how to get rid of it! I don't even know who I am anymore!"

"I do," Nami replied. "You're the noble IDIOT that thinks breaking up with the girl that loves him is going to HELP HIM!"

"I'm sorry… if I led you on…" Ricky apologized, "But I'm trying to do the right by distancing myself from you as soon as I realized how messed up I am!"

"SCREW THE RIGHT THING!" Nami shouted. "What about Kitsune? You promised you'd take me shopping!"

Ricky hung his head. "I'm afraid that's something I can no longer do… Not until I've pulled my mind back together…"

"So what? I'm just supposed to wait around for you like an idiot?" Nami demanded.

"No, I don't expect you to do that at all," Ricky answered. "I don't have the first clue how I'm supposed to pull myself together. It would be cruel to make you wait for me. You've spent too much of your life held captive already. That's the absolute last thing I ever want to do to you. So I'm setting you free. Move on with your life. Find someone new to take you shopping."

**WHAP! **Nami slapped him across the face. "I DON'T WANT SOMEONE ELSE! I WANT YOU!"

Ricky held his cheek, "I deserved that."

"_YOU'RE MY BROTHER'S TREASURE!"_

"This can't be what you really want!" Nami berated him. "You love me! I know it! Luffy knows it! EVERYONE KNOWS IT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?"

"You're right… I love you," Ricky confessed. Nami flinched back. She'd been dying to hear him say those words. But now they were like a knife to the heart.

"But that's why I _do_ have to do this," Ricky resolved. "You said it yourself, I have to take responsibility for my actions."

"THAT WASN'T WHAT I MEANT!" Nami yelled.

"But that doesn't make it any less true," Ricky told her. "I killed so many people… There's so much blood on my hands… I owe it to them to pull my mind together and make sure it doesn't happen again and I don't go on another psychotic murdering spree. That's why as much as I don't want to, as much as it hurts, I have to do this. I can't be with you until I've pulled myself back together. I'm in no state to be with _anyone_ now."

Nami's eyes watered but she refused to let any tears fall. "YOU'RE A JERK!" she screamed.

Ricky nodded. "You're probably right. But this is something I have to do. I'm sorry." Ricky turned away from her and started to walk away.

Nami refused to cry. Not in front of him. Her chest hurt. Probably from her broken heart. But she wouldn't cry. Instead, she settled for anger. She needed to do something to make him hurt as much as he'd just hurt her. Nami scanned the area for something hard to throw at him.

**TONK! **Something hard struck the back of Ricky's head.

"Was that a rock?" Ricky asked as he rubbed his head and then he looked down. "Oh." For some reason the sapphire raindrop on Nami's necklace instead looked like a teardrop. "I see. I guess I deserved that too." Ricky reached down and scooped the necklace up.

He looked back at Nami and saw that she had turned away from him. "I'm sorry Nami."

Nami bit her lip as she listened to his retreating footsteps. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure he was gone. Once she was sure she was alone, her tough façade shattered. She dropped to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. The dam finally burst and she cried her eyes out.

But she had forgotten to look up. A shadowed figure watched the crying Navigator from up on the edge of a ruin. A small plume of smoke hovered around the figure's mouth as they turned to look in the direction that Ricky had gone.

**-x-**

**Aftermath of the Celebration:**

**-x-**

**THWHAM! **A foot slammed into Ricky's face and he slammed into a tree.

Sanji stood there with his hands in his pockets, "You know, I was coming to terms with the fact that Nami-swan chose you over me. As much as I hate to admit it, you made her happier than I ever could. And at the end of the day, as long as Nami-swan's happy I'm happy."

"I probably had this coming," Ricky as he pushed himself up off the ground and to his feet.

"You're damn right you did," Sanji growled, "Because you're not making her happy anymore. You just broke her heart. So now I'm here to perform my duty."

Sanji reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"What's that?" Ricky asked as Sanji unfolded it.

"A list of people that asked me to kick your ass if you ever hurt Nami," Sanji answered.

"And you just carry that around with you all the time?" Ricky questioned.

**THWAK! **Sanji's foot slammed into Ricky's chest and drove him back into the tree. "That was from the old man with the pinwheel in Nami's village." Ricky fell forward onto his knees. **THWHAM! **Sanji slammed his foot down on Ricky's back. "That one was from Nami's sister Nojiko."

"Hah-ha…" Ricky laughed and spat up blood. "You know what the funny thing is? I know you're kicking me as hard as you can. But I can barely feel them. I'm already numb inside."

"Then I guess you won't feel these," Sanji resolved. **THWAK! **Sanji foot connected with Ricky's chest and blasted him up into the air. "That was from Mana." Sanji jumped up after Ricky and hit him with a big spinning kick. **THWHAM! **Ricky was blasted back into the tree and crashed to the ground in a heap. "And that one was from Vivi."

**Tmp!** Sanji landed in front of Ricky. "For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing. You're unstable and the last thing any of us want is for Nami to get hurt." Sanji turned and headed off. "Pull yourself together. I don't want her to be sad for long."

Ricky was left alone. Almost.

**_"HEH-HEH-HEH! That was priceless!"_**

_"Great... alone with the psychotic voice in my head."  
><em>

**_"First you break up with the girl you love! Then you stood there and let him kick the crap out of you! HEH-HEH-HEH!"  
><em>**

_"Once I'm rid of you, maybe I can fix things..."  
><em>

**_"Rid of me? Cat's out of the bag now, I'M A PART OF YOU! You'll never be rid of me!"_**

_"That's not gonna stop me from trying."_

**-x-**

The celebration had gone on for four days. But it had finally winded down. Everyone was now asleep.

Well… almost everyone.

Luffy carefully snuck over the sleeping Shandians, Skypieans and even some cloud wolves as he made his way through the city. Luffy's face lit up with a wide smile when he finally spotted his crew.

"Great, there they are!" Luffy dashed up onto the raised platform and nudged Nami until she woke up. "Hey!"

Nami rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Whaat?" she whined.

"I know you've been upset the last few days," Luffy said, "But I thought of something that'll cheer you up."

"What… do you have another brother?" Nami dead-panned.

Luffy scratched the top of his hat. "You already met Ace."

"Then leave me alone," Nami complained as she laid back down.

Luffy frowned. Nami was sad. So if she needed a clown to cheer her up then that was just what he'd be.

"But this is our chance to steal the gold and run away!" Luffy exclaimed.

**KA-CHING! **Nami shot back up. "GOLD? WHERE?"

"Hey!" Luffy snapped at her. "QUIET LOUD-MOUTH!"

**BONK! **Nami clubbed Luffy over the head. "LOUD-MOUTH? YOU'RE A WHOLE LOT LOUDER THAN ME!"

"NO WAY, JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" Luffy shouted back. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE NAMI? LOUD!"

"WHAT?' Nami shrieked as she grabbed Luffy's collar and started shaking him. "YOU'RE CALLING _ME _LOUD? YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE YOU HYPOCRITE!"

Across from them, Usopp twitched until he couldn't take it anymore. "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP OVER HERE!" Usopp hollered and slammed his hand down beside him. **WONK! **It slammed down on Chopper's chest.

"YAAAAHH!" Chopper wailed in pain. "USOPP! YOU JUST HIT ME!"

"WHAT? THERE'S NO WAY I HIT YOU!"

"YEAH, YOU DID!"

Meanwhile, Luffy and Nami continued their screaming match.

"I'M A LADY, THERE'S NO WAY I'M LOUDER THAN YOU!"

"YEAH YOU ARE, BIG MOUTH!" Mission accomplished. She wasn't sad anymore.

Predictably, Luffy, Nami, Usopp and Chopper's loud shouts woke up some of the Skypieans and Shandians.

"Boy those Blue Sea People sure do like to party," a Skypiean remarked.

"After four days of this, you'd think they'd be worn out," the Shandian that had been sleeping next to him commented. "There's no way they can be human!"

**-x-**

After nearly waking everyone in the process, all eight Straw Hat Pirates had been gathered.

"So that's the plan guys," Luffy announced.

"I think he's right, gang," Usopp commented. "It's not every day we get to come to an island in the sky so let's make this trip worthwhile."

"_Wow, he's so cool!" _Chopper gushed to himself. _"And this is so exciting!"_

"I still don't think it's necessary," Ricky stated. "We could just ask. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to give us gold."

"What kind of treasure hunter are you?" Nami snapped at him.

"A good one?" Ricky replied.

"Could've fooled me!" Nami berated him. "If you're just gonna sit there and throw away a chance at a good thing, then you don't get a share!"

"Fine, I don't need one," Ricky retorted.

"Did I miss something?" Zoro wondered as he watched Ricky and Nami argue.

"He broke up with Nami-swan and she's upset about it," Sanji informed him.

"I'm still curious where all those new injuries came from," Robin chimed in. "I'm almost certain they're not from Eneru.

Ricky turned away from Nami. "I already told you, I fell."

"I've never known you to be all that clumsy," Zoro noted.

"I guess I was due then," Ricky reasoned.

"There is a _foot shaped bruise_ on the side of your face," Robin pointed out.

"It probably came from an oddly shaped rock," Ricky said. "There's a bunch around here. Oh look, here comes Aisa. Now we can change the subject."

**-x-**

Early the next morning, a Shandian ran into the Chief's tent with urgent news.

"Chief! We found it!" he exclaimed. "We have just found the golden bell!"

"Ah, what?" the Chief gasped.

"Are you serious?" one of the warriors who had been with the Chief asked.

"Yes," the first Shandian Warrior confirmed. "It's hanging off of Giant Jack. But I don't know for how long. We're trying to pull it up now. We need every able bodied warrior at the western shore right now. We need to hurry."

"Let's go! Gather the tribe!"

"To the western shore!"

**-x-**

Word had quickly spread to Shandora and the Shandians ran off to find the bell.

"The belfry's been found!"

"Where?"

"This way! Come on!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, hurry!"

Robin walked down one of the many streets as two Shandians ran by. She now wore purple pants, an opened purple floral-patterned blouse and a darker purple laced up corset-like top under it.

"They found the belfry," one of them said to the other. "Get to the western shore."

Robin stopped in her tracks. _"The belfry?"_

"Robin!" Robin turned at the sound of her name and saw Ricky. "There you are. Did you hear? They found the golden belfry. I hear there's a Poneglyph on it."

Robin nodded and the two Straw Hats followed the Shandians to the western shore.

**-x-**

At the western shore, the Shandians had gathered near the fallen Giant Jack and had four long vines draped over into the Sea Clouds and were trying to pull the gold bell out of them.

"ONE MORE TIME!"

"One, two… UUUGGHHH!"

The Shandians had been struggling for a while now but had thus far only succeeded in pulling the golden bell up out of the Sea Clouds. They were still a long way off from getting it onto Upper Yard.

The Shandians had formed four long lines as they pulled and the vines struggled to pull the bell. Kiko, Braham, Kamakiri and Genbo were among the lines and were all pulling with all their strength.

One of the Shandians Warriors took his bandaged hand off of the vine and saw that his wounds had come open again. He ignored it and went right back to pulling.

"Damn it, we still need more people!" Genbo complained.

"It's the pride of Shandora," Braham stated, "We can't lose it."

"FOR SHANDORA!" Kiko shouted as he gave another hard pull. "HOOUUGGugggghhh…"

"Give it everything you've got!" Genbo called out. "ONE MORE TIME!"

The Shandians continued to struggle and groan but were making no progress.

Then the Skypieans appeared. Previously, this would have been a cause for hostility. But now the war between the two races was over. The Shandian smiled at the sight of their new friends and the Skypieans quickly joined the lines and started to pull along with the Shandians.

With the two formerly divided races now working together, the Shandians and Skypieans finally succeeded in pulling the golden belfry back up onto Upper Yard.

**-x-**

Back in Shandora, a group of Shandians and Skypieans stared in amazement as one of them stretched a rubber band that Usopp had shown them.

"Oh! You call this a rubber band?" the Skypiean exclaimed as he stretched the rubber band in between his hands much to the amazement of the others.

"Yeah," Usopp the salesman replied, "And here's some inside information about 'em, those babies are the primary thing that took down Giant Jack."

"Oh, my word!" one of the Shandians gasped. It appeared that Usopp had finally found a group that believed his lies.

"And I'm the only one in the world that has them!" Usopp boasted.

"Oh, wow!" the Skypiean remarked as he continued to tug on the rubber band.

"But wait, there's more!" Usopp contiued. "Namely…" Usopp chuckled to himself as he picked up a roll of sheet metal. "This piece of metal! Gather around folks and take a gander! This is no ordinary piece of metal, no siree! It came from our valiant vessel the Going Merry. It's withstood the Grand Line and Eneru's attack with barely a scratch! This here's the King of Metal Sheets! And just thing, it can all be yours! How 'bout it? Wanna trade some of your Dials for this?"

"No, not really," the Skypiean with the rubber band refused. "But I'll gladly trade you for this rubber hand!"

"So will I!" a Shandian cut in. "Got any more?"

"Me too!"

"I want three!"

"Ahahahahaha!" Usopp smiled wide and laughed to himself. They might not have bought his story about the metal sheet but the sky people were suckers for his rubber bands.

**-x-**

Zoro closed his eyes and focused on his training.

"_Water… Light… Fire…" _the swordsman thought to himself. _"Their shapes can change. But even they…" _"CAN BE CUT!" **SLA-SLISH! **Zoro slashed his sword and cut up a chuck of rock.

"AHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed loudly as he practically danced his way over with a sack filled with Dials on his back. "I'M SO LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY!"

"You sure are in a good mood Usopp," Zoro observed. "I'm assuming your trading went well."

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp giggled. "Oh yeah! And how! Just look at all the Dials I got! Just one little press… and voila!" **Fwooosh! **A small burst of flame came out of the shell in Usopp's hand.

"Well, good for you," Zoro said.

"You mean great!" Usopp exclaimed. "I can do so many things with 'em! The Usopp Workshop is gonna be totally revolutionized! Ahahaha! You know what? I could use one to store smells in your sword. That way you'd smell fresh cut melons every time you train! Sound good?"

"No thanks," Zoro declined.

"Oooh!" Usopp gasped. "Speaking of weapons! I'm gonna use these to make Nami's ClimaTact stronger! Not to mention my slingshot! I can't wait!"

Zoro sighed as he sheathed _Kitetsu III_ and went back to training with _Wado Ichimonji_.

"So… where's everybody else, huh?" Usopp questioned.

"Luffy and the others are still inside," Zoro told him. "And Ricky and Robin went off to see about some rock." He sheathed his sword and resolved himself to the fact that he wouldn't get any more training done with Usopp bugging him.

"Inside?" Usopp repeated. He turned and stared at the massive, sleeping form of Nola. "That snake's still out, huh? It must be really tired."

"You'd be too if you danced for four days straight," Zoro pointed out. "I wonder what he was so happy about. Anyway, I hope they come out soon. When he wakes up I don't know how friendly he'll be."

"Huh?" Usopp asked. "Who? This well-mannered snake?"

"Easy for you to say," Zoro retorted, "You didn't see him when he was mad. He's dangerous."

"Who? This well-mannered snake?"

"Like I said, you didn't see him," Zoro insisted. "Just wait till he tries to eat you. You'll see what a pain he can be."

"Who? This well-mannered snake?"

"Usopp! Are you even listening to me?" Zoro snapped.

Usopp grinned as he turned to face Zoro and showed off his Tone Dial. **Klik! "Who? This well-mannered snake?" **"FOOLED YA WITH A TONE DIAL!"

"STOP BEING SO STUPID!" Zoro yelled at him.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed. "Me, stupid? But you're the one who got fooled! Ahahaha!"

**-x-**

Inside Nola, Luffy led Nami, Sanji and Chopper through the ruins in search of the gold that he'd seen inside the snake before.

"What the…" Sanji remarked as he stared at all the huge rocks that Nola had in her long belly. "And I thought Luffy ate too much."

"Are we there yet?" Nami complained.

"Hey, look! I told ya!" Luffy pointed out.

"WOW!" Nami gushed as she hugged a gold crown to her chest.

"This is the real deal!" Sanji noted as he held up a big gold cross.

"It's a bell!" Usopp exclaimed as he held up a gold bell-shaped ingot. "Just like the ones the big monkeys showed us!"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed as he held up a gold necklace. "See? See? See? There's so much stuff! And it's all ours!"

**-x-**

**I Made It Here:**

**-x-**

The Shandian Chief, the Shandians, Gan Fall and the Skypieans all stared at the beautiful golden belfry that they'd managed to pull back up onto Upper Yard.

"Wow…" one of the Shandians gasped in amazement. "So that's it? Amazing."

"It's beautiful!"

"I didn't expect it to be so big!"

"It's magnificent!"

"Aw but look… one of the side columns has broken off…"

"Yeah… what a shame…"

It was true. One the massive golden pillars that framed the two-story tall golden platform that the bell was on had broken off when they'd pulled it up out of the Sea Clouds. The gold column was now propped against one of the trees.

"Hey look, over there!" a Shandian pointed to the block that was embedded in the front of the golden platform. "Under the bell! It's the Poneglyph."

"That thing? So that's the stone our ancestors gave their lives to protect?"

"Chief, the words that are inscribed on it, what do they say?"

"It's an ancient text," the Chief told them. "Impossible to read."

"**We shall know the true meaning and mutter it to no one…"**

The Chief stiffened when he recognized the words and the group turned to see Robin and Ricky approaching.

"Make way," Ricky called out, "Best Archeologist in the World, coming through."

Robin shook her head as they stopped next to the Chief at the front of the group.

Robin continued, "It's our legacy to be the inheritors of history and our duty to protect it with the sounding of the Grand Belfry."

The Chief stared at Robin in shock, "Those words… how do you know them?"

"They were inscribed on a wall in the ruins of Shandora," Robin explained. "Generations ago, your people were entrusted to be its guardians, correct?" Robin continued forward and read the Poneglyph.

"You… you can actually read them?" the shocked Chief sputtered, "Those ancient characters?"

"Didn't I just say she's the best archeologist in the world?" Ricky questioned. "She can read anything." Ricky walked up next Robin. "What's this one say?"

"It mentions Poseidon," Robin answered, "And ancient weapon named after a God. It even gives its whereabouts."

"Are you certain?" a Shandian asked as the crowd murmured, "An ancient weapon?"

"But why would it say something like that?" another Shandian wondered.

"Another weapon, huh," Ricky noted, "First Pluton, then Poseidon. I guess this Void Century of yours really was a time of great and terrible war."

"To think there are dangerous things like this out there in the world, all just waiting to be found," Robin commented. She turned away from the Poneglyph, "Just another dead end."

"_This isn't what I was looking for or what I wanted to know," _Robin thought to herself.

"Hey Robin, what's this stuff on the side say?" Ricky called after her.

Robin stopped in her tracks and turned to see similar characters carved into the gold platform of the Grand Belfry.

"Gol D. Roger…" Robin read off of the additional inscription.

"Wait… you mean Gold Roger… right?" Ricky asked.

"No," Robin replied. "I know these characters. It's broken up. 'D' is the middle initial."

"Hm… I've gotta tell Ace," Ricky remarked. "What's it say?"

Robin recited the Pirate King's addition to the Poneglyph. "_'I have made it here and I will guide this passage all the way to the farthest ends of the Earth. The stormiest seas will not stop me. Pirate Gol D. Roger.'"_

"The Pirate King… this can only mean that he came to the Sky Islands," Robin realized. "But what in the world could his words mean? Any more importantly, how was he able to understand this ancient language?"

"So it says 'Roger' does it?" Gan Fall inquired from where he was sitting on a tree root.

"You know him?" Robin asked.

"Ah yes," Gan Fall replied, "A Blue Sea Pirate. I met him when he came to this land over twenty years ago."

"I have no idea how he reached this bell," Robin admitted, "But somehow he did. And this inscription was proof that we has here."

"…" Robin was silent for a moment but then an idea struck here, "Now that I think about it. There are two kinds of Poneglyph stones. Ones that provide information and others that tell how to reach other Poneglyphs scattered throughout the world. This Poneglyph obviously has information. _'I made it here and I will guide this passage all the way to the farthest ends of the Earth.' _Guide this passage… guide…"

Robin's eyes flew wide opened, "Could he… could he mean the Rio Poneglyph." Robin turned to face the Shandian Chief. "Chief, this Poneglyph… its duty has been fulfilled."

"Its duty?" the Chief repeated.

"Yes, I have a hunch about these Poneglyphs," Robin explained. "As I've said there are certain ones spread across the world that contain information. By reading them as one I believe they will form a passage that will reveal the True History of the Void Century. In other words, the passage completed by connecting them will make up a final Poneglyph that's yet to be discovered. The Rio Poneglyph. Gol D. Roger must have taken the text from the Poneglyph here to the island where the Rio Poneglyph may very well be located."

"Raftel?" Ricky supplied. Robin nodded and a wide smile spread across Ricky's face. "Do you know what that means?" Robin shook her head and Ricky surprised her when he slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "That's where Luffy and I are heading to find Roger's legendary treasure the One Piece. If you wanna achieve your dream and find this Rio Poneglyph, that means you're stuck with us all the way to the end." Robin smiled.

"Does that… does that mean that our duty as been fulfilled as well?" the Chief spoke up. Ricky slid his arm off of Robin's shoulders. The Chief stared to cry. "Does that mean… we… don't have to fight any longer? Then our ancestors' wish has been fulfilled." The Chief dropped to his knees and his sobs grew in volume which worried some of the Shandians. "Thank goodness! Our war is finally over!"

"Well, I have to get back to fulfilling my duty," she resolved as she turned to leave. "Like Roger before me, I must guide this passage and the other ones I've read all the way to the end of the Grand Line to the island of Raftel."

"And Luffy and I will be beside you ever step of the way," Ricky assured her.

"Well, then, where were we," Gan Fall mused as the two Straw Hats came passed him. "I was about to tell you how much your friend in the Straw Hat reminds me of Roger."

Ricky crossed his arms. "You've been holding out on us, old man," he complained. "Do you know how much Luffy would have loved to hear about the Pirate King? The guy's his hero."

"You remind me of someone that was with him," Gan Fall noted, "His First Mate. He went by the name 'Silvers'. Interesting how you and your friend with that hat remind me of those two."

"His name's Monkey D. Luffy," Robin stated, "And I find very interesting as well."

"D.?" Gan Fall repeated. "So the lad has the same middle initial as Roger? Hahahahaha!"

"Yes, and I'm sure there's got to be some historical significance to that," Robin replied.

"Pardon me," the Chief spoke up. "But I recall you and your friends saying you sought gold. Didn't you say it was more valuable than Vearth on the Blue Sea?"

"Yes," Ricky answered, "That's why we came here in the first place, to find the City of Gold."

"We obviously can't offer you the belfry…" the Chief pointed out then he looked over at the gold pillar that had broken off. "But how about the broken pillar?"

"That's a great idea!" a Shandian exclaimed. "We have to give something to our heroes! That's a perfect token of our appreciation."

"Please take it. We insist."

Ricky turned to look at the pillar and his jaw dropped opened at the sheer size of it.

Robin reached up and closed his mouth for him. "I believe we'll take it… if you're sure."

"Yes, of course," the Chief agreed.

"Alright everybody!" Genbo called out once they'd laid the massive gold pillar on the ground. "Let's bring this gift to our friends in the Blue Sea."

"If we wrap it up, it'll be easier to carry," another Shandian suggested. "It'll take every one of us to move it."

"Yeah, you're not kidding."

Ricky grinned as he stared at the gold pillar, "And she said I wasn't a good treasure hunter."

**-x-**

Luffy tapped his foot impatiently back in Shandora. He had a big sack of gold tied on his back. "Aww… come on Ricky… Robin…" he complained. "We can't wait too long!" Luffy's stomach rumbled. "Oh, I'm so hungry…"

"There's not a soul in sight," Sanji pointed out as he held his own large sack of gold. "I've gotta admit, this is pretty weird. I wonder where all those angels and warriors ran off to and why."

Zoro sat on the ground while Chopper stood next to him with his own big sack of treasure.

"Hey, be thankful they're gone," Usopp pointed out as he held his sack of Dials. "Trust me, if they see us making a run for it with all the loot you pulled from their favorite giant snake, well they're not gonna be too thrilled. Nami and Conis probably have the ship ready to sail so Ricky and Robin had better hurry and get back here quick. We've gotta go."

"What did they say they were doing together anyway?" Luffy wondered.

"Alright, enough," Zoro decided as he stood up. "I'm tired of just sitting around. You guys can wait for them. I'm gonna go to the ship."

"MORON!" Usopp yelled at him.

"JERK!" Luffy yelled.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" Sanji demanded.

"STUPID HEAD!" Chopper chimed in.

A comedic dust ball brawl ensued that saw Chopper go down with the first punch, Luffy laughing and Zoro and Sanji furiously trading blows while Usopp whimpered in pain. **BONK! **Usopp was knocked out of the dust ball and hit the ground in time to see Ricky, Robin, the Shandians and the Skypieans approaching with the massive wrapped pillar.

"MISS. ROBIN! YOU'RE BACK!" Sanji called out.

"HEY! ROOBIIIIIN!" Luffy shouted. "HURRY UP!"

Ricky looked over at Robin, "Seriously. I've been his brother for years and you're the one he calls out for."

"YOU GUYS! RUN!" Luffy continued to holler. "WE'VE GOTTA LEAVE! WE STOLE SOME GOLD!"

"STOP SHOUTING THAT WE STOLE GOLD!" Sanji berated him. "Moron! There are people right behind them! They can see and hear you too!"

"AAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed. "IT'S AN ARMY!"

"AAAAH!" Usopp shrieked along with Chopper as he saw the side of the crowd carrying the giant wrapped pillar. "NOT GOOD! THAT BIG THING CAN ONLY BE ONE THING! A CANNON!"

"WAAAHH!" Chopper wailed. "I HATE CANNONS!"

"Just our luck," Zoro muttered, "They'd all come back at once."

"ROBIN! RICKY!" Luffy hollered. "GET THE LEAD OUT! WE'VE GOTTA GET BACK TO THE SHIP NOW!" Luffy turned around to show off the gold in the sack on his back. "CHECK OUT THIS GOLD! I BET WE FOUND EVERY PIECE ON THE ISLAND!"

**Whap! **Ricky slapped himself on the forehead. "Idiot."

"From here it looks like they've already packed their bags," a Shandian noted.

"Oh no! They're not leaving already!" a Skypiean exclaimed.

"Hold on you guys!" a Skypiean called out. "DON'T GO! STOP!"

"Oh great," Sanji complained. "Here they come. Start running!"

"RUUUUUNNN!" Luffy shouted to his crew as he turned and took off running to keep the crowd that was trying to give him a massive column of gold from discovering the small sack of gold that he'd stolen.

"Well… I guess it's up to me to handle this one," Usopp realized. He jumped up onto a raised stone then struck a pose and shouted to the 'attacking army' and their 'giant cannon'. "STOP? STOP YOU SAY? LIKE HELL WE'LL STOP!"

"YEAH, YOU TELL 'EM USOPP!" Luffy cheered.

"WE RISKED LIFE AND LIMB TO COME TO THIS ISLAND IN THE SKY!" Usopp yelled. "AND THEN WE FOUND THE CITY OF GOLD! SO IF YOU THINK WE PIRATES ARE LEAVING EMPTY-HANDED YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING! YOU'LL NEVER CAPTURE US!"

**Whap! **Ricky slapped himself again. "He's an idiot too."

"Capture them?" a Shandian repeated. "What's he talking about? The only thing we're trying to do is thank them."

Another Shandian addressed Ricky and Robin, "Is there a problem? You and your friends want this gold, right?"

Robin shrugged, "I guess we don't." She turned and ran after the others.

"WHAAAAT?" the crowd of Sky People shouted.

"LET'S GOOOOO!" Luffy shouted as he, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper took off running with Robin running after them to catch up.

"I CAN'T TURN AROUND!" Chopper cried. "I KNOW THEY'RE CHASING US!"

"Aahaha!" Usopp laughed, "Zoro, did you see me take care of 'em back there?"

"Heh heh," Zoro chuckled, "Yeah, not bad."

"HEY MISS ROBIN!" Sanji called back to the archeologist. "Better hurry up!"

"HEY! COME BACK!" the Sky People yelled. "WAIT!"

"DON'T STOP!" Luffy urged his crew. "LET'S GO TO CLOUD END!"

"AYE!" his chew chorused.

And like that, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin ran off.

**Whap! **Ricky stood next to the gold column and slapped himself on the forehead a third time. "Idiots. They're all idiots."

**-x-**

**Heartfelt Finale:**

**-x-**

Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin ran through the forest of Upper Yard towards the Going Merry.

"Sanji! Did we lose 'em?" Usopp called out.

Sanji turned back to look behind them, "Looks like they gave up. I don't see anyone."

"Really?" Usopp sighed in relief. "Well that's good. To be honest, that giant cannon really scared me. Where were they hiding that thing? And how come they didn't use it against Eneru?"

"Their cannon?" Robin repeated.

"Yeah, you know, that huge thing the warriors were carrying towards us!" Usopp exclaimed. "Didn't you see it!"

"Oh, you mean that thing," Robin said with a smile.

"Yeah, that thing!" Usopp replied. "What's wrong with you? Its not funny! Why do you think we're running?"

"Yeah Robin!" Chopper chimed in. "Usopp's right! Don't laugh, okay?"

"We made it!" Luffy announced from the front of the group. "There's Nami and Conis."

"Where?" Sanji asked with hearts in his eyes. **WHAM! **He promptly ran into a tree branch.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked as she ran passed him.

"OH YEAH!" Sanji answered as he jumped back to his feet.

They reached the Going Merry where Nami, Conis, Pagaya and Suu were waiting.

"I see you've got the gold," Nami noted. She was wearing a sleeveless gray top with 'Evil' written across the front and blue short shorts. "But it looks like you're missing someone."

"SHIT!" Zoro cursed. "WHERE'S RICKY?"

"WHAT?" Luffy shouted. "THAT ARMY MUST'VE CAUGHT HIM!"

"BIG BROTHER'S BEEN CAPTURED?" Chopper shrieked.

"NOOO RICKY!" Usopp cried. "THEY GOT HIM! I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM!"

"Maybe I kicked him too hard…" Sanji mumbled.

"I believe Mr. One Eye elected to stay behind and deal with that… cannon," Robin supplied. "I'm sure he'll catch up."

"Yeah, Robin's right!" Luffy agreed. "Ricky's gotten outta tons of tough spots before. He's even gotten me out of a bunch of them."

"Whatever," Nami grunted. "We've gotta set sail while we still can. If he can't catch up to us and gets left behind then it's his own fault."

"What, no way!" Zoro protested. "I'll go back and get him."

"Idiot!" Nami snapped at him. "With your sense of direction you'll get lost and you'll never be seen again! Hurry up and get on the ship. Ricky can take care of himself."

**-x-**

"Alright, alright, put it down," Ricky instructed. "We'll never catch them at this rate."

"Does this mean you still want the gold?" a Shandian questioned.

"Yes, I still want the gold," Ricky confirmed. "We just need a more efficient way to carry it. Don't you guys have some kind of Dial that you use to move big vehicles? Eneru had a bunch on the bottom of his ship. Can't we use some of those?"

"He's right!" a Skypiean realized. "If we set some Breath Dials to the bottom of the pillar they should blow it up into the air so we can just pull it along."

"We should have some left in our skis," one of the Shandian Warriors realized.

"Quick, let's grab some! Gather as many skis as you can!"

"Don't go anywhere Sky Savior!"

The collection of Shandians and Skypieans ran off in the search of Breath Dials.

"I told you I'm not the…"

"**Sky Savior!"** Ricky shook his head and turned to face McKinley and the White Berets. "Heso!"

"Oh, you guys," Ricky noted. "I haven't seen you around the last couple of days. And I keep telling everybody. I'm not the savior. Luffy was the one that beat Eneru."

"We've spent the last three days helping Skypieans return to their homes on Angel Island," Captain McKinley told him, "Homes that they wouldn't have any more if it weren't for you." McKinley turned to one of the other White Berets. "Present the gift!"

One of the other White Berets ran forward and held out a folded piece of blue and white fabric. Ricky took it and it unfolded to reveal that it was a blue button up shirt with cloud designs on it make from the same material as the White Berets' pants.

"Oh wow, a cloud shirt!" Ricky exclaimed as he pulled it on over his black t-shirt. "I've always wanted one of these."

McKinley stepped forward and took off his beret and placed it on Ricky's head.

"The duties of the White Berets are to defend the people of Skypiea," McKinley stated. "You saved Angel Island. Consider yourself an honorary White Beret."

With the White Beret on his red hair and the opened cloud shirt over his black t-shirt and cargo pants, Ricky almost looked the part as he held his hand behind his head and extended his index finger and pinky upward. "Heso."

"HESO!" The White Berets chorused as they returned Ricky's salute.

"What's this? Have your friends ran off without their gift?" Gan Fall asked as he and the Shandian Chief arrived.

"They thought it was a cannon and ran away," Ricky dead-panned. "But because I'm in charge of their finances, I couldn't let your gift go to waste.

"How disappointing," the Chief remarked. "After all they did for us. I wonder if they realize how much we appreciate them."

"I agree," Gan Fall said, "They don't know how we feel."

"I'll be sure to tell them when I catch up with them," Ricky assured them. "Although… I may need a ride to Cloud End."

"CONSIDER IT DONE!" McKinley barked. "The White Berets will provide you with a full escort to Cloud End so you can reunite with your crew."

"Oh, thanks guys," Ricky replied.

"And when you reach them, be sure to express our sincerest thanks for everything they've done for us," the Chief requested. "This land will always be in debt to your crew of heroes from the Blue Sea World."

"I'll be sure to pass that on," Ricky assured him. "But you know… you do have that giant bell now… I think if you rang it you could send them that message yourself."

**-x-**

Off to the side, Laki was behind Aisa and was cutting the girl's hair.

"You know Aisa," Laki remarked. "It's not fair that you were the only one that got to say goodbye to the others. Everyone's really upset that we let our heroes just run away."

Aisa giggled, "Sorry, Luffy and the others told me that they were going to steal some gold. They made me promise to keep it a secret."

"Did you say anything to them before they left?" Laki inquired.

"Yeah," Aisa replied as she thought back to the night before when she'd said goodbye to the Straw Hats. "I said 'thank you all'."

Laki smiled as she continued to cut her young cousin's hair.

"Hey Laki, did you see what Luffy can do?" Aisa asked excitedly. "He can stretch! And he's really strong! He's an awesome warrior!"

"Aisa, please, you've got to hold still," Laki reminded her.

"I never knew there were warriors like him in the Blue Sea," Aisa admitted. "I wanna be just like him when I grow up. A super strong warrior!"

"Aisa, I'm just going to trim your hair a little," Laki informed her. "You need to let it grow. I think you've forgotten you're a girl and girls should look cute."

"What?" Aisa squeaked. "Cute? Me? Are you nuts? I told you, I'm gonna be a strong warrior!"

"But Aisa, the war is over now," Laki pointed out, "Now there's no need for girls like you to become warriors. Now you can enjoy life as a proper young lady."

Aisa grinned cheekily, "I never knew you were so ladylike!" Aisa teased her then shouted. "LAKI'S LADYLIKE!"

"Aisa!"

**-x-**

Wyper sat in front of Calgara's statue. His body was still covered in bandages and his arm was in a sling. Kiko, Kamakiri, Braham and Genbo all stood behind him.

"Great Warrior Calgara," Wyper addressed his ancestor's statue. "We were told that that Shandian's role has been fulfilled. As for your last wish, it was delivered to your best friend. Our future generations will no longer have to shed blood. We're finally at peace. The war may be over but one thing that will never end is our pride. Please, continue to guide us mighty Calgara and watch over us as well. We solemnly swear, the Fire of Shandora will never die."

"Wyper, this may be a bad time," Kiko spoke up, "But I believe one of the Blue Sea People may have stolen your Reject Dial."

"That's probably a good thing," Kamakiri told him. "Wyper used it three times and look at the condition his arm's in. If he used it again he could've lost it completely... or worse."

"Let them have it," Wyper said. "The war is finally over. We'll continue to defend Shandora from any others that would do it harm but we no longer need such weapons. Something tells me those Blue Sea People will need it more than us."

**-x-**

"READY, WHITE BERETS?" McKinley shouted.

"READY!" Ricky and the White Berets shouted.

**WOOOOOSSSHHH! **The Breath Dials on the bottom of the gold pillar came to life and it lifted up off of the ground. Ricky, McKinley and the rest of the White Berets held onto the eight ends of the four vines that had been wrapped around the pillar.

**SSHOOOOOM! **The White Berets used their Dial Skis while Ricky had reclaimed the skyboard that he'd stolen from Kiko. Together, Ricky and the White Berets pulled the pillar through the city towards the forest.

"Goodbye!" the street was lined with Shandians and Skypieans that all waved as they passed.

"Thanks for everything!"

"Thank you Sky Savior!"

"I told you, I'm not the Savior!"

"Good luck!"

"Come back some day!"

The last of the gold pillar disappeared into the forest and Gan Fall suddenly found the Shandian Chief grinning at him.

"I already told you," Gan Fall said, "I can not abandon my duties. I am the Sky Knight after all."

"Yes but this land no longer has any need for that role," the Chief told him. "What it does need is someone that can govern it, someone who is kind and just. I believe that duty is best suited for you."

"Perhaps you should be looking at yourself," Gan Fall suggested. "Remember, this city originally belonged to your people."

"It did, long ago," the Chief agreed. "But that means nothing now. In fact, with this battle, all of us realized something. Vearth belongs to no group. It must be shared. Our world has two sides, two nations, the Shandians and the Skypieans. We have been torn apart by war for ages. Only a man who has long lamented that war can unite us. And that man is you. So Sky Knight Gan Fall, I'd like you to take Skypiea's throne again. Only you can heal the deep wounds that scar this land of ours."

"We'd like you to do it too sir!" a Skypiean called out.

"Gan Fall, please!" another one pleaded.

"We Shandians are behind you all the way," a Shandian announced.

"Yeah!" another Shandian agreed.

"Please come back God!" someone shouted.

"Well, well," Gan Fall remarked, "And here I was thinking that I'd finally be able to get some rest and tend to my pumpkin patch."

"YEEEEAAAAHHH!" the Skypieans and Shandians all cheered at Gan Fall's agreement to take up his old position of God of Skypiea. They all knew he would be fair and just as a leader.

**-x-**

Pagaya's horn blared as he, Conis and Suu sailed alongside the Going Merry to Cloud End.

"Okay! We're almost there!" Conis called out to the Straw Hats on the Going Merry. "Everyone, see that up ahead? That's Cloud End?"

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper raced to the front of the ship. Up ahead of them was a small collection of buildings but the main focus was the large tunnel with a rainbow going over it. The tunnel was marked with a sign that said 'Cloud End'.

"Oh, so that's where we go back down from?" Luffy questioned.

"We got here sooner than I thought," Usopp noted.

"Good, then we can wait for Ricky here," Luffy decided. "Drop the anchor."

Zoro spun and threw the anchor off the side of the ship. It hooked on the front of a path that ran alongside the entrance to the tunnel. The Going Merry slowed to a stop in front of the tunnel.

"It sounds crazy but I'm really gonna miss this place," Sanji admitted.

"I think it's time we said goodbye to the White Sea," Zoro decided, "Once Ricky gets back."

"The Sky Island sure is fun," Chopper commented, "But scary too."

"So we just go through that gate there'll be a Milky Road that'll take us to the Blue Sea?" Usopp recounted. "We just have to wait for Ricky…"

"I still say we should just go without him," Nami grumbled. "It's his fault he couldn't be here in time."

"WHAT?" Chopper shrieked. "We can't leave without Big Brother! He's First Mate!"

"Easily fixed," Nami replied, "Zoro, you're a useless lay-about, it's time for you to take some responsibility. You're First Mate now."

"Like hell," Zoro snapped. "I quit. Being First Mate would mean having to deal with you more than necessary. Without Ricky around to distract you, you'd be an even bigger pain in the ass. I think we should leave _you _behind!"

"WHY YOU!" Nami yelled. She started towards Zoro but Robin caught her by the wrist.

"Come with me," Robin instructed as she pulled Nami to the storage room.

"He started it!" Nami complained.

"No, you did," Robin corrected her. "You've been a lot more irritable lately the last couple of days and I think we both know the cause. Clearly, you've got something on your mind so let's talk."

Robin pulled Nami down into the women's quarters but then stopped short at the bottom of the stairs. "Those are new."

Across the room where Nami's bed used to be, were two new slightly narrower beds that faced towards them instead of sideways against the wall like Nami's bed had once been.

"_He _got them from the Skypieans," Nami stated. "They're made of the same cloud material that they use on their furniture. He also got three cloud bunk beds for the guys."

Robin crossed the room and sat down on one of the beds, "Oh my, this is heavenly."

Nami flopped down on the bed next to her, "Does this mean you'll actually sleep down here for a change?"

"With a bed like this it would be a waste not to," Robin remarked.

Nami folded her arms under her chin. "I don't wanna talk about him. I don't care about him. I hate him. I just wanna forget about him and move on."

"Oh good," Robin replied, "In that case once he pulls himself together, I'll date him."

"WHAT?" Nami shrieked.

"He's good looking, intelligent, he's made it his mission to help me find Poneglyphs," Robin pointed out. "I've got ten years on you, I know how to wait for what I want. Since you're no longer interested maybe I'll try my hand once he's ready."

**WHUMP!** Nami tackled Robin on her bed. "LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"

Robin smiled. "See?" she said. "If you didn't care about him, you wouldn't be angry."

Nami scowled then slipped off of Robin and sat on the side of the bed. "It hurts…"

Robin sat back up, "And how do you think he's feeling? He'd sooner cut off his own arm then intentionally hurt you. He let Mr. Cook kick the stuffing out of him that night because he hurt you. He even covered from him."

"…" Nami bit her lip.

"He didn't say you could never be together, did he?" Robin pointed out. "He broke things off because he needs time to pull himself together. You need to decide if he's worth waiting for."

"**NAMI! ROBIN!" **Usopp shouted from up in the storage room. **"RICKY'S BACK! AND HE'S GOT THE CANNON!"**

Robin got up and made her way over to the stairs but stopped short from going up them. "Not that I'm really interested in such things but that _cannon _that he stayed behind to get is a pillar of solid gold that's over five times as long as this ship." Robin disappeared upstairs.

Nami laid back on Robin's bed and smiled faintly. "Damn it, I can't even hate him."

**-x-**

Robin came out onto the deck and saw the others had gathered on the rear deck as Ricky and the White Berets sped up to the Going Merry while pulling the wrapped gold pillar between them.

"Hold onto this for a second," Ricky requested. **SHOOOOM! **Ricky used his skis to jumped from the Sea Clouds onto the back railing of the Going Merry.

"Wow Ricky!" Luffy exclaimed. "You escaped from the army and stole their cannon!"

"Yes Luffy…" Ricky growled, "I escaped from a hostile army that was upset that you stole meaningless and forgotten gold from the belly of a snake, turned the White Berets against them and together we all stole their giant cannon and came after you."

The only one who didn't pick up on Ricky's sarcasm was Luffy.

"WOW! REALLY?"

"Oh yeah, really, but one the other hand…" **POW! **Ricky socked Luffy in the face and knocked him on his back. "You could stop being an _idiot _and behave like a rational person for two minutes! That_ giant cannon_ is a pillar of solid gold that broke off of the Grand Belfry. They were _giving it to us _as a gift! That _army_ that was chasing you was a group of eternally grateful people that wanted to _thank you_ for everything you had done for them!"

"You serious?" Luffy asked.

"Its true Luffy," Robin spoke up. "I was there when they presented us with the pillar."

"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "Ooops! Guess we didn't have to run off anyway! Isn't that funny guys? Guys?" Luffy looked behind him to find his crew glaring at him.

"YOU IDIOT!" Sanji yelled at him.

"YOU MADE US WORRY FOR NOTHING!" Usopp shouted.

"I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE!" Chopper shrieked.

"WHY DO WE EVER LISTEN TO YOU?" Zoro demanded.

And so the angry male Straw Hats attacked their Captain and another dust ball brawl ensued.

"Guys, quit playing around," Nami called out from the top of the stairs. "Ricky's back so we have to get going."

Robin took a big step to the side and left Ricky and Nami staring at each other. Nami leaned to the side and eyed the gold pillar that was bigger than their ship. **KA-**Nami snapped her eyes closed to keep the usual berri signs from appearing.

"You have a plan to get that thing back to the Blue Sea?" Nami asked.

Ricky rubbed the back of his neck, "I was going to ride it…"

Nami nodded then lowered her gaze to the dust ball. "KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!" Nami reached into the dust ball and pulled out a laughing Luffy. The other four kept fighting for another couple of seconds before they realized that the person they were all attacking was gone. Nami spun and threw Luffy down the stairs to the main deck. "Let's get going already!"

Nami turned to follow Luffy down the stairs but stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "That cloud shirt looks good on you."

Ricky stared after her in surprise then looked over at Robin. She smiled faintly and shrugged. "I did what I could."

"Thanks," Ricky replied. He looked off the side of the Merry at the path. Pagaya had parked their boat next to the Going Merry's anchor and he, Conis and Suu were on the pathway. "Conis, Pagaya, Suu, thank you for everything."

Conis shook her head, "Like I was telling your friends. It's us who should be thanking you."

Ricky jumped off the Going Merry's rear railing and landed on the gold pillar. "White Berets, thank you for your help." Ricky put his hand behind his head and saluted. "Heso."

"HESO!" McKinley and the White Berets returned. They let go of their vines and went up onto the pathway with Conis, Pagaya and Suu. The gold pillar hovered in place thanks to the Breath Dials underneath it.

"Wait! Big Brother!" Chopper called out from the Going Merry. The other Straw Hats had returned to the main deck.

"What's wrong Chopper?" Ricky inquired.

"I wanted to go with you…" Chopper said.

"You sure?" Ricky asked. "There's less to hold onto here." Chopper nodded. "Alright come on." **SKISH! **Chopper jumped from the railing and Ricky reached out and caught him then placed him on the pillar behind him.

"I was worried we were going to leave you behind," Chopper confessed.

"Nope, you're still stuck with me," Ricky stated.

"Zoro told me you beat the scary bald guy with the dog," Chopper told him.

"Of course I did," Ricky replied. "He had the nerve to hurt my little brother. Did you really think I was going to let him get away with that?"

**THWAK! **McKinley kicked the Going Merry's anchor off of the end of the path and Zoro pulled it back up. The Going Merry started to sail forward toward the tunnel while Conis, Pagaya and Suu ran alongside it.

"How do we move this thing?" Chopper asked.

"Just hold onto these vines," Ricky instructed as he motioned down to the vines that had been wrapped around the pillar. "I'll take care of the rest." Ricky jumped up and ran along the pillar to the end of it then reached down and hit the two Breath Dials that they'd attached to the back. **WOOOOSSHH! **The Dials activated and blew the gold pillar down the Milky Road after the Going Merry.

"I'm sorry," Pagaya called out as he, Conis and Suu ran alongside the Merry. "But this is as far as we can go. Goodbye my friends!"

"Take care of yourselves!" Conis exclaimed.

"Suu!" Suu cooed.

"We will, thanks for the escort!" Nami called back.

"Conis my angel! Don't forget me!" Sanji swooned.

"Say goodbye to the others for us!" Usopp requested.

"It was nice meeting you guys," Luffy addressed them as he sat on his special seat, "Thanks for everything."

"I told you already, thank _you_," Conis replied. "We'll never forget you! Thanks to you all!"

"Goodbye Conis, Old Guy, Fur-ball!" Luffy said as he waved. "Take care now!"

"BYE!" Conis and Pagaya chorused.

"Now take in your sails and hold on tight!" Pagaya instructed. "You're in for a bumpy ride!"

"Right!" Usopp resolved. "Let's do what the man says! It feels like we're already picking up speed!"

"Yeah, and we're sliding down from thousands of feet in the air," Luffy pointed out as he jumped from his seat to the deck. The Straw Hats scrambled to raise the sails. "Hurry up!" The Going Merry went down the first part of the slide-like Milky Road and entered the tunnel.

"BYE!" Chopper shouted to Conis, Pagaya and Suu.

"Heso!" Ricky added as he ran back up the pillar behind Chopper.

"JOOH! **WHAM! **Ricky was tackled by two familiar South Birds.

"Yup… I still hate birds," Ricky realized and the two South Birds stood on his back.

"Joooh! JOOOH! JOOOHH!" the female crowed.

"She says 'Don't leave without us'," Chopper translated.

"Alright, alright," Ricky resolved as he pulled himself over to the vines and grabbed onto them. "All three of you hang on then."

"Captain, the Log Pose has the coordinates for the next island," Nami reported as she glanced down at the glass ball on her wrist.

"Great! Let's go!" Luffy replied. "Once we get to the bottom we're gonna start a brand new adventure! GUYS! GET READY!"

The Going Merry came out the end of the tunnel and Luffy gave a loud shout, "BLUE SEA HERE WE COME!"

"AYE!" Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji chorused.

Conis and Pagaya ran out from a doorway that went alongside the tunnel and reached a ledge just as the Going Merry went down the huge drop from the Milky Road.

"WHOOOA!" the Straw Hats cheered as the Going Merry whizzed down the slide.

"Bye-bye! See ya! Maybe we'll come back some day!" Chopper waved to Conis and Pagaya.

"Chopper, stop waving and grab onto the vines," Ricky instructed.

"How come?" Chopper asked. The pillar shot down the slide. "WEEE! It's just a slide!"

Ricky sweat dropped, "They didn't actually tell you guys how we were getting back down to the Blue Sea… did they?"

"No, why?" Chopper questioned.

"Just… hold on tight," Ricky advised as he gripped the vines behind Chopper while the two South Birds perched on his shoulders.

The other Straw Hats laughed as the Going Merry continued down the slide.

"EVERYONE! GRAB ONTO SOMETHING!" Conis shouted after them. "THE FREE FALL'S ABOUT TO START!

The slide abruptly ended and became a straight waterfall. **WHHHIIINNG! **The Going Merry flew right off the end.

"Free fall?" the Straw Hats repeated.

**WOOOOOOSSSHHH! **The Going Merry no longer had anything under it and started the thousand mile fall down to the Blue Sea.

"HESO!" Conis called out and waved.

"WAAAAAHHHHH!" the Straw Hats screamed as the Going Merry plummeted downward.

"DID THEY JUST FLY OFF THE END?" Chopper shrieked. "I CHANGED MY MIND! LET'S STAY ON THE SKY ISLAND! TURN THIS THING AROUND!"

"Too late now," Ricky replied. "Here we go…" **WHHHHIIIINNNGG! **The gold pillar flew off the end of the slide and shot out into the air. **WOOOOOOOOSSSHHH! **Then it started to drop after the Going Merry.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!""JOOOOOOOHHHHH!" Chopper and the South Birds screamed.

"Just hang on," Conis instructed as she pulled out a silver whistle. "Two Octopus Balloons, on the way." **SWEEEEEEEE!**

**SPLOOOSSHHH! **A dark shape slid through the clouds then burst out to reveal that it was a huge pink and purple octopus. **WAH-WHAAAP! **The octopus quickly wrapped its tentacles around the Going Merry.

"AAAAAAHHHH! OCTOPUS!" Usopp screamed.

"What the…" Zoro growled as he prepared to draw his sword.

**WOOOOSSSH!** The Going Merry gave another lurch and all the Straw Hats fell over.

**SWEEEEEEEEE! **Conis let out a second whistle.

**SPLOOOSSSHHH! **A second octopus burst out of the clouds and wrapped its tentacles around the wrapped golden pillar. **WHA-WHAP!**

"YAAAAAHHH! MONSTER!" Chopper cried.

"Nope, not a monster," Ricky corrected him. "Just look down."

"THAT'S THE LAST PLACE I WANNA LOOK!" Chopper yelled.

The Straw Hats down below gasped as they stared up at their octopus.

Luffy ran to the railing and stared upward, "HEY GUYS! GET A LOAD OF THIS!"

"What is it?" Zoro wondered.

Chopper finally looked down and saw that the head of the octopus on the Going Merry had inflated to the size of a balloon that was three times the size of the Caravel.

"A BALLOON!" Chopper cheered.

**WOOOOOOOOSSSHHH! **Their own octopus inflated and the pillar lurched upward as the two octopus balloons slowed the pillar and the pirate ship down to a slow downward drift.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "ISN'T THIS GREAT!"

"We're not falling!" Nami realized.

"Oh good," Usopp sighed in relief. "For a minute there I thought we were goners."

**DONG! **The familiar tone of a beautiful bell rang out over the sky. **DONG! **

**DONG! **The Straw Has all stared upward at the Sky Islands that were already far behind them. **DONG!**

**DONG!**

**-x-**

**DONG!**

**DONG! **

"Keep ringing it!" the Shandian Chief instructed as they rang the golden bell. "Let the departing heroes of this land know how we feel about them!"

"YEEAAAAHHH!" the Shandians, the Skypieans and even Nola all cheered.

"LUFFY! COME BACK SOON!" Aisa yelled along with the bell.

"YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME!"

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"WE WISH YOU SAFE PASSAGE TO THE BLUE SEA!"

**DONG!**

The newly reinstated God Gan Fall looked over at the Grand Belfry. They had given the front pillar that had broken off to the Straw Hats a gift. But now that one that remained looked odd.

"You know," Gan Fall said to the Chief, "The bell looks uneven now with only one front pillar… What do you suppose we should do with it?"

"We could always trade it to another Blue Sea Pirate," the Chief suggested. "I'm sure there are more like them down in the Blue Sea."

**DONG!**

"Oh, I just remembered!" a Skypiean realized. "We forgot to tell the Savior about the statue."

"We did that on purpose," another Skypiean reminded him. "He insisted he didn't want it."

"Do you think he'll know that we only have him half the gold from that gear of his?"

"Probably not and if he does, he won't miss it."

**DONG!**

In Shandora where the Grand Belfry had once been was a golden statue. Each of the two pirates represented in it were two times the size of a normal person. The first pirate was a lanky man with a straw hat, a vest, shorts, sandals and a wide smile. His left fist was out and it joined the right fist of the other pirate. He was taller, had short hair that stood up in spikes and wore a t-shirt, baggy pants and boots. A curved sword was in his left hand and a grin adorned his face underneath two mismatched eyes.

Under the statue was a gold plaque that read 'the Saviors of Skypiea'.

**DONG! **

**When you look up, you see the sky. Though some believe it to be only a legend, there is an island floating thousands of feet in the air. If you listen carefully, you can hear the toning of a bell. It rings today and it will ring again tomorrow. That bell rings from the heavens, from a land that wandered, it sings of its pride and proclaims to the rest of the world… "WE… ARE… HERE..."**

**-x-**

**Back to the Blue Sea:**

**-x-**

Back at Jaya, Montblank Cricket had just made an important announcement to the rest of the Saruyama Alliance.

"YOU'RE CALLING OFF THE SEARCH?" Shoujou repeated in surprise.

"Of course," Cricket replied. "The City of Gold has been in the sky this whole time and there's nothing else to be found in the Blue Sea. Sorry fellas. This dream's over. No point in staying here anymore."

"Old man…" Shoujou gasped.

"Cricket!" Mashira protested.

"I want to thank all of you for helping me pursue my dream for all of these years," Cricket addressed them. "You never stopped believing. That means a lot."

"Does this mean…" Mashira started.

"You're leaving the Alliance?" Shoujou finished for him.

Cricket sat on his stump and closed the book on _Noland the Liar_.

"Yes guys," Cricket said as he stood back up. "Since this dream's done which one are we gonna pursue next?"

"YEEAAAHHH!" the Saruyama Alliance cheered.

"We'll all follow you to the ends of the Earth, old man!" Masira declared.

"YEAH!" Shoujou agreed.

**-x-**

The Going Merry and the gold pillar both floated downward with the two Octopus Balloons. Ricky had turned off the Breath Dials under the pillar so they could keep pace with the Merry.

"GOLD! GOLD!" Luffy and Usopp cheered in the galley as they went through the chest of gold treasure that they'd gotten from inside Nola.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed. "We finally struck it rich! What should we buy with all this loot? HEY! I KNOW! A HUGE BRONZE STATUE!"

"MORON!" Usopp scolded him, "Only an idiot would exchange gold for bronze! How stupid! What we need are more cannons! Ten of them!"

"Miiisss. Naaaamiii!" Sanji sang as he danced over to Nami. "Can I please buy more locks for the food storage?"

"Aw, but I had such a hard time breaking the other one!" Luffy complained. "If you get new locks there'll be no way for me to get a midnight snack!"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I WANT ONE, YOU PIG!" Sanji shouted at him.

"Would you guys hold on a second," Nami instructed. "You forget. Ricky's the Financial Manager. He's obligated to buy all that stuff for you. Once we land, we can divide up the gold between us and spend it however we want."

**-x-**

"OH NO!" Chopper suddenly exclaimed. "I'm stuck up here! Luffy and Usopp will take all the treasure we found and I won't be able to buy medical books!"

"Chopper…" Ricky said, "You do realize that we're sitting on a pillar of solid gold that's worth over a billion berries, right?"

"WHOA!" Chopper gasped. "That much?"

"Yes," Ricky answered. "If you need medical books, all you have to do is tell me. I'll buy you a whole library of books or I can give you some money and you can pick out the ones you want."

"Really, oh boy!" Chopper cheered. "I can get my books once we get to the next island."

"Before we do that, I need to stash this gold in my turtle," Ricky said. "OH! I've gotta get my Transponder Snail so I can call Sheldon when we land." Ricky glanced at the two South Birds that were still perched on his shoulders. "Hey, hitchhikers, I'm giving you a ride, now I need you to give me one."

**-x-**

"Ms. Navigator!" Robin suddenly called from outside the galley. "The ship… Just where is it headed exactly?"

"Where else?" Nami asked. "The next island of course…" Nami looked down at her Log Pose and went pale. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji raced out of the galley after Nami. "Are you okay?" Usopp asked.

"What's wrong?" Luffy questioned.

"Need a hug Nami-swan?" Sanji offered.

"Damn it, we've been blown off course," Nami informed them. "We must've hit an air current."

"Well I definitely feel a breeze," Sanji noted.

"Is that a bad thing?" Luffy inquired.

"Of course it is," Nami told him. "We have no idea where we are or where we're gonna land. And with octopus up there we can't unroll the sails or control the ship. What're we gonna do?"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Luffy reassured her. "Once we touch down we'll just head to the next island. Easy as that."

"There you go running off with the mouth as always," Nami growled. "

"Hey…" Sanji suddenly called out. He held his fingers in a square and stared through them as he looked upward at the octopus.

"Sanji, what is it?" Nami asked.

"Ah, guess I was wrong," Sanji said.

"About what?" Usopp wondered.

"Never mind," Sanji replied.

"**WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!" **The Straw Hats all jumped at the sudden shout from Zoro. They looked across the deck and saw that the formerly sleeping swordsman had sat up. "Oh yeah… I was just a dream." He let out a yawn and went back to sleep.

"THANKS FOR SCARING US!" Nami berated him as Usopp held her back.

"I'M GONNA FILLET YOU FOR THAT!" Sanji threatened.

"MOR—" Nami trailed off as Ricky suddenly flew down onto the deck with the two South Birds on his shoulders. **TMP! **"Are those the South Birds we caught on Jaya?"

"Yeah, Stupid and his girlfriend didn't want to be left behind," Ricky answered.

Nami twitched at the word 'girlfriend'. "He doesn't look so stupid to me. He managed to land himself a girlfriend and even stayed with her. He knows what's important."

"Jooh jooooh joooh!" The South Birds crowed and laughed at Ricky.

Ricky frowned, "I just came for my transponder snail…" He raised the flap in the deck and dropped down into the men's quarters.

Ricky returned a moment later. "Nami, there were three chest filled with gold bars down there. Do you have any idea why there are only two now?"

"Nope, no clue," Nami replied.

"So if I searched your room I wouldn't find a chest exactly like those two?" Ricky questioned.

"The chest in there is completely unrelated to those other two," Nami insisted. "It's filled with… um… my underwear. You broke up with me so you're not allowed to look in it."

"Wait, where's this chest?" Sanji inquired.

"Whatever…" Ricky muttered. "I've got to get back to Chopper." Ricky ran to the railing and jumped off then the two South Birds carried him away.

"Feel better?" Robin asked Nami. The girl shook her head. "I thought we talked about this?"

"I couldn't help it," Nami admitted as she wrapped her arms around herself. "He said girlfriend."

Luffy looked over at his sad Navigator and quickly called out, "HEY! JUST HAD THE GREATEST IDEA!"

**-x-**

Ricky landed behind Chopper on the pillar. He promptly sat down cross-legged and closed his eye.

"Did you get your snail?" Chopper asked.

"Yes," Ricky answered simply.

"Um… what're you doing now?" Chopper inquired.

"I'm meditating," Ricky told him. "Or trying to anyway."

"Oh… uh… how come?" Chopper questioned.

"Because I need to pull my mind back together," Ricky explained.

"Why?" Chopper queried.

"Because I don't want Nami to hate me," Ricky whispered.

"…" Chopper stared at Ricky for a moment then crossed his legs and closed his eyes. "I'll meditate too."

"_Human relationships are complicated," _Chopper thought to himself.

**-x-**

The ship and the pillar continued their slow drop out of the sky as the sun set and the sky began to turn dark.

"The sun's completely set now," Usopp remarked, "Still a nice view though."

Zoro sat up and yawned, "Morning already?"

"It's still evening, dummy!" Usopp snapped at him.

"This is taking longer than I expected," Robin admitted as she sat against the mast.

"I agree," Nami said as she sat on the railing and softly kicked her legs. "I'm really worried about how far we've drifted. We could be anywhere."

Sanji spun in between them, "What is I sang you girls a romantic song to take your mind off…"

Sanji didn't get to finish or start singing before Nami slugged him. **POW! **"BUZZ OFF!"

"Hey, you know what, I betcha we get blown all the way to Raftel!" Usopp called out.

"Mr. Long Nose, unfortunately that's impossible," Robin informed him. "We'd have to sail across over half the Grand Line just to get there."

"Uh… yeah… uh… Usopp mumbled, "I knew that…"

"This conversation's boring," Zoro complained. "How much longer is this gonna take?"

"Go to sleep," Usopp growled at him.

"**HEY ZORO!" **Luffy called out. He was nowhere on the deck. **"IF YOU'RE REALLY BORED, I'VE GOT SOMETHING YOU CAN DO! ITS FUN!"**

"Luffy? Where'd his voice come from?" Usopp wondered.

"Good question," Nami replied, "He did sound kinda far off."

"LUFFY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Sanji shouted.

**BOING! BOING! BOING! **"SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed as he bounced up and down on top of the Octopus Balloon. "I'M UP HERE! COME ON GUYS! THIS THING'S A BLAST!"

"IS HE NUTS?" Usopp exclaimed.

"You already know the answer to that," Zoro grumbled.

**-x-**

Up above Luffy, Chopper looked down with stars in his eyes, "That's so cool! I wanna try!"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Ricky advised, "These octopuses are keeping us from crashing down into the sea. I don't think we should mess with them." Ricky leaned over the side of the pillar. "LUFFY! KNOCK THAT OFF!"

"NO WAY!" Luffy yelled back. **BOING! BOING! **"THIS IS TOO AWESOME!" **BOING! **He flew up into the air and nearly came level with the gold pillar. "HI GUYS!" Then he dropped back down again. **BOING!**

**-x-**

"LUFFY DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!" Nami shouted up at Luffy. "ALL OUR LIVES DEPEND ON THIS BALLOON! YOU HEAR ME LUFFY!"

"Don't worry! Don't worry!" Luffy reassured her. "Nami! You should come up here and bounce! It's really fun!"

"WHY WOULD I WANNA DO THAT?" Nami demanded.

"If you jump high enough on this thing you can see Ricky and Chopper!"

"FORGET THAT!" Nami hollered. "NOW GET BACK DOWN HERE!"

Sanji stared up at the octopus and held his fingers in a square as he stared through them.

Sanji's eye widened in horror, "LUFFY! STOP! GET DOWN! RIGHT NOW!"

"Sanji, what're _you _yelling at him about?" Nami asked.

"The octopus is shrinking!" Sanji exclaimed. "If we don't do something we'll fall!"

"AH!" Nami gasped in surprise while Sanji jumped passed her onto the railing and started to climb up one of the octopus's long tentacles.

"LUFFY!" the cook shouted.

"What's that?" Usopp asked as he came over with Zoro.

"The octopus is shrinking!" Nami warned them.

"SHRINKING!" Usopp shrieked in alarm.

"You know," Robin remarked as she stared upward, "Now that I look at it, it does look smaller than before."

"Oh, what're we gonna do?" Nami wondered as she stared down off the railing. The Blue Sea and even some low clouds were still far below them. "We're still really high up in the air!"

Sanji finally reached the top of the octopus where he found Luffy still happily bouncing on it. "LUFFY! SOMETHING'S WRONG! YOU'VE GOTTA COME DOWN NOW!"

"SHISHISHISHI!" **BOING! **Luffy laughed as he did a flip. "Huh?" He came down with his feet together and they sunk into the top of the slightly shriveled octopus' head. **SHUNK! **Luffy lost his footing and tumbled down the octopus' head. "WAAAAH!"

"GAAH!" Sanji yelped before Luffy rolled right into him. **KRASH! **They both went flying off the octopus balloon and the other Straw Hats stared in shock as Luffy and Sanji whizzed by.

Sanji's pack of cigarettes fell down into the Blue Sea… but not the cook himself. **WHAP! **Luffy had grabbed onto the railing with one stretched hand and had caught Sanji with the other.

"SHISHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed loudly. "That was scary! I wonder why the octopus isn't bouncy anymore?"

"I TOLD YOU, ITS SHRINKING BONEHEAD!" Sanji berated him.

Nami and Usopp sighed in relief as they looked over the railing. **WOOOSH! **They suddenly floated up into the air as the Going Merry picked up speed and started to fall faster.

"That's weird," Luffy noted as the Going Merry fell down passed him and his dangling cook. "How'd the ship get below us?"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

**-x-**

"OH NO!" Chopper exclaimed. "THEY'RE FALLING!"

"See why I said jumping on the octopus was a bad idea?" Ricky asked. "Luffy accidentally drove all the air out of it."

"WHAT DO WE DO?" Chopper shrieked.

"I don't know," Ricky admitted as he looked up at their octopus balloon. "Ours is shrinking too, probably because the pillar's bigger and heavier than the ship… I doubt it would support the weight of both for long but we've gotta try. Quick, undo some of the wrappings, we can only hope that they can find a way to slow the ship down…."

**-x-**

"WE'RE FALLING! WE'RE FALLING!" Usopp cried.

"WE'RE GONNA HIT THE SEA SO HARD WE'RE GONNA SINK TO THE BOTTOM!" Nami shouted.

"Only if the ship doesn't shatter first!" Robin 'optimistically' pointed out.

"SHATTER?" Usopp repeated. He wouldn't let his ship shatter! "NO WAY!"

"What're you going to do Usopp?" Nami asked as she clung to the railing.

"What I always do," Usopp replied as he slipped on his grappling belt and octopus shoes. "Save our lives of course!" Usopp jumped up onto the railing and his long nose curled upward from the wind that rushed up while the Going Merry dropped downward.

"DON'T BE CRAZY USOPP!" Sanji warned him. He'd made it back into the ship and was now standing protectively next to Nami.

Usopp's legs were shaking but now wasn't the time to be scared. His ship and his crew were in danger. "USOPP…" He hooked his grappling hook on the railing then jumped backwards off the side of the ship, "AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The rope extended as Usopp fell down passed the ship and swung underneath it. **SQUISH! **Usopp flipped and stuck to the bottom of the ship with his octopus shoes.

"Hey, look, it worked!" Usopp exclaimed. He quickly fished a bunch of Dials out of his bag and slapped them on the bottom of the ship. **Whap-whap-whap-whap-whap! **"Alright Breath Dials, do your thing!" **WOOOOSSHHH-WOOOOSSHHH-WOOOOSSHHH-WOOOOSSHHH! **"NOW FLOAT! FLOAT I SAY!" The Breath Dials activated and blew downwards with highly compressed air which pushed up on the ship and succeeded in slowing down the falling ship.

**SQUICK! **Usopp's octopus shoes gave out and he fell downward and dangled from his rope.

"WE'VE SLOWED DOWN!" Nami realized.

"ALRIGHT!" Luffy cheered from his perch on the railing.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed as he floated up passed the side of the Merry on his rope.

"**NOW CHOPPER!" **came a shout from overhead. Ricky and Chopper dropped down on opposite sides of the ship. They were each supported by a South Bird as they flew down with several lengths of wrappings bundled in their arms. "Usopp, gimme a hand! Robin, help Chopper on his side! We'll tie our pillar to the ship and hopefully between our balloon, your deflated one, and both our Dials we can stay in the air long enough to land safely."

Ricky and Chopper threw the wrappings outward and started to tie them to the ship. Usopp swing inward and helped Ricky tie his side while Robin crossed her arms and a half a dozen arms sprouted around Chopper and secured the rest of the wrappings on their side.

"Alright… that should do it," Ricky concluded.

"You're safe now!" Chopper chirped.

"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "I was actually scared there for a minute."

"Me too," Nami admitted, "But we're finally safe now."

Ricky nodded at her, "This should hold as long as…"

**POP! **The octopus balloon on the Going Merry finally gave out and shrunk down to the size of a normal octopus.

"…that doesn't happened…"

**WOOOOOOSSHHH! **The weight of the golden pillar and the Going Merry was too much for the pillar's mostly-inflated octopus to handle and as a result everything started to fall again. The remaining octopus balloon started to rapidly deflate. **PHHHHISSSSHHHH…**

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" the Straw Hats screamed.

"LUFFY! CATCH!" Ricky called out as he grabbed Usopp and tossed him onto the Merry. **WHUMP! **Luffy caught Usopp and they both crashed to the deck. "Crap, crap, crap! This backfired…" Ricky pulled out his sword and slashed it through the wrappings on his side. **SLISH! **"ZORO, CUT THE BINDING ON THE OTHER SIDE! CHOPPER, WE'VE GOTTA GET BACK UP TO THE PILLAR!"

"WAAAAHHH-WHHHYYYY?" Chopper cried out as he clung to the Merry.

"BECAUSE IF OUR PILLAR FALLS ON TOP OF THEM, THEY'LL BE CRUSHED!"

Nami looked up at the mostly unwrapped shining gold pillar. "TOO MUCH GOLD!" she shrieked. "I DON'T WANNA DIE CRUSHED BY GOLD!"

"I don't want you to die, period!" Ricky called back. "COME ON CHOPPER! LET'S GO!"

"RIGHT!" Chopper agreed. They launched themselves upwards and the South Birds took off.

Zoro ran across the deck and slashed his sword through the remaining wrappings on the ship. **SLISH! **But now with only the Breath Dials on the bottom to support it, the Going Merry plummeted downward. **WOOOOOOOSSSHHH!**

"HANG ONTO SOMETHING!" Luffy screamed.

**-x-**

Ricky and Chopper flew up onto the gold pillar and landed on top of it. Ricky quickly ran along it to the back end. The octopus was mostly shriveled and the pillar was falling out of the sky. Fortunately, the Breath Dials on the bottom still going and were at least slowing it down.

"RICKY!" Chopper called out. "THERE'S A RING-SHAPED ISLAND DOWN THERE! I THINK THEY'LL BE OKAY!"

"Ring?" Ricky repeated. His eye widened in horror. "Oh no…" He jumped down and activated the Breath Dials on the back of the pillar. **WOOOOSSHH! **The two Dials flew the pillar blew compressed air and the slowly falling shining gold pillar drifted forward.

"WAIT! BIG BROTHER! WE'RE GONNA MISS THE RING!" Chopper warned him.

"I'M NOT AIMING FOR THE RING!" Ricky shouted back.

**-x-**

The Going Merry rocketed down out of the sky and splashed down in the Blue Sea. **SPLOOOSSHHH! **The Going Merry was rocked by the strong waves that it had caused and blue water – not Sea Clouds washed onto the ship and knocked the pirates around.

"Miss. Nami, Miss. Robin, are you okay?" Sanji asked.

Nami looked up in time to see the gold pillar rocket off overhead. **WOOOOSSHH! **"THEY DID IT! WE'RE NOT GONNA BE CRUSHED! WE MADE IT BACK SAFE!"

"Phew, that was a close one!" Luffy sighed in relief. **SHOOO… **Their octopus fell out of the sky and landed on his face. **SPLAT! **"You're right Nami! We made it back alive!"

"It's your fault we were in that situation in the first place!" Sanji snapped at him. He shook his head and sighed. He knew better than to hold a grudge against the Captain. The same sort of thing was just going to happen again. He searched in his suit jacket for his cigarettes but then remembered that they'd fallen out when he'd fallen off the balloon. "Damn it I need a smoke. But at least we got to see an incredible place."

Robin looked upward, "Now that we're down here, it looks so far away."

"Like something out of a dream," Nami agreed. "Think we'll see it again?"

"Maybe when we die," Zoro suggested.

"Not you," Usopp piped up, "I doubt you're going any place good."

"YOU JERK!" Zoro yelled at him.

"You guys keep discussing the afterlife," Sanji told them, "Me, I'm gonna go put on a pot of coffee."

"MAKE DINNER INSTEAD SANJI!" Luffy called out.

"Are you ever not hungry?" Sanji scolded him. "Have some coffee first and be patient, will ya?"

"Okaaayyy…" Luffy conceded as he got up. "Hey… by the way…"

**CLICK! **The Going Merry was suddenly engulfed in a floodlight.

**CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! **More floodlights turned on and lit up the caravel.

**RIIIIINNNGG-RIIIIIIIINNGGG-RIIIIIINNNGGGG! **A loud alarm rang in a distance.

A familiar blue seagull insignia could be seen on some of the buildings as marines rushed out of the buildings around them. A large metal gate blocked the exit of the ring-shaped landmass that they'd landed inside and prevented any escape.

"Does anybody know… just where the heck we are?" Luffy asked.

The Straw Hats had finally landed in the Blue Sea. But they'd also landed in big trouble and were now trapped in a Marine Base.

**-x-**

Ricky, Chopper and the South Birds held onto the gold pillar as it crashed down into the Blue Sea outside the Marine Base. **SPLOOOSH! **The Breath Dials on the bottom pushed the pillar back up to the surface.

**SHOOP! **The octopus balloon suddenly snapped off of the pillar and shrunk down.

"You alright, Chopper?" Ricky asked once they'd settled on top of the Blue Sea.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chopper answered. He didn't seem to notice the octopus that had landed on his pink top hat. "But what happened to the others?"

"As is a pattern with our crew's luck, they landed in one of the worst possible places that they could," Ricky told him. He scooped the octopus off Chopper's hat and tossed it into the water. "This little brother is known as G-8 and the Navarone. It's one of the most fortified Marine Bases in the entire world."

"THE MARINES?" Chopper shrieked. "WHAT DO WE DO?"

"The only thing we can do," Ricky resolved, "We go in and get them out."

**-x-**

And that's the end of the Skypiea Arc. It took a long time but I finally buckled down and finished it. I gave up having a social life beyond my two jobs and the friends that I tutor so I could finish this. I'm going to take a month's break from writing this but then I'll be back with the highly requested G-8 Arc to finish off Another Nakama III.

Thanks for reading.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	34. State of Emergency

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** Over my month off I tried to negotiate with Nami to get my disclaimer back. I had high hopes until the greedy bitch told me her asking price. This is a non-profit story. Where the hell does she think I'll get that kind of money?

**State of Emergency:**

**-x-**

The stars in the night sky shined down on Navarone Island and Marine Base G-8. Navarone Island was in two parts. The first part was a large ring. The second was a smaller island in the middle of the ring that was surrounded in a moat of water. The small island was connected to the ring with a red bridge.

G-8 had once been known as one of the largest and most fortified Marine Bases in the World. However, due to downsizing by the World Government, a lot of the large Marine Base was no longer in use.

"I don't know but I've been told!" the lead marine in a night patrol called out as he and his men marched across the bridge.

"Being a marine won't ever get old!" the other marines in the patrol chorused. "G-8's gonna keep things right! If you don't listen we'll use our might! If they're dumb enough to come near!"

"Bad guys always run in fear!" the bespectacled marine at the end of the line belted out.

"You know," the big marine in front of him remarked, "I heard that our base isn't very popular with those fellas out on the open waters."

"Yeah," the lead marine agreed, "They think we're a bunch of dimwitted softies because we haven't seen any action in so long. But think about it, when was the last time you actually got to test your skills in a battle with some pirate scum?"

"What are you trying to say?" the marine with glasses exclaimed.

"I'm not trying to say anything!" the lead marine protested. "It's a rumor, alright? I'm just repeating what I heard."

"What's their problem?" the marine with glasses snapped. "There haven't been any battles because there's finally some peace around here." He shook his head and followed the others. "I don't know but I've been told!"

**-x-**

Across the base, on the grassy shore of the main island, a man cast a fishing lure into the water then casually sat down on the grass.

"Another beautiful night," the fisherman remarked to himself.

**-x-**

In one of the docks, a battered and worn marine ship was being repaired by a bunch of marine shipwrights in orange uniforms.

"Aw man, this ship is messed up," one of the shipwrights commented to two others.

"I bet it'll take us at least a week to finish," the second one said.

"Well we got three days," the third marine told him.

"There's no way," the second marine insisted.

"She looks rough," an old man stated as he sat on a crate across the dock. "Maybe she's been climbing mountains Heh hee hee!" The old man wore the same orange repair uniform as the others but he was missing a cap which showed his wild white hair. He had a pair of sunglasses with red lenses on his forehead. The old man's name was **Mekao** and he was a marine shipwright. He'd been one for longer than anyone else on the dock.

"Hey Mekao," the second marine greeted the old man.

"You've sure got a way with words old man," the third marine said as he turned back to the ship. "She looks like she's been climbing mountains alright, mountains that are lined with gunpowder."

"With damage this extensive it looks like it feel clear out of the sky," the third marine noted.

"Come on fellas," the first repair marine addressed the others, "She probably got caught on the sea gate coming into port."

"Yeah, that's a difficult area to sail through," the second marine agreed. "Even for an experienced navigator."

The first marine clapped his hands, "Enough with the lollygagging. We've got a job to do so let's get to work already."

"Yeah, yeah," the second marine mumbled as he and the third marine followed after the first one.

Mekao remained in his seat on the old crate and stared up at the damaged marine ship. "Geez, back in my day sailors loved their ships and they treated 'em with respect."

The old man looked out of the dock up at the night sky. But then his eyes flew opened wide when he spotted something odd. A SHIP! A SHIP FALLING OUT OF THE SKY!

**Kresh! **Mekao dropped his rum bottle in sheer shock and it shattered on the ground.

"Hey, what's the matter?" one of the marines on the ship called out. "What happened?"

"Ah! Up there!" Mekao exclaimed. "Look up there! In the sky!"

The marines looked up in time to see the Going Merry plummet out of the sky and splash down inside the outer ring of Navarone Island. **SPLOOOOSH!**

**-x-**

**Ring-ring-ring! **A marine transponder snail with 'No. 3' drawn on its shell rang in the lookout station. A marine went over and picked up the receiver.

"_**We got a problem!" **_one of the frantic dock workers called out from the other end. _**"Something's fallen from the sky! We are being invaded! Over!"**_

"Attack from the sky?" the marine questioned. "ATTACKED FROM THE SKY?"

**RIIIIINNNGG-RIIIIIIIINNGGG-RIIIIIINNNGGGG! **The marine sounded the alarm and the search lights scanned the sky as the G-8 Marine issued a state of emergency.

**-x-**

In an office, a marine with brown hair and mutton chop sideburns looked up in alarm. He grabbed a fancy white officer's coat and threw it on over his blue suit.

He was known on G-8 as **Lieutenant Commander Drake**. He was the second highest ranking marine in G-8.

Drake quickly left his office to see what the commotion was.

"An unidentified object has entered the base!" a marine called out as Drake approached. "Get to your posts!"

Drake quickly took command of the situation. "I want men guarding the coast now!" he barked. "Wake the sniper unit! Close the Sea Gate!"

**Chink-chink-chink! Clank! **Gears spun and long lengths of chain shifted as the huge solid steel gate with G-8 emblazoned on it rose up out of the water and slid closed. The one way for ships to get in and out of the ring-shaped island was now sealed shut.

Marine battleships launched from the docks and began to sail through the inside of the ring.

**CLICK!** A bright white floodlight turned on and scanned the water before it fell on the ship.

"OVER THERE!" a shouted marine with curly black hair, glasses and red patches on the shoulders of his uniform that showed he was an officer. He was known as **Chief Petty Officer Todd**. "QUICK! POSITION TWELVE!"

**(A/N: This marine was never actually named in the anime so I named him after his voice actor Todd Haberkorn.)**

"Position twelve!" another marine called out to the others in the lookout station. "Immediately!"

**CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! **The lookouts powered on the rest of the floodlights and shifted their position so the tiny caravel that had landed in the middle of the marine base.

A black flag with a white skull and crossbones wearing a straw hat fluttered on top of the mast. The Jolly Roger matched the one of the ship's main sail which meant that it was a pirate ship.

"A-a pirate ship!" Chief Petty Officer Todd gasped as he stared through a pair of binoculars at the now brightly lit ship. "The flag has… a skull with a straw hat! It's… the Straw Hat Pirates!"

"WHAT?" the other lookout marine shouted in alarm.

**-x-**

"Ready!" the leader of the sniper unit called out as the marines knelt down on the shore and aimed their rifles at the Going Merry.

Up overhead, a marine on a metal balcony next to some cannons called out into a tube.

"ALL CANNONS TARGET THE STRAW HATS SHIP!" the marine called out.

The middle island suddenly looked like a porcupine as the countless cannons that adorned the outside were turned and pointed at the pirate ship.

**-x-**

Mekao pushed his way through the other dock workers and stared at the Going Merry in shock.

"The Straw Hat Pirates!" he exclaimed.

**-x-**

Drake walked into the lookout station and was saluted by the other marines.

"Lieutenant Commander Drake!" CPO Todd called out. "The Straw Hat Pirates have invaded our base."

"The Straw Hat Pirates?" Drake repeated. "Show me to Vice Admiral Jonathan!"

"Well… I would sir…" Todd stammered. "But uh… nobodyknowswhereheis…"

"Grr…" Drake growled. "Of course no one knows where he is."

**-x-**

The fisherman casually reeled in his fishing line.

"Well I'll be," he remarked. "Someone invaded through the sky."

The man had short dark orange hair and a matching dark orange beard as well as bushy black eyebrows and an even bushier black mustache. He was off duty fishing at the moment so he wore a simple white button down shirt and a marine visor.

But this was no fisherman. This was **Vice Admiral Jonathan **the highest ranking marine in G-8.

Jonathan pulled his fishing line and stared in surprise at the odd set of sniper goggles that he'd managed to catch.

Jonathan casually fiddled with Usopp's goggles then tossed them aside as he turned his attention to the brightly lit pirate ship that had landed in the middle of his base.

"Hmm…" Jonathan hummed to himself as he gave the caravel a calculating look.

"**RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!" **Chief Petty Officer Todd's voice echoed through speakers and reached the pirate ship. **"WE HAVE YOU COMPLETELY SURROUNDED! "**

**-x-**

Inside the Marine Base, word about the state of emergency had spread and even reached the cooks in the kitchen of the dining hall.

"It's been pretty noisy outside, huh?" asked a round faced chef with dark purple hair. He and all the cooks wore the usual marine issued chef's uniform, hat and apron. His name was **Shinpachi**.

"Yeah, you think there's a battle going on?" replied the chef next to him as the washed dishes. He was a few inches taller and had a narrow face and light purple hair. His name was **Billy**.

Across the kitchen a beautiful woman with short blonde hair and dark green eyes tasted some stew on her spoon. She wore the typical uniform but had a red scarf tied around her collar that signified that she was the head chef. She spun and flung the stew at Shinpachi and Billy. **Splish! **The two conversing cooks reeled back and dropped to the floor.

"There will be no chitchatting in this kitchen!" the woman ordered. She was **Head Chef Jessica**. She advanced on Billy and Shinpachi as they held the red spots the stew had left on their faces. "Look here, it is our duty to prepare a warm and delicious meal for a thousand hungry sailors. And we've got to get all that done before the night shift starts in just two hours!" Jessica leaned in and shouted. "DOES IT SOUND LIKE WE HAVE TIME TO BE FOOLING AROUND?"

"No ma'am," Billy replied.

"We're very sorry ma'am," Shinpachi apologized.

"Ha hah hah ha!" laughed a chubby cook with tan skin, a round nose and neck length blond hair. His name was **Tom**. "Don't worry, lads! The day that this hulking mass of cannons and concrete falls is the day that pigs fly! Now getting on Jessica's bad side, that's something to be scared of."

A shadow fell over Tom and the big cook whimpered when he saw Jessica's frying pan flying towards him. **BANG! **

"Right… no chitchatting…" Tom groaned.

**-x-**

"What is it?" Vice Admiral Jonathan asked as he walked into his office with his fishing pole.

Lieutenant Commander Drake was already there and turned to face him. "Vice Admiral, finally, where have you been?"

Jonathan tossed his fishing pole to Drake as an answer and walked to his large office window.

"I didn't catch anything today," Jonathan admitted.

"What?" Drake questioned.

"Well, I had quite a large catch yesterday," Jonathan stated.

"That's not what I'm talking about," Drake protested. "Vice Admiral, if you're constantly absent then…"

"Don't lecture me," Jonathan warned him. "Night fishing isn't necessarily a waste, you know."

**Knock! Knock! **Jonathan and Drake turned to see Chief Petty Officer Todd standing in the open door.

"Vice Admiral, I have a report," Todd announced. "According to the watchmen and the maintenance men on the dock who saw the ship up close… According to them…"

"Go on," Jonathan encouraged him.

"Spit it out already!" Drake barked.

"Yes, well um… uh…" Todd stammered, "The men reported that they saw ghosts sir."

**-Interview Montage-**

"Like I said, the ship suddenly fell from the sky, okay?" a scruffy shipwright insisted. "I swear!"

"I thought I heard a woman's voice but there was no one there!" a big marine with an anchor tattooed on his arm exclaimed.

"Hands! Hands!" a chubby shipwright shrieked. "A million hands started growing all over my entire body! Next thing I knew everything went black!"

"All those hands," a flushed and possibly drunk Mekao remarked as he rocked in his chair, "The unmistakable touch of a beautiful woman."

"This is clearly… A GHOST SHIP!" the shipwrights and marines had all shouted.

**-End of Interviews-**

"ENOUGH!" Lieutenant Commander Drake snapped.

"Yes sir…" CPO Todd replied.

"That ship out there belongs to the Straw Hat Pirates!" Drake insisted while Jonathan sat at his desk and fiddled with his fishing pole. "Ensign, I want reconnaissance, not ghost stories! And how dare you report to me with this nonsense about a ship that magically fell out of the sky! WAAAH!" Drake was cut off as the collar of his marine coat was pulled up by a fishing hook.

Drake turned to see Vice Admiral Jonathan holding the other end of the fishing line and stared at the ranking officer in surprise.

"The part about it falling from the sky is true at least," Jonathan stated. "I saw it myself."

"Huh?" Drake questioned.

Jonathan smiled, "I told you night fishing wasn't a waste, Lieutenant Commander."

**-x-**

Ricky climbed up the side of the outer ring of Navarone Island with Chopper on his back.

"The one good thing about the others landing in the middle of that base is that they took all the attention away from us," Ricky recounted to Chopper. "They were all so focused on the Merry that none of them noticed us stashing the column in a giant sea turtle."

"How are we supposed to get them out of there?" Chopper asked.

"First thing we have to do is find all of them," Ricky replied. "And to do that we have to sneak in there undetected. I'll need a disguise."

**-x-**

**Notorious Pirate Ship:**

**-x-**

The G-8 Marines had wrapped the Going Merry in yellow tape that read 'Keep Out' and had the marine seagull insignia on it. They surrounded the pirate ship on small rowboats.

But the ship was empty.

The Going Merry looked like a crime scene. Marines were taking pictures and documenting everything.

Vice Admiral Jonathan walked across the deck of the Going Merry. He was now wearing his fancy Vice Admiral coat which had green patches on the shoulders with gold cuffs beside them and numerous medals on the front. Lieutenant Commander Drake followed behind him.

Jonathan stared down at the collection of coffee cups and the coffee pot that his men had found in the galley. They were all numbered.

"I see," Jonathan observed as he stared at the seven coffee cups. He took the pot and poured coffee into a cup. Steam wafted up from the cup. The coffee was still hot. "Ghost ship, huh?" Jonathan stood up and handed the coffee cup off to Drake. "It smells delicious."

Jonathan surveyed the ship while Drake sniffed at the cup of coffee then indulged himself and drank some.

"A-a-a Vice Admiral!" a marine yelped. Drake jumped and choked on his coffee. "Look at what we found!"

Jonathan turned and saw the gold the Straw Hats had gotten out of Nola in the marine's arms. "Ingots and crown?" he noted. "These treasures are quite old. The pirates must have stolen them from some ancient ruins."

"Vice Admiral, we found more," another officer announced. He had short blond hair and a neat blond beard. He was **Lieutenant Matthew**.

Lieutenant Matthew turned and pointed as two marines carried Ricky's safe up through the floor flap that led down to the men's quarters.

"That's a heavy duty lock," Lieutenant Matthew reported. "None of us could get it opened."

Drake pointed the coffee pot at Lieutenant Matthew, "Get that to the lab! Then we'll lock it up!"

"Yes sir," the marines agreed.

"Well then, let's have a look inside, shall we?" Vice Admiral Jonathan suggested.

Suddenly two shapes flew overhead and landed on the rigging above the main sail.

"**JOH! JOH!"**

The marines flinched while Vice Admiral Jonathan stared upward and spotted two South Birds.

"Easy there," Jonathan reassured his men. "They're just ordinary South Birds."

"South Birds?" Drake repeated.

"Yes," Jonathan replied. "They always point south, which made them a prized possession for the sailors of old despite their silly appearance."

"JOH!" Stupid and the female South Bird both crowed in annoyance. After all everything those pirates had put them through, now the marines were insulting them too.

Jonathan had time for his eyes to widen in alarm before the South Birds swooped down and tackled him to the deck then started packing at him.

"Gahh! Whoa! Hey! Watch it!" Jonathan yelped. "Ow! Ow! Get off! Get off! I'm sorry!"

"JOOH!" the two South Birds crowed before they flew off. **SWOOSH!**

"Are you alright sir?" Drake asked.

"They certainly are volatile creatures…" Jonathan noted. He smoothed out his ruffled uniform then he and Lieutenant Commander Drake went into the Galley.

Drake tried to help himself to the refrigerator but couldn't because of the lock on it.

Another marine officer sat at the Galley table and went through Robin's archeology books and Chopper's medical books. He had dark hair and wore a small pair of sunglasses. His name was **Ensign Christopher**.

Jonathan stood by the stove and examined Sanji's fancy cooking knives and flatware.

"Hmm, the kitchen is well maintained," Jonathan mused to himself as he went over to the table.

"Medical and history books, sir," Christopher reported. He had dark hair and wore small sunglasses, "new ones."

"Interesting," Jonathan remarked, "Seems these ghosts study a lot."

"Not ghosts again," Drake grumbled as he glared at the locked refrigerator. "That's ridiculous."

Vice Admiral Jonathan went back out onto the deck and clapped his hands for attention.

"Excellent work, men," Jonathan addressed his men. "Stay brave and remember to keep a watchful eye during your investigation of this ghost ship."

The marine started mumbling… "Ghost ship…" "What do we do…" "Not pirates?"

Jonathan grinned, "Back to work."

"Yes sir," the marines chorused.

**-x-**

A few minutes later, Vice Admiral Jonathan was walking down a hallway inside the base with all his officers. Lieutenant Commander Drake and Chief Petty Officer Todd were behind him as well as Lieutenant Matthew and Ensign Christopher.

It would appear that the ship in question stopped by Jaya quite recently," Jonathan informed the other officers of his findings on the Going Merry. "That coffee was delicious, was it not?"

"Yes," Drake agreed.

"Judging from the color and smell of the coffee left on deck, one can assume that the beans are from Jaya," Jonathan explained. He grinned at Drake. "But you must already know this from having courageously sampling the beverage yourself."

"Uh… well uh…" Drake stammered.

"And those South Birds," Jonathan continued. "That species of bird only inhabits the jungles of Jaya. Incidentally, there is legend of a city of gold that once existed there."

"Vice Admiral," Lieutenant Matthew spoke up, "Are you telling me that vessel really isn't a…"

"I don't know where the ship's crew is or what they're up to but that's not ghost ship," Jonathan announced. "It's just a pirate boat out of Jaya."

"And not just any pirates," Drake added, "It's the Straw Hat Pirates. I've seen that mark before."

"I don't understand Vice Admiral," Ensign Christopher said, "Weren't you just calling it a ghost ship earlier?"

"Frankly our men are a little too green to deal with a situation like this," Jonathan told him. "If we tell everyone that the notorious Straw Hats have infiltrated our ranks, it will cause panic and confusion that will undoubtedly aid the pirates in their mission. So for now, we continue calling it a ghost ship, understood?"

"With all due respect," Drake said, "I think we should assemble a special investigation unit and begin searching for the pirates immediately. I'd be happy to lead the team."

Jonathan stopped and turned to face him, "Don't be so hasty."

"But…" Drake protested.

"Our defenses are our number one priority," Jonathan stated. "Lieutenant, go reinforce security around the coast as well as around the sea gate."

"Sir," Lieutenant Matthew agreed as he headed off.

"Ensign, I also want the ammunition store, the brig and all passage ways secure," Jonathan added. "You'll have extended authority to manage related personnel."

"Right away sir," Ensign Christopher replied.

Vice Admiral Jonathan was left with Lieutenant Commander Drake and Chief Petty Officer Todd.

"Hmm…" Drake growled to himself.

"Is there a problem?" Jonathan asked.

"No," Drake grounded out.

"The night is still young," Jonathan pointed out. "And the darkness will restrict their movement then again, it will also restrict ours. At dawn assemble your team then thoroughly investigate any places that people gather."

"Places where people gather?" Drake repeated. "But why?"

"Here's why," Jonathan replied, "Because it's difficult to find green insects living in green grass. If the Straw Hats were to acquire some of our uniforms…"

"Ah!" Drake gasped as he caught on.

"You must understand," Jonathan continued, "It's not that I don't have faith in my men. But we must keep in mind that we are searching for a most clever enemy. Pirates are like stray dogs. They're always hungry. Why don't you start by checking the dining hall at first light?"

With that last suggestion, Vice Admiral Jonathan walked off on his own and left Drake and Todd behind him.

**-x-**

"We're Fifty-Five and you better fear it!" a group of five large, muscular marines chorused as they marched down a hallway in the base. "Those pirates will taste our fiery spirit!"

A doorway opened a crack as the five men marched passed.

"**He'll do…" **

The door slid opened further and two big hairy arms reached out and grabbed the marine at the back of the group and yanked him into the room.

"Mmmpphhh!" the big marine mumbled as Chopper's hand covered his mouth.

Ricky slid the door closed and turned to face the marine. The marine stood almost as tall as Ricky, had the same skin tone and even the same pointed face. He had black hair with bangs that covered his left eye. He wore a sleeveless version of the standard marine uniform with a cap, blue pants and a blue tie. The marine looked frantically around him and saw that he was faced with a pirate and a hairy monster that had dragged him into a storage room.

"You got a wife back home?" Ricky asked the marine. The marine shook his head. "Family? Friends? I've already caught you. If you cooperate and tell me everything I want to know, I'll make sure to tell someone where you are on my way out. If you don't, who knows how long it's going to take for what's left of your friends to find you."

The marine glared defiantly at Ricky.

"Here's the deal," Ricky addressed the marine. "We don't want to hurt you guys. We're just here to get our crew, get our ship and go. But I'm going to need a disguise to get through your base undetected. That's where you come in. I'd rather avoid having to hack my way through all your marine buddies as I try to find the rest of my crew."

The marine's glare had faded.

"Don't think of it as betraying the Marines," Ricky continued, "Think of it as saving their lives. Because if the information you tell me is wrong and your buddies find out I'm an impostor, my crew and I will have to fight our way out of this base. We can and will make mincemeat out of you marines… unless you give me a way out of here without hurting anyone. Your move, chief."

Chopper moved his hand off of the marine's mouth. The marine didn't scream so that was a good sign that Ricky had managed to persuade him to cooperate.

"First, what's your name, rank and unit?" Ricky inquired.

"My name's Natsu," the marine answered. "I'm a seaman recruit in Unit 55. We're a special combat unit."

"That's a good start," Ricky said with a sly grin.

**-x-**

Outside of the Marine Base, Zoro's green head of hair broke the surface of the water and made him look just like the moss ball that Sanji always called him.

Zoro turned and his eyes bugged out in alarm as he saw a marine ship headed right for him.

"Holy crap!" Zoro cursed before he dunked back down underwater to avoid the ship.

**-x-**

Nearby on the shore, Nami pushed her waver into some tall grass of the ring shaped outer island. She'd had a close call getting to shore and had to use Mirage Tempo to sneak off of the ship.

"Good thing we still had this waver," Nami remarked. She hid the waver in the grass then peaked out to see two marine patrol men coming towards her. She quickly slipped back into the grass and watched the men pass.

"Security is tight," Nami noted. "I'd better find everybody and get out of here right away."

Once the marines had passed she came back out and surveyed the marine base.

"Oh no," Nami gasped. "Is this…"

**-x-**

The same two marines continued their patrol through a stand of trees. One was big had a rifle while the other was shorter and had a rifle and a lantern. Neither of them noticed Sanji perched on a branch overhead.

"Well look at that," Sanji remarked as he smoked a cigarette. "We've landed in another fine mess haven't we? I hope Miss. Nami and Miss. Robin were able to get out of the ship okay."

**BANG! **Sanji jerked to the side to avoid a bullet from a marine.

The marine with the now smoking rifle squinted as the stared into the tree branches.

"What is it?" the marine with the lantern asked.

"Well, I thought I saw a light in the trees," the marine with the rifle answered. He'd seen the lit tip of Sanji's cigarette.

Both marines squinted and stared through the tree branches but there was no one there.

"I don't see anything," the marine lantern said. He turned away and the two marines walked off.

Sanji peaked out from behind one of the trees and put out his cigarette on the trunk.

"Ugh, I can't even smoke in peace…" the cook complained.

**-x-**

Luffy had somehow made it to the central island of Navarone and was standing in front of four identical entrances into the marine base.

"Ugghh…" the simpleminded pirate groaned to himself as he tried to make the difficult decision of which door to go through. "Uugghhh…"

"Beef," Luffy named the first door then looked over at the third door, "Pork." He looked at the last door, "Chicken." He went back to the second door. "Fish." Then he started again… "Beef… pork… meat… meat… meat! Auughhh!"

**Grrumbble… **All he'd done was make himself even hungrier.

"I know there's some food in there," Luffy insisted. "One way or another I'm gonna find it."

Luffy gave a big sniff which caused his rubber nostrils to stretch to the point where they were bigger than his eyes and almost vacuum in the air in front of him. **VVOOOOOOOM! **But it was no good.** VVOOooommm…**

"Okay… that didn't work…" Luffy concluded. "Chopper would be really handy right now. He could smell which was the food is."

**Grrmblleee… **Luffy's stomach let out another growl.

**-x-**

"Found 'em!" Usopp called out as he picked up his goggles in Jonathan's fishing spot.

Robin stood nearby and surveyed the base as Usopp put his goggles back on.

"Oh man," Usopp complained as he took in their situation. "We can't get anywhere near the Going Merry. They've got our ship under a freakin' microscope!"

Robin crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. "Oreja Fleur…"

Off the shore on the Going Merry two long branches of arms sprouted out of the rigging on top of the front sail and stretched down to the two marines that were on the front deck.

The ears that were on the palm were now right behind the marines.

"We looked and we couldn't find a single crew member anywhere…" a marine with glasses recounted to the other.

"That's not even the half of it," the other marine replied. "Did you hear the maintenance guys said they hear ghosts?"

"Yeah…" the first marine answered. "And on top of that, the Vice Admiral clearly said this was a ghost ship."

"That ain't right," the other marine complained. "Assigning us to watch a creepy ghost ship in the dead of night…"

"I see…" Robin said to Usopp back on shore. "Apparently the marines think that the Going Merry is a ghost ship."

"Ghost ship? How rude!" Usopp exclaimed. How dare they insult his ship! He turned to face the base so he could give them a taste of his mind. "Why those… YOU—mmmhhppp…" **Whap! **Two arms grew out of Usopp's shoulders and covered his mouth.

"Relax," Robin instructed, "I believe this could work out in our favor if they go on believing their little ghost story. Don't you think that we could use it to your advantage?"

Usopp frantically nodded.

"It could buy us some time," Robin resolved.

On the Going Merry, Robin used her two branches of arms to tap the marines on the shoulder.

"I've got it…" the second marine decided, "The ghosts must have stolen cursed gold and are now cursed to sail the seas forever."

"Cut it out, man," the other marine warned him. "Cause… I touched that gold."

The two marines finally responded to the taps on the shoulder and looked behind them. Only to see two branches of disembodied arms.

"GHOOOOOSSTTTS!"

**-x-**

"'_Straw Hat' Luffy… 'One Eye' Ricky… and 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro…" _Vice Admiral Jonathan thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair with his hat over his eyes. _"Reports from Alabasta say that there are seven pirates on the crew… This was confirmed by the seven cups of coffee we found on the ship." _Jonathan thought back to what else he'd seen in the galley of the Going Merry, Sanji's cookware and the books._ "Among those seven are: a very skilled gourmet cook… a knowledgeable ship's doctor… and_ _possibly a historian as well."_

**-x-**

Seaman Recruit Natsu of Unit 55 left the storage room and pushed a crate in front of him.

At least that's what the marines that he passed in the hallway thought.

If you took in the minor details, you'd notice that Natsu hair was covering his right eye instead of his left. His exposed left eye was slightly slanted which made it look somewhat fox-like. But since Natsu's cap was tilted down to shade his eyes no one would notice.

The fact that this Natsu was nearly the same height, had the same skin tone and had a similarly shaped face made him a dead ringer for the real one.

Since the real Natsu was knocked out with a shot from a tranquilizer and stuffed in a crate meant that no one would be able to compare the two.

"Lucky we found the crate of reindeer antlers," Ricky whispered to the crate.

"Speak for yourself," the live reindeer in the crate of antlers replied as he peaked out from underneath the lid. "Who knows what they did to the reindeer they got these from."

"You said they were used for medicine, right?" Ricky asked.

"Yes, reindeer antlers can be ground up and used for medicine," Chopper confirmed.

"Good," Ricky replied. "I'll get you to the infirmary and you can lay low there while I find the others. Keep my stuff with you. I've got a lot of important stuff in those pants and I really like that cloud shirt."

"Is that where you got that wig from?" Chopper inquired.

"Yeah," Ricky answered. "I always keep a generic black wig on me. My red hair stands out. Black hair is very common. So it's perfect for a disguise if I want to be sneaky."

"Do you think this will work?" Chopper questioned.

"Natsu told me enough about his unit and the base that I can pull off an impersonation of him." Ricky told him. "What worries me is this Vice Admiral Jonathan. He's not a fighter. He's a strategist. Here's hoping I can outsmart him."

**-x-**

**Squish… **On the shore, Zoro twisted his wet shirt and rung it out.

"Alright," Zoro resolved as he glanced around him at the ring shaped island. "Where to next?"

**-x-**

Nami panted as she stood on top of one of the high ridges on the ring-shaped island. It had been a tough climb, especially at night and without anyone seeing her but from her new vantage point she could see the whole island.

This included the closely guarded Going Merry, the ships in the water, and the search lights that were scanning the shore for signs of the pirates.

"This is bad," Nami observed. "We're enclosed by land in all directions. Then where are we? Did we land in a lake with no possible way to get out?"

**-x-**

A marine walked passed the edge of the marine base.

Robin and Usopp peered around a corner and watched him go.

"At any rate, obtaining the information for our escape is our first task," Robin decided. She leaned down and smiled at Usopp. "Let's do this, Mr. Long Nose. What do you say?"

Usopp whimpered. "I don't wanna…" He ducked back behind the corner.

**-x-**

A lone marine walked down a passage in one of the lower entrances to the marine base.

Everything was quiet except for the sound of his footsteps.

**Tmp tmp… tmp tmp…**

And someone else's…

"Huh?" the marine stopped walking.

**Tmp tmp… **The other set of footsteps stopped as well. They sounded like they were made by a pair of sandals.

The marine took another four steps forward.

**Tmp tmp… tmp tmp… **And so did the other person.

The marine took another four steps.

**Tmp tmp… tmp tmp… **And so did the other person. They were right behind him.

The marine broke out into a sweat and swallowed hard.

"…" Luffy stood silently behind him.

**Swish! **The marine spun around… but there was no one there... just an empty hallway.

"…" Luffy stood still silent behind the marine.

"Phew, it was nothing," the marine sighed in relief.

The marine turned back the other way while Luffy moved around him in the other direction. Luffy flashed two peace signs as the marine started walking again.

**Tmp tmp… **Luffy's sandals slapped the floor.

**Swish! **The marine spun around again but once again Luffy had slipped around him. Luffy grinned and flashed two peace signs from behind the marine.

The marine turned and Luffy spun around him. The duo walked off. Luffy looked back and grinned at Sanji as he peaked out from around a corner.

"That idiot…" Sanji groaned. He'd watched silently as Luffy fooled around with the marine and kept flashing him the peace sign. "Can't he take something seriously for once?"

**-x-**

"What I don't understand… is why…" Vice Admiral Jonathan mused to himself as he stared down at a chessboard. "Why are the Straw Hat Pirates here?"

Jonathan had removed the pawns from the black side and stared at the eight black pieces. There was one to represent each of the 'seven' Straw Hat Pirates that the reports of the crew had accounted for as well as one for their ship which he already had in custody..

Jonathan got up and went to the window. He moved the curtain and saw the Going Merry that was still caught in three floodlights. None of the pirates would be getting to it like that.

Jonathan went back to the chess board and sat down in his chair. He surveyed his white forces.

"The game's on Straw Hat Pirates," Jonathan said. "Let's play."

**-x-**

I wanted this arc to last a bit longer. So I'm only doing one episode per chapter.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	35. Disguises

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** I was actually making some headway with Nami. But then the Marines went and confiscated the disclaimer along with the rest of the Straw Hats' treasure. Damn the World Government.

**Disguises:**

**-x-**

Late at night, a small band of four marines from Navarone held a floodlight on the Going Merry as they recapped the spooky situation that they were now in the middle of.

"Is what they said about this ghost ship falling from the sky really true?" the marine holding the floodlight asked.

"I don't buy it," the marine next to him insisted.

"But if Navarone is supposed to be this big impregnable fortress…" a third marine pointed out, "How else could it have gotten in here if it didn't fall from the sky?"

"I heard that there wasn't a single crew member on board," the fourth marine said cryptically. "But the table was set for coffee and was still warm. Like people had been there until that exact moment. But that's not all… inside the cargo hold…"

"They found gold?" the first and second marines exclaimed.

"Ssshh!" the third marine shushed them.

"They found gold alright," the fourth marine continued, "Ancient gold dug up from some old ruins somewhere."

"I don't know about you guys but that's the creepiest story I've ever heard," the second marine admitted.

"So… so it really is a ghost ship?" the third marine asked.

"Those poor saps must have been cursed from stealing all that gold," the first marine resolved.

And so the rumors of the Going Merry being a ghost ship continued to spread across the base well into the night.

**-x-**

Early the next morning, the G-8 Marines began to take action.

"_**Attention Units 4, 6 and 10 under Lieutenant Commander Drake," **_Ensign Christopher's voice sounded through the base early in the morning. _**"Assume battle stations for Yellow Alert!"**_

In a changing room, one marine was struggling to pull on his uniform pants while another adjusted his tie in the mirror.

"I don't care what kind of ship it is," the marine looking in the mirror insisted. "No one picks a fight with our fortress."

"Hurry it up!" the other marine exclaimed once he'd pulled up his pants. He grabbed the first marine by the collar and dragged him out of the room.

**-x-**

"_**Lieutenant Drake's Units 4, 6, and 10 are to report to Control Room 1 in the Central Base," **_Ensign Christopher's voice continued to sound through the base.

Sanji watched through the grate of a ceiling vent as a group of marines ran down by beneath him.

"I think I know where we are and it isn't good," Sanji said as he stared down at the marines. "If I'm right-and I hope I'm not-then we've landed right in the middle of an invincible fortress that the marines' call Navarone. So what's our next move, Captain?"

Sanji look up from the grate and glared at Luffy who was sleeping soundly in the vent.

"Ugghh…" Sanji groaned in annoyance. He'd grabbed Luffy to keep the Captain from getting into trouble. "As usual… our Captain could care less…"

"_**On the double men! This is an emergency order!"**_

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan watched from the balcony outside his office as the large marine ship pulled the Going Merry across the water way.

"We'll more the pirate ship to Dock 88 and run a full forensics sweep," Lieutenant Commander Drake reported as he stood behind Jonathan.

"Hmm…" Jonathan hummed to himself.

**Knock! Knock!** A marine knocked on the office door and let himself in.

Jonathan and Drake turned to face him.

"We have a situation," the marine announced as he held a Transponder Snail. "Sirs, some vessels that are outside the sea gate are demanding entry."

"Demanding?" Lieutenant Commander Drake repeated.

"Due to the State of Emergency, I advised them to stand by," the marine explained, "But…"

"_**Sir," **_the voice of one of the marines on the ships outside came over the Transponder Snail. _**"We barely made it out of that storm in one piece! Please allow us to dock! I don't know how much longer we can stay afloat!"**_

The marine speaking had his arm in a sling while two marine behind him carried a third across the ship on a stretcher.

"I don't care how badly their ships are damaged," Lieutenant Commander Drake insisted. "There's a possibility that pirates have infiltrated this fortress. So they'll have to find help elsewhere. If we let them in now, it'll cause confusion…"

"Open the gate," Vice Admiral Jonathan interrupted. Drake turned to stare at him in surprise. "Permit their entry. And immediately assign a medical team to them as well."

"Yes sir," the marine with the Transponder Snail replied. He turned and left the office.

"Vice Admiral…" Drake spoke up.

"What a terrible thing it is to be helpless in the middle of the Grand Line," Jonathan sympathized with the injured marines. "Even someone like you can understand that feeling, can't you Lieutenant Commander?"

"Of course I understand…" Drake admitted. His fist was clenched and shaking, "But what about the pirates?"

"I've got the situation in hand," Jonathan told him. "To tell you the truth, its been quite some time since I've gotten this riled up about anything. They can't get out of the fortress so the problem becomes finding them. But why did they even come to Navarone in the first place?"

Jonathan picked up three familiar wanted posters from his desk and stared at the one on top.

"Monkey D. Luffy…" Jonathan mused. That's where he made his first mistake. He focused on Captain worth 100,000,000 berries that was grinning like a buffoon. As a result, he didn't pay enough attention to the sly First Mate giving him the finger and the glaring green haired swordsman worth 80,000,000 and 60,000,000 berries.

**-x-**

In the gate control room, a large gear spun as the huge metal G-8 Gate to the fortress was lowered to permit the three battered marine ships to enter the base.

"Three ships are coming in!" one marine called out.

"Proceed with caution," another one barked, "We are now at Red Alert!"

"Ready the boarding inspection bridge!" a third marine called out.

Two marines ran along one side of the bridge while a familiar green haired swordsman walked casually along the opposite side.

Zoro wore no disguise. He was in his ordinary clothes with is swords on plain display. It was only through sheer luck that the busy marines that were working the gate hadn't spotted him.

"_This base is huge,"_ Zoro thought to himself as he glanced around. He was unconcerned about being spotted and was more worried about the fact that he had no idea where he was.

"Anyway… where the hell am I?" Zoro wondered out loud. "I'm lost."

The massive gate had finally been completely lowered and the three battered ships sailed in.

**-x-**

Further inside the Marine Base, Nami peeked around a corner as she attempted to figure out where she was. Overnight she'd managed to slip into the base undetected. But finding anything while inside it was another story.

"Who decided that this fortress should also be a maze?" Nami complained. She ducked back behind the wall as three marines ran by. "It's so big I can't even map it out."

Once the marines were gone, Nami rounded the corner and headed off in the opposite direction.

"We have to get out of here," Nami said to herself, "And soon. But the more time that passes the more lost I get."

Nami ran to a green door with a grated window at the end of the hallway and pulled it open.

"Now where have all the others gone?" Nami asked out loud as she slipped through the door.

She found herself out on a balcony that overlooked the water then gasped at what she saw… or didn't see.

"Where's the Merry?" Nami questioned. "The Going Merry's gone! They must've taken our ship and if they took our ship… THAT MEANS THEY TOOK OUR GOLD! NO-NO-NO-NO!" Nami ran along the balcony and scanned the water for any sign of the Going Merry but it was long gone. "Aww! All our precious gold is gone! And after we went through so much to get it!"

Nami sighed and continued along the balcony and blinked in surprise when she saw three battered battleships anchored alongside the central island.

"Battleships?" Nami noted. "They weren't here before."

**-x-**

"You must be Unit 31," one of the G-8 Marines noted as the marines unloaded their injured men from their battleships, "Report to the building in Block 7."

**-x-**

"Hmm…" Nami thought out loud. "If there are new ships coming in it means that this place isn't a gigantic lake after all. It is connected to the open sea! I just need to find the guys so we can get the ship and get the heck out of here. Maybe if I disguise myself I could go under cover as one of the marines… find the guys and gather more information. Ricky, Luffy and Zoro have bounties so they're known by almost everybody in the marines… but no one knows what I look like."

Nami was caught up in her musings so she didn't hear anyone approaching until it was too late.

**Krek! **The door swung opened.

"Aw crap!" Nami cursed. She whirled around to face two strange men.

They were both fairly tall. The first one was big and round with scruffy brown hair and a scruffy beard. He a wore chef's hat and what looked like a fancy cooking uniform.

The other man was taller and thinner than the first. He had dark hair, a thin mustache, arched eyebrows and wore a fancy-looking purple suit with an orange and black striped tie.

Both men carried bags with various cooking equipment sticking out of them.

"This fortress has a terribly lay out," the first man complained.

"It's like a maze," the second man added.

"Excuse me, Miss," the first man addressed Nami, "Do you know where the kitchen is?"

"What? The kitchen?" Nami repeated. These men weren't marines looking to arrest her. She quickly grinned and nodded. "Oh, of course I know where it is!"

"We're the Marley Brothers," the second instructed himself. "I'm Jacob and he's Robert. We just arrived on those ships down there."

"And of course the first thing we do is get lost," Robert Marley continued for his brother.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Nami apologized on behalf of the marines. "I got lost a lot when I first came here. But that must have been at least five years ago."

"Five years, you say?" Jacob Marley questioned.

"Please, take us to the kitchen," Robert Marley requested. "We beg you. It would be such an embarrassment if we had to ask any of the cooks here for help."

"_Maybe I can just say 'no'," _Nami quickly thought to herself.

"We just came from Mariejois," Jacob Marley explained, "And it wouldn't hurt you to do us one little favor."

"_Looks like I can't say 'no'…" _Nami realized.

"Please say you'll help us," Robert persisted.

"Of course!" Nami agreed with no real other option. "Sure! No problem!" Nami led the two brothers back into the base and attempted to lead them through a base she knew nothing about. "So… do you two know anything about our little base?"

"We know much about the Culinary Arts but nothing about this fortress," Jacob replied.

"As a matter of fact, we are Marine Chefs," Robert told her.

"Wow, celebrity chefs?" Nami questioned.

"Doh hohoho!" Robert laughed. "My brother and I have been assigned to take over as Head Chefs of this kitchen."

"On Mariejois we satisfied the pallets of officers who expected nothing but the finest cuisine," Jacob continued. "We brothers are far from the kind of cooks who excrete insignificant meals on a base in the middle of nowhere and we must prove to them that we are in a different league."

"_Oh give me a break," _Nami complained to herself. _"I've gotta ditch these arrogant jerks and find a disguise or we'll never get out of here."_

She quickly spun around to face the two brothers. "Well! I guess that makes you guys the best!" she exclaimed. She pointed down the hallway they'd just passed. "Now all you've gotta do is go straight ahead and take a right then take two lefts and your first right and you'll be there."

"Okay," Jacob said as they started down the hallway.

"Thanks," Robert replied.

"See ya…" Nami whispered as she snuck off.

The two brothers made it two doors down the hall when they stopped at another hallway. "Wait… is this the first right?" Jacob wondered.

They looked back the way they came but found that Nami was long gone.

"Huh?" the Marley Brothers questioned. They were lost again.

**-x-**

Nami slipped a marine cap on backwards over her orange hair to finish off her disguise as a marine chore boy (girl). She wore a white and blue marine uniform with an apron over it.

"This'll do just fine," Nami decided as she slipped out of the janitors closet she had found the uniform inside.

"**Roronoa Zoro…"** Nami jumped in alarm. But quickly realized she was in disguise.

She watched as Lieutenant Matthew led two marines down the hallway right toward her.

"That so-called Ghost Ship actually belongs to Straw Hat Luffy and his crew," Lt. Matthew informed the two men trailing him. "We have been given a secret mission to track down and apprehend the infiltrators. Among them is one who's considered to be extremely dangerous."

Nami quickly grabbed a broom and began sweeping the floor as her disguise's job entailed.

"You mean _the _Roronoa Zoro?" one of the other marines questioned as they passed Nami. "The famous Pirate Hunter. I hear he uses the three sword style."

"We're going to make him and the others regret ever coming here," Lt. Matthew resolved as the three marines rounded the corner.

"**They're going to make me regret what?"**

Nami jumped at the sound of the familiar voice.

Zoro walked out from an open hallway and stared after the marines.

"Aw, I'm definitely going in circles…" the swordsman complained.

**WOMP! **Nami ran over smacked Zoro over the head with the handle of her broom.

"HOW COULD YOU JUST STROLL AROUND A HOSTILE FORTRESS?" Nami yelled.

Zoro turned to face his uniformed assailant. "I am so gonna kick your…" Zoro trailed off as he recognized the marine chore boy that had just hit him. "Oh, it's you."

"YOU'LL GET CAUGHT IN NO TIME IF YOU KEEP WALKING AROUND WEARING THOSE THINGS!" Nami berated him. She reached out and snagged Zoro's swords.

"HEY!" Zoro exclaimed.

"You'll probably get me caught too," Nami grumbled.

They both stiffened when they heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Come on Zoro, you've gotta hide now!" Nami turned and ran through the door behind them. They came out on another balcony.

"Wait! My swords!" Zoro protested as he chased Nami out onto the balcony.

Just as they left, two marines walked down the same hallway.

"'Bout time to eat, huh?" one asked the other. They paid no attention to the opened door that led to the 'empty' balcony.

"Yeah, I'm starving," the other marine agreed. They continued on their way.

"Alright, they're gone," Nami announced as she peeked around the door again.

"Ugh… I'm tired of all this sneaking around," Zoro complained. "Tell me again why we can't just fight 'em?"

"You blockhead," Nami snapped, "We don't know where the others are. If we did something like start fighting…"

"Then they would show up," Zoro cut her off. "They always do when there's a fight."

"The Merry's missing too!" Nami argued. "Even if we did fight them, we'd have no way to get out of here."

"Whoa! Would you check out that view?" Zoro walked to the railing of the balcony. "We landed in the dark so I didn't get to see anything. Nice! Hey, if we wait here I bet the others will show up eventually."

"Stop being so stupid and listen to me," Nami instructed as she carried Zoro's swords over to the side railing. "What you're gonna do is stay put because if you go anywhere or do anything you're just gonna get lost." Nami tossed Zoro's swords over the railing into a tree.

"Hey! Stop that!" Zoro shouted as he ran over. "What do you think you're doing?"

Zoro reached over the railing and struggled to reach his swords. Nami grabbed Zoro's arm and spun him around to face her.

"Forget about the swords and listen to me!" Nami ordered.

"Forget…" Zoro sputtered. He looked ready to slug her.

"I'll put this in simple terms for you," Nami said like she was talking to a little kid. "You have no sense of direction. So I'm gonna find the others. Stay here and I'll come back for you."

Nami turned and headed back into the base from the balcony. But was immediately spotted.

"**Hey you! What're you doing over there?"**

Nami stopped in her tracks and turned to see a large man with a bushy mustache and a red bandana that read 'Group Leader'. He wore a similar uniform with an apron over it which mean he was the head 'chore boy' for the marines.

"Enough slacking off, little missy!" the man berated Nami. "Get back to cleaning!"

Nami pulled the door closed behind her. "Aye-aye sir!" she agreed. She ducked her head down as they passed a marine with black bangs covering his right eye. So she never saw the sly grin that spread across the Marine's face.

**"A janitor… is that really the best you could come up with?"**

Nami tensed at the sound of the familiar voice. She'd recognize it anywhere. It was the voice she heard in her dreams. She whirled around in time to see a black haired marine headed for the door to the balcony where she'd left Zoro.

"_Ricky…" _Nami thought to herself but as a Chore Boy she was forced to followed after her 'group leader'.

Ricky in his Natsu the Marine disguise slipped out onto the balcony in time to see Zoro lean over the railing to grab his swords from a tree. **Whak! **Zoro's fingers tapped the swords and they slid down through the tree and dangled from the bottom of it. The swordsman looked about a second away from jumping over the railing after his swords.

"Need a hand there Zoro?" Ricky called out, alerting the swordsman of his presence.

Zoro spun around as the red eye behind Ricky's fake black bangs glowed. Ricky extended his hand and then pulled back which caused all three of Zoro's swords to fly out of the tree and smack into his chest. **Whak-whak-whak!**

"Thanks Ricky," Zoro replied. "Please tell me you've got a plan to get out of here."

"Of course," Ricky confirmed.

"Great, I'm in," Zoro told him.

"I haven't even told you what it is yet," Ricky pointed out.

"You don't need to," Zoro said. "Luffy's last two brilliant ideas were to run from the cannon and jump on the squid. Your stupid girlfriend's plan was to throw my swords in a tree and run off. Whatever your plan is… I'm in."

"Even if it involves you sitting in the brig for a while?" Ricky questioned.

"Sure," Zoro agreed. "It'll beat all this sneaking around and hiding."

**-x-**

"I tell ya what, all those ghost ship shenanigans have really got me beat," one marine said to another as the two walked down a seemingly empty hallway.

"Better get some chow, then get back to work," the other marine decided as the walked off.

**Klank! **Once they were gone, the grate in the hallway ceiling was removed and Sanji stared down at the empty hallway.

"Ghost ship, huh?" Sanji questioned.

Luffy stuck his head down through the opened hole and peered into the hallway. "Did you find us something to eat?" he asked.

"It sounds like the dining hall is that way," Sanji informed Luffy.

"Dining Hall?" Luffy repeated. He practically dove out of the hole but Sanji grabbed him by the ankle. **WOING! WHAK! **Luffy's body stretched down and his face smacked on the floor.

"Hold on a second," Sanji called down to Luffy.

"What are you doing?" Luffy complained as he pushed his face off the floor.

"Take it easy," Sanji instructed.

"But my belly needs meat now!" Luffy insisted.

Sanji jumped down through the open vent and crashed down on Luffy. **WOMP!**

The starving rubber pirate groaned but then started to drag himself down the hallway with Sanji still perched on his back.

"I need meat… meat now…" Luffy groaned.

"He just won't give up…" Sanji complained.

"**Who's there? Halt!" **Two marines with guns suddenly came running around the corner.

But they found an empty hallway.

"Huh… strange…" one of the marines remarked.

"Just hearing things," he other marine reasoned.

"It's no wonder," the first marine said, "We've all been on edge since that ghost ship landed last night."

"Let's get some grub," the second marine decided.

The two marines continued onward and pushed through a large set of green double doors.

In a closet in the 'empty' hallway, Sanji had his hand pinned over Luffy's big mouth.

"We almost got caught because of you, you dolt!" the cook berated his captain.

Sanji looked up and spotted some cook uniforms hanging over his head in the closet.

A moment later, Sanji and Luffy were now disguised as a pair of marine cooks with short sleeved white collared shirts, blue neck ties, and aprons covering their white pants. Sanji wore a chef's hat and they had stuffed Luffy's signature straw hat into another chef's hat but the wide-brimmed straw hat had stretched the chef's hat so it retain the original shape of Luffy's hat.

"They'll never find us now," Sanji resolved. "We're gonna blend in like chameleons of the kitchen."

"Something smells good," Luffy noted as he sniffed the air.

Sanji walked over to the green double doors that the two marines had gone through.

"I guess this is it," Sanji observed as he opened the doors a crack and peered through into the Dining Hall, "Could be interesting."

**-x-**

"Hey, I heard that a couple of battleships docked today," Shinpachi gossiped with Billy and a large cook with brown hair.

"What?" Billy gasped. "That means those pompous Marley Brothers will have arrived then."

"Yup," Tom confirmed as he walked by, "As a matter of fact, they should be here any minute."

"First impressions are important," a big brown haired chef stated, "Show no mercy!"

"Yeah!" some of the other cooks cheered.

They went back to their dishes and one of the cooks placed a cut of meat on a skillet.

The smell of cooking meat spread through the kitchen, out into the Dining Hall… and into the hallway…

**-x-**

"Meat…" Luffy groaned as he immediately picked up his favorite smell. "I smell meat!"

Luffy staggered towards the door and left a trail of drool in his wake.

"Keep it down together man," Sanji scolded the Captain as he looked away from the doors. "Haven't you ever heard the term 'self-control'?"

"Self-co-what?" Luffy questioned with a crazy, hungry look in his eyes. "Never heard of it. Have you ever heard of the terms 'all-you-can-eat meat' and 'unlimited refills'?"

It was too late, Luffy had locked onto the smell of cooking meat and now he couldn't be stopped. Before Sanji could do anything, Luffy barged through the double doors into the Dining Hall.

"NEED MEAT!" Luffy shouted.

And that was how Luffy and Sanji became the center of attention in the Marine Dining Hall.

The Marine Cooks all looked up at the two newcomers.

"So you're the new chefs," Billy noted. "Well, are you the Marley Brothers, or not?"

"Marley?" Luffy repeated.

"Good grief…" Sanji groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

**-x-**

**Krek… **The real Jacob and Robert Marley were still hopelessly lost and had just walked into their fourth broom closet.

"What's going on here?" Jacob wondered.

"Beats me," Robert replied.

**-x-**

**Sanji in the Marine Dining Hall:**

**-x-**

Sanji's plan to lay low as cooks had gone up in smoke because of Luffy's impulsive appetite. Now the two Straw Hats stood at the entrance to the Marine Dining Hall and had the judgmental eyes of every cook in the kitchen on them.

"Hi!" Luffy greeted the cooks.

"So you're those arrogant fancy-pants cooks for Mariejois," Shinpanchi noted.

"Huh?" Luffy asked.

Tom slammed down a bowl of vegetables. "You're the guys who said you were doing us a favor by coming out to this crap fortress out in the boonies."

"And you said that we were excreted insignificant meals!" Billy added.

"You've sure got a lot of nerve!" Shinpachi growled.

"This entire kitchen has mistaken us for some other guys," Sanji realized.

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Luffy stated, "And I don't care. Feed me. Give me food!"

That's when Head Chef Jessica made her presence known.

"So you're here." Luffy and Sanji looked through the sea of cooks to see Jessica working two pans on the stove across the kitchen, "The world-famous kitchen snobs who made million berri meals every night for all the big shots at Mariejios."

"Whaaa!" Luffy and Sanji gasped. Luffy gasped because of the meat Jessica was cooking. Sanji gasped because she was a beautiful woman.

"I don't care that headquarters sent you," Jessica continued as she turned to face them. "This is the most sacred place in all of Navarone."

Sanji smiled at the beautiful head chef but it faded when he realized that she was glaring at him.

"If I don't approve of you," Jessica told them as she walked over from the stove, "You will never set foot in here again, do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah!" the chefs cheered.

"Tell 'em how it is Jessica!" Billy chimed in.

"There are no less than one thousand marines stationed at this stronghold," Jessica stated. **SWISH! **Jessica swung both of her pans and launched the cooked cuts of meat up into the air. "And we show our respect to each and every one of them by preparing their meals with all our might so they can stay strong. In order for us to achieve this great feat we work day and night and we never, even for an instant, lose focus."

**Plop-plop-plop-plop! **The cooked meat that Jessica had flung into the air landed perfectly on the plates that had been set out and prepared on the two long serving tables in the kitchen.

"We're not like those cooks who depend of expensive food," Jessica insisted. "We rely on skill."

"Please tell me I can eat those!" Luffy requested.

Sanji stepped passed Luffy and approached Jessica as she finished her speech. "Around here we can't forget that great food comes from a special place in all of our hearts."

Sanji lit up a cigarette. "In other words, you would presume to tell me what real cooking is."

"No, I'm not trying to say anything quite as dramatic as that," Jessica replied. "I just want you and your brother to show us that pride you talked so much of. I'll give anyone a chance to prove themselves no matter how pretentious they might be. However, there will be trouble if I think you lack anything at all in skill or attitude. Let me make this clear, unless you satisfy me, you will never be able to call yourselves cooks in Navarone."

"I see, that sounds like a challenge," Sanji remarked then flashed a suave grin, "Mademoiselle."

**-x-**

A moment later, word of the challenge had spread out to the marines in the Dining Hall.

"What's going on?" one marine asked.

"It looks like the cooks are going to have a cooking fight," another marine observed.

"I've gotta see this," a third marine chimed in. This was made difficult by the fact that all the marines who had been previously seated in the Dining Hall were now crowded by the kitchen window to watch the upcoming culinary battle.

"Is that the chef that came from Headquarters?" someone asked.

**-x-**

Sanji and Luffy stood next to Jessica as they surveyed the large table full of ingredients that had been provided for the challenge.

"You are allowed to use any ingredients you like," Jessica explained the challenge. "The rules are simple. Each side will prepare meals for one hundred people and the marines themselves will decide the contest winners."

"Whoa," Luffy gasped, "I have no idea what's going on but it sounds exciting!"

"Start whenever you're ready," one of the chefs prompted as he laid out a set of chef's knives for the 'Marley Brothers' to use.

**HOOOONK! **The big brown haired chef blew into a horn to signal the start of the challenge.

The cooks of Navarone got to work cutting up and preparing their ingredients.

"We can't lose this one, boys," Shinpachi reminded the others as he cut up a fish. "Cook as if your life depended on it."

"Well cook using only the best parts of the ingredients we've got," Tom resolved as he sliced up a large cut of meat and discarded the parts he deemed unsuitable.

Nearby, Billy discarded some below average lettuce and focused on cutting up the perfect ones.

"Huh?" Luffy grunted while Sanji stood silently and watched their competition.

Jessica looked over and saw that Sanji hadn't even started cooking yet. _"Is he admitting defeat by not preparing anything?" _she wondered to herself.

And that's how it went. Sanji stood silently and watched as the cooks of Navarone made their one hundred meals.

"Finished!" Tom announced.

"One hundred meals," Billy added.

"You like that?" Shinpachi taunted.

"This food looks soo good!" Luffy gushed as he looked over the beautifully prepared dishes.

**Whap! **Jessica smacked his hand as he reached out for a dish. "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF!"

"Of course we normally prepare one thousand servings of each meal," Billy boasted.

"And we're fast!" Shinpachi chimed in. "Like sharks darting for prey!"

"That is the essence of being a chef here!" Tom resolved.

Sanji didn't respond. He went over to the table that was filled with ingredients that the Navaroen cooks hadn't deemed suitable to use. He grabbed a large tuna skeleton that still had chunks of meat on it. He picked up a basket of discarded lettuce and broccoli stems. He took the bucket of peeled potato skins. He claimed the dish of meat scraps that the other cooks had rejected.

"How terribly wasteful you all are," Sanji commented as he set the tuna skeleton in front of him.

"What's that guy up to?" Shinpachi questioned.

**CHOPCHOPCHOPCHOPCHOPCHOP! **Sanji lashed out with a knife in each hand and sliced up the fish bones and leftover meat until it was one bit pile of mush.

"He… can't be…" Tom gasped.

"No way!" Billy exclaimed.

"He's using all of our leftover parts!" Shinpachi realized. "Whoa!"

"First, pulverize the tuna's bones along with its head," Sanji announced. "Next, mix in the guts, add veggie strips and roll the paste into balls."

Sanji rolled up his fish paste and dropped it in a big bowl then dumped the bowl in a large pot. "Then they'll be deep fried."

Sanji went over to the meat and mixed it into another pot, "Oil and fat trim from the meat until it becomes soft and tender provides the perfect complement to a dish made from shellfish."

Sanji took his meat sauce and poured it over his tray of deep fried fish paste balls.

"The bitterness of the guts wets the appetite," Sanji explained, "And the powerful flavor gives to life to a tired body."

Next, Sanji moved on to a big bowl of potato skins and sprinkled seasoning over it.

"This brings us to the preparation of the vegetable dish," Sanji continued to narrate. "The skins of burdock roots and potatoes contain more vitamins and minerals than their insides." Sanji took the seasoned skins and cut them on a board, "Which makes them an ideal nutrient source."

The Navarone cooks and the marines gathered at the window looked on in awe as Sanji the Cook continued to do what he did best.

"Finally," Sanji concluded, "Broccoli stems can be used to create a soft, sweet scented dressing." Sanji took his green broccoli dressing and drizzled it over the vegetable dished that he'd made. "AND VOILA! CUISINE A LA CARTE!"

And just like that, Sanji had succeeded in making one hundred meals using the scraps that his competition has passed up.

"…" Jessica, the Navarone cooks and the marines all stared in silent shock.

"This is a battlefield, right?" Sanji reminded everyone. "It's important that the food tastes good. But more important than that is making sure your food stores last."

"Ah!" Jessica gasped in surprise.

"It doesn't matter if you spend a thousand berries or a million," Sanji resolved, "You should never waste even a single scrap of food. It is our duty as cooks to utilize every bit of our ingredients with love and skill. Just like loving everything about a beautiful woman. A wise old geezer once taught me that."

Sanji stepped back and lit up another cigarette. That was all the prompting that the hungry marines in the Dining Hall needed. They leapt over the divider and converged on Sanji's table of one hundred meals.

"I've never tasted anything so good!"

"This is delicious!"

"Amazing!"

"How stupid of us," Billy berated himself and his fellow cooks. "We tried to impress the famous cook and he turned around and beat us with working class cuisine. We did exactly what we shouldn't have and tried to show off."

"To think that we the cooks of Navarone were picky about the ingredients…" Shinpachi moaned.

"The food here in Navarone is different from the food prepared for the officers of Mariejois," Tom noted. "It's food for marines who live day-to-day. That was Jessica's belief anyway."

"…" Jessica stared silently at Sanji while the marine continued to enjoy his meals. But then something else caught her attention.

"Eighty-six… eighty-seven… eighty-eight…"

Jessica turned around and her eyes widened in surprise. Luffy had taken advantage of everyone being distracted by Sanji's cooking and had proceeded to devour the one hundred meals that the cooks of Navarone had made.

"Eighty-nine… ninety…" Luffy's rubber belly was swelled up to huge proportions as he dumped plate after plate of food into his mouth. "Ninety-one… ninety-two… ninety-three…"

The other Navarone cooks turned and gaped in shock as Luffy ate all one hundred meals himself.

"Incredible!" Billy exclaimed. "Have you guys ever seen anyone with such an insatiable appetite for the food we've made?"

"Ninety-seven… ninety-eight… ninety-nine… ONE HUNDRED!" Luffy grinned happily as he finished off the last of the marines cooks' meals. He suddenly let out a gasp of alarm. "GAAH!"

"Are you okay?" Jessica inquired as she and Shinpachi rushed over to Luffy as he doubled over, seemingly in pain.

"What's wrong?" Shinpachi asked.

"Just hang in there!" Jessica encouraged him.

Luffy shot back up and knocked Shinpachi and Jessica back in surprise as he shouted loudly. "SOOO GOOOOD!" The Navarone cooks face-faulted in shock. "Shishishi! Man, I'm stuffed!" Luffy patted his big belly. "Sa-tis-fied!"

Jessica smiled at Luffy.

"Let's go," Sanji prompted Luffy.

"Yeah, I guess it is about time we leave," Luffy agreed as he got up. Jessica stood up with him. "Thanks for all the food! Sure was good!" The two Straw Hats made for the exit.

"If it had been up to me," Sanji said as he passed Jessica, "I never would have battled a woman as beautiful as you. Until we meet again, Mademoiselle."

"Hold it!" Jessica called after them.

They stopped. "Did you think of something else for me to eat?" Luffy asked eagerly.

"Were planning on leaving me humiliated like this?" Jessica asked. She turned towards the duo. "I won't stand for it. I like your spirit and your appetite." The Navarone cooks grinned in agreement with the Head Chef. "As of right now, you two are part of the team!"

"YEAH!" the Navarone cooks cheered.

"Shishishi!" Luffy smiled and laughed.

Sanji spun around and his eyes became hearts as he started to swoon. "My sweet Jessica! Oh, thank you!"

Somehow, by just being themselves, Luffy and Sanji had not only managed to pass themselves off at the famous snob cooks the Marley Brothers but had been welcomed onto the kitchen staff of Navarone.

**-x-**

"Aaaahhh!" Vice Admiral Jonathan yawned as he leaned back in a small rowboat that was being paddled by Chief Petty Officer Todd. He sat up and addressed his escort. "If there's one thing fishing teaches, its patience." Jonathan took a telescope and used it to scan the side of his base.

"Patience, right sir, a valuable attribute," Todd agreed "They may be pirates but don't you think they would be hiding some place less conspicuous? This place is in plain sight of everything."

"There are some who would choose to hide when there is no possibility of escape," Jonathan replied as he continued to peer through his telescope. "But among pirates of that caliber it is certain there will be one or two who find the act of hiding cowardly."

"You think so, sir?" Todd asked.

**BANG! **A gun shot went off. Followed by a loud shout. **"RORONOA ZORO!"**

Jonathan jerked his telescope to the side just in time to see a green haired swordsman cut down one of his marines with a sword slash across the face.

"AAAH!" the marine cried out as he dropped the ground.

"It looks like we have our first catch of the day," Jonathan observed. "Quick, call for reinforcements. Lieutenant Matthew should be patrolling that hallway with his Units."

"Right away sir," Petty Officer Todd agreed and quickly picked up a Transponder Snail. "Lieutenant Matthew! We've spotted Roronoa Zoro on a fourth floor balcony that should be near your location! He's already taken down one marine! We need reinforcements! Hurry!"

"_**On my way!" **_Lieutenant Matthew's voice responded through the snail. **_"I'll get the rest of my unit to meet me there."_**

**-x-**

"We've got their attention," Ricky noted as he clutched the shallow gash that Zoro had given him over his right eye. "Remember, incapacitate. Don't kill."

"Right," Zoro agreed with a whisper.

He turned to leave the balcony but 'Natsu' launched himself at Zoro's legs and grabbed them. **WHAP! **Zoro stumbled and nearly fell over.

"Hey!" Zoro complained. "Get off!" Zoro lashed out his leg and kicked Natsu away from him. **THWAK!**

"UUGH!" Natsu groaned as he rolled across the balcony and clutched three sheaths to his chest.

"HEY! MY SWORDS!" Zoro shouted as he was left holding only _Wado Ichimonji_. The damn marine had snatched all three sheaths off his sash which included his other two swords _Yubashiri _and _Kitetsu III_.

**BANG! **That was when the door burst opened to reveal Lieutenant Matthew and four marines behind him. "Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro! You're under arrest!"

"Like hell!" Zoro retorted. "One Sword Style… LION'S SONG!" **SLA-SLISH!** Zoro swung his sword and launched himself through the five marines that was crowded in the doorway.

**SPLURT! **Lieutenant Matthew and his men dropped to the ground.

"Alright you," Zoro growled as he turned back around marched over to Natsu. "You've got something that belongs to me. Gimme back my swords!"

**Chink! **Zoro turned in surprise to see a hook wrap around the railing.

"Wait a minute… that's a fishing hook…" Zoro realized.

**Whirwhirwhirwhir! **Zoro followed the line with his eyes in time to see a man with a bushy black mustache and dark orange hair crank the reel of his fishing pole and use it like a grappling hook to pull _himself_ up the line to the railing of the balcony. **Tmp! **

"Hello," Vice Admiral Jonathan greeted Zoro.

"RAAH!" Natsu surged up off of the ground and tackled Zoro to the ground while he was distracted by Vice Admiral Jonathan. **WHAM!**

Vice Admiral Jonathan grinned. He'd provided the split second distraction that his marine had needed to catch the notorious pirate off guard and tackle him to the ground.

**BANG! **The door slammed opened again and another batch of marines from Lieutenant Matthew's unit arrived and instantly aimed their guns at Zoro as they poured out onto the balcony.

Jonathan smiled down at Zoro, "Welcome to Navarone!"

**-x-**

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	36. Ricky's Plan

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** Ricky has agreed to help me recover the disclaimer from the marines. However, he's currently undercover and can't afford to make any blatant moves so it may take a while. Better than nothing I guess.

**Ricky's Plan:**

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan smiled down at Roronoa Zoro. "Welcome to Navarone."

Other marines rushed out onto the balcony and quickly secured Zoro's wrists behind his back with a set of hard, wooden handcuffs.

"Half of you take that pirate down to the brig," Vice Admiral Jonathan instructed. "Don't forget to take his three swords with you. The rest of you, take those injured men to the medical ward."

Six of the marines hauled Roronoa Zoro to his feet and frog marched him back into the base while the seventh gathered up the swordsman's three swords and followed behind them.

Jonathan surveyed the six wounded marines that had fallen in apprehending the Pirate Hunter.

Lieutenant Matthew was unconscious and would be a large loss. The four men that had been with him were comatose as well. The sixth marine though, the one that had taken down the notorious pirate was still conscious. The young man was slumped against the railing with his hand held over the bloody eye that he'd gotten from the Straw Hat swordsman.

There were a thousand marines in Navarone so Jonathan couldn't recognize one instantly. The marine seemed tall and reasonably muscular which made sense because he was wearing the sleeveless uniform of Unit 55. The special combat unit. The marine had black hair with bangs that covered his left eye while his hand was pinned over his injured right eye.

Jonathan stepped off of the railing and addressed the heroic marine, "Well done, recruit."

"Thank you sir," the black haired marine replied. He raised his right hand and saluted which gave Jonathan a quick glimpse at his wounded eye. The blood had been smeared around and coated the young marine's eyebrows, eye and the side of his face. The gash responsible ran from the marine's brow, across his eye to the middle of his right cheek. The marine quickly clasped his hand back down over his wounded eye.

"That's a nasty injury you got there, recruit," Jonathan admitted. "What's your name, son?"

"Natsu, sir," the wounded marine answered, "Seaman Recruit Natsu from Unit 55. I'm in a great deal of pain, sir, so I can't do the chant now."

"That's alright Natsu," Jonathan reassured him. "It's not every day a marine catches a notorious pirate worth sixty million berries. I'll be sure to reward you for your courage, spirit and service."

"Oh, thank you Vice Admiral," Natsu responded. "But I'm only doing my duty, sir."

"Well my duty is to ensure the wellbeing of all the marines on this base," Jonathan stated. "That includes you. So let's get you to the medical ward and have that injury treated. Once you're well and able, come see me in my office. I'd like to hear about your encounter with Roronoa Zoro and I may have a promotion in store for you."

"Oh, thank you, sir!" Natsu exclaimed. "I'll do that, sir. Thank you very much, sir!"

Jonathan waved the two lingering marines over. The other five wounded marines had already been removed from the balcony and were on the way to the medical ward. The two marines helped Seaman Recruit Natsu up and draped his arms over their shoulders.

"_Hm… Could this all be a coincidence?" _Jonathan wondered as Natsu was helped to the door. _"Better check up on this Natsu."_

"By the way Natsu," Jonathan called out. "Should I have word sent to your wife that you were injured in the line of duty? I'm sure she'd also like to hear about your promotion."

"I… I'm not married, sir," Natsu told him.

"Oh, my mistake then," Jonathan remarked. "Don't let me hold you up any longer. Well done." Jonathan raised his hand and saluted the heroic young marine as he was mostly carried away.

The first of the Straw Hat Pirates had been revealed and he had been promptly apprehended.

"_One down… six to go," _Vice Admiral Jonathan mused to himself.

Jonathan didn't see the sly grin on Natsu's face as the two marines carried him away.

"_Phase One of Plan Get the Heck Outta Here, is complete," _Ricky recounted mentally. _"I've successfully infiltrated the base as a marine and survived my first encounter with Vice Admiral Jonathan. Zoro's being brought to the brig where I want him so Phase Two: Locate the Others is now officially underway."_

**-x-**

"Hmm…" Vice Admiral Jonathan mused to himself as he sat behind his desk in his office and surveyed his chess board. "One down six to go. The infamous 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro… One of 'Straw Hat' Luffy's pirates."

Jonathan reached out and removed the black King-side Rook from the opposing side of the chessboard. The black King, Queen, both Bishops, both Knights and the Queen-side Rook still remained on the side across from him.

"Zoro is truly as lethal as they say," Jonathan continued. "We captured him but in doing so I lost Lieutenant Matthew, my second highest-ranking officer." Jonathan removed the white King-side bishop from his own side of the board. Now both sides were missing an important piece.

Jonathan looked away from the board and surveyed the personnel file that he'd located.

Name: Natsu. Age: 23. Marital Status: Single. Rank: Seaman Recruit. Unit: 55. Special Forces.

Jonathan glanced at the picture that came with the file and saw a man with a pointed face, black hair and bangs covering his left eye. Just like the marine that had apprehended Zoro.

"It appears our new recruit checks out," Jonathan observed. "I suppose I'll need to find that promotion form. But we still need to find out what the Straw Hats are doing here."

Vice Admiral Jonathan looked up and for the first time in a while acknowledged Lieutenant Commander Drake's presence.

"Drake, go to the brig and interrogate the prisoner," Jonathan ordered.

"But… Vice Admiral…" Drake protested. "You already ordered me to use my units to secure the Dining Hall. You told me that pirates are always hungry."

"I'll handle the Dining Hall," Jonathan decided. "Jessica told me that they got in a pair of new cooks from Mariejois that were supposed to take over the kitchen. I need to go and show her my support. In the meantime, interrogating the prisoner is more important. We need to find out why the Straw Hat Pirates came to our base."

"And how should I conduct Zoro's interrogation?" Drake inquired.

"I'll leave that up to you," Jonathan told him. "Be creative Lieutenant Commander."

"Yes, Vice Admiral," Drake replied before he turned and left the office.

Jonathan once again returned his attention to the chessboard. "Once we locate another one of those pirates we'll make our next move. This game could turn out to be very interesting."

**-x-**

Down in the brig, Zoro sat in his cell with his hands still bound behind him by a pair of hard wood handcuffs. His three swords had been locked in the empty cell next to him.

"Aaaahh!" Zoro yawned as he woke up. _"So far, I'm okay with Ricky's plan. I got to catch up on the sleep I lost last night from landing in this base."_

Zoro opened his eyes and saw a unit of twelve marines silently standing guard outside his cell. They were the same dozen marines that had been standing there when he'd fallen sleep and none of them had moved even a step since then.

"Oh come on," Zoro growled, "Are you guys just gonna stand there and stare at me?"

"…"

The marines gave no response. "Well, I guess there's nothing to do but get some more shut eye." Zoro promptly closed his eyes and dropped his head to resume his mid-day nap.

**Klank! **Lieutenant Commander Drake came into the brig and made his way down the hallway to the marines outside of Zoro's cell.

"Open the cell," Drake ordered.

The marines turned and one finally spoke, "But… Lieutenant Commander… The prisoner is extremely dangerous!"

"I am under direct orders from Vice Admiral Jonathan to interrogate the prisoner," Drake stated.

"Yes sir," the marine replied, "Please be careful, sir."

**Klink! **The cell was unlocked and Drake went in.

"Huh…" Zoro grunted as he woke from his nap and saw a tall marine with mutton chops standing in front of him in his cell.

"Roronoa Zoro…" Drake addressed the swordsman, "Known far as wide as a pirate hunter. Until you turned traitor and joined the scum you used to hunt."

Zoro decided not to bring up the fact that some corrupt marines had put him in a situation where he really had no choice. It wasn't anything he regretted.

"You didn't come all the way down here just to tell me that, did you?" Zoro asked.

"Fine, IF THAT'S THE WAY YOU WANNA PLAY IT!" Drake snapped. "HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE? WHY DID YOU INVADE OUR FORTRESS? It was a clever strategy to enter our secure facility from the sky. How'd you do it? Did you build a launch pad?"

"Nope, we just came down from the sky," Zoro answered honestly.

"Don't mock me!" Drake growled.

"Calm down big guy," Zoro replied. "I'm not mocking you. I'm answering your questions."

Drake leaned down and got in Zoro's face, "I won't hear any more of your lies, pirate!"

Zoro glared up at Drake. "I don't lie. We rode down from the sky on a floating octopus."

Zoro blinked. It was only after he said it that he realized how ridiculous the truth sounded.

"I guess we'll have to do this the hard way!" Drake decided. "Now you're gonna be sorry!" Drake brought his big fists up and pressed them against Zoro's temples then stared to grind his knuckles against Zoro's head.

Zoro had been cut opened and stitched up more times than he could count. So it didn't hurt. But it was very annoying. Especially when he considered the marine's bad breath.

"I'LL FIND OUT THE TRUTH NO MATTER WHAT!" Drake shouted right in Zoro's face.

"_This plan of yours had better work Ricky…" _Zoro thought to himself as he endured another face-full of Drake's bad breath.

**-x—**

"Uugghh…" Nami groaned to herself as she staggered after the head janitor with a mop thrown over her shoulder and a bucket dangling in her other hand. In order to keep up her disguise, she'd been forced to clean under the close supervision of the head janitor.

There was one thing keeping her going at this point.

"_A janitor… is that really the best you could come up with?"_

If that marine really was Ricky in disguise then she wasn't about to let him be right.

"Your next assignment is to clean the old gym," the group leader announced to Nami as they stood in front of a pair of large metal doors.

"Aye-aye boss," Nami agreed.

The doors slid opened and Nami gaped in shock when she was faced with a large wooden room the size of a basketball court.

The group leader pulled a rope and slid the curtains away from the round windows near the ceiling which showed Nami that the large wooden floor was absolutely filthy.

"Clean… all this…" Nami stammered. "And I gotta do it… by myself?"

"I wanna see it sparkle!" the group leader ordered. "Boy, I'd hate to be in your shoes right now! Hahahahaha!" The large head janitor walked off.

"Okay… Ricky was right…" Nami decided. "This disguise was a huge mistake."

Nami abandoned her mop and bucket then ran off. She skidded to a stop and slipped into a closet when she heard three marines approaching.

"I heard that they caught one of the Straw Hat Pirates," the first marine remarked to the others.

Nami tensed and pushed the closet door open a crack so she could hear better.

"So that wasn't a ghost ship?" the second marine asked.

"No, but this guy is scarier than a ghost," the first marine told him. "You're not gonna believe this but they caught Roronoa Zoro."

"_They caught Zoro?" _Nami repeated to herself. _"But Ricky was with him…"_

"But he put up a fight," the marine continued. "He took out the Lieutenant and five other marines before they managed to catch him."

"I hear that there may be other crew members lurking around here," the third marine spoke up.

"Imagine if we found even one of them?" the first marine commented. "We'd be heroes."

"Yeah!" the second marine cheered.

"Or… if the others are like that Zoro guy… we could be dead," the third marine added.

"Y-yeah…" the second marine whimpered.

Nami pulled the door closed again as the three marines went passed.

"Ricky wouldn't have let Zoro get caught…" Nami mused to herself. "The guy's practically his best friend. Think, Nami! What's he up to? Wait… Ricky wouldn't have _let _Zoro get caught… unless that was his plan…"

"_He took out the Lieutenant and five other marines before they managed to catch him."_

"Ricky was dressed as a marine…" Nami recalled. "If they faked a fight so Zoro could get caught then… maybe Ricky was one of the injured marines. Getting injured while capturing Zoro would have helped Ricky's cover as a marine… If Ricky got injured they would've brought him and the others to the infirmary… I'd better head there so I can figure out what's going on."

Nami looked behind her and spotted a collection of pink nurse uniforms hanging on a rack.

"That's convenient," Nami noted, "I just found my new disguise _and_ my ticket into the infirmary."

**-x-**

"Uugghh…" Ricky fake groaned as he sat up in his bed in the infirmary. He took a moment to survey his surroundings. The Lieutenant and the other four marines were also in beds but Zoro hadn't held back on them so they were still unconscious.

But what worried him was the fact that he hadn't seen any doctors yet.

"Where is everybody?" Ricky wondered.

"**The doctors were all called away." **Ricky looked across the room and spotted a familiar blue nose peeking out from the crate or reindeer antlers that he'd dropped off the night before. "There's only one left and she's just a pediatrician."

"Why would a pediatrician be on a marine base?" Ricky questioned.

"I don't know but she's all they have," Chopper replied. "I've gotta do something, big brother."

**-x-**

**Dr. Kobato **was the one remaining doctor stationed at G-8.

She was a young woman with pale purple hair and wore round glasses and a white medical coat over a red sweater and a tan skirt.

Dr. Kobato sat at her desk in the medical office and poured over a medical book.

"Let's see…" the lone doctor mused to herself. "Make a vertical incision with the scalpel and if it begins to bleed…" **Swip! **She turned the page in the book and immediately paled. "Bleed… Oh… blood…"

The pediatrician lurched backward and nearly fainted. The chair toppled over and Dr. Kobato ended up on the floor in an undignified heap. **Fwump!**

The one doctor left on the base had a severe case of hemophilia.

Dr. Kobato rolled over and grabbed the edge of the desk. She blindly groped at the medical book and turned the page. **Swip! **It was only once the blood-filled page of the book was gone that the doctor dragged herself back up to her feet.

"It's just my luck that all the other doctors got called away at once…" Dr. Kobato whined. "Oh, please don't let there be any surgery patients today…"

Things didn't look good for the injured marines.

**-x-**

"I look pretty good in this, if I do say so myself," Nami remarked as she made her way down a hallway in her new nurse uniform. She had a white cap over her orange hair, a short-sleeved pink uniform that went down to her calves as a dress. A white apron with the Marine seagull was tied over the front and the top portion of the back. "Now I've just got to find the infirmary."

"**Quick! Get to the infirmary!" **Nami smiled at her continued good luck as four nurses came running down the hallway.

Nami spun around on the spot and ran along with the other four nurses once they caught up. "What's going on?" Nami asked.

"There's been an emergency," a nurse told Nami. "All nurses are to report to the infirmary immediately."

"Emergency?" Nami repeated. Just like that, Nami's streak of good luck came to an abrupt end. She stopped in her tracks but the two nurses in the back of the group grabbed her and pulled her onward.

"Come on!"

"_Oh crap!" _Nami complained._ "I dressed up like a nurse to get into the infirmary but I never thought I'd actually have to treat anyone!"_

"Three battleships filled with trauma patients just arrived," one of the two nurses at the front of the group explained. She had short, dark green hair in a ponytail and was the Head Nurse. "And six of our marines were injured apprehending a pirate."

Nami's mind flashed back to the three worn marine battleships that she had spotted before her encounter with the Marley Brothers.

"We'll get Dr. Kobato," the Head Nurse addressed the group as she and the other nurse at the front veered off from Nami and the others. "The rest of you start prepping the pa. one of the nurses at the front of the group announced, "The rest of you, attend to the minor injuries and start prepping the patients for surgery."

**-x-**

The Head Nurse and the other nurse burst into the medical office and startled Dr. Kobato.

"Doctor! We have an emergency!" the Head Nurse called out.

"So… what kind of emergency is this?" Kobato asked nervously.

"Critically injured marines need immediate attention," the Head Nurse explained. "Most of them are trauma patients that came from three marine battleships that Vice Admiral Jonathan gave permission to dock here. The other six were injured apprehending a pirate."

"Um… well… um…" Dr. Kobato stammered, "I'll leave these patients to you since that isn't my area of expertise…"

"This isn't your area of expertise?" the Head Nurse repeated. "The last time I checked, you were the only Doctor on this entire base right now!"

The two nurses grabbed the reluctant doctor and dragged her out from behind her desk and towards the door.

"But… I'm just a pediatrician!" Dr. Kobato wailed. "I don't know anything about trauma! That's outside of my specialty!"

**-x-**

Meanwhile, Nami had been dragged into the infirmary and stared in shock at the beds that were quickly being filled with injured marines.

"Wow… these guys are in really rough shape," Nami observed.

"**Psst,** **Nurse!"** There was that voice again. She'd recognize it anywhere.

Nami whirled around and spotted a black haired marine with a familiar pointed face. Of course the blood that was smeared over half of it was an unwelcome addition.

Nami ran over and quickly pulled the curtains around the bed then ducked down next to him. "Would you tell me what the heck is going on so I can get out of here before I actually have to treat someone!"

"I thought you would've learned your lesson from dressing as a janitor," Ricky remarked. "Never disguise yourself as something unless you're willing to do the work that role entails."

"Don't lecture me!" Nami snapped at him. "I assume that Zoro got captured because of some grand scheme of yours. Tell me what it is!"

"First, go get that crate of reindeer antlers that's on the other side of the room," Ricky instructed.

"Why?" Nami demanded.

"Because _our reindeer_ is inside it," Ricky answered. "I left him here last night."

Nami growled and pushed herself up then scrambled across the room.

"_Damn it, why does she have to look so good in that nurse's uniform?" _Ricky thought to himself before Nami pushed Chopper's crate inside the curtain and dragged it over to the bed.

Chopper immediately popped out, "Big Brother, this is getting even worse," he pointed out. "That pediatrician can't treat all of these injured marines."

"Forget that, what are you planning?" Nami demanded. "Why is Zoro in the brig?"

"As logn as Zoro's in the brig I know exactly where he is," Ricky explained. "If I left him on his own, he'd get lost and in a base like this that's the last thing we need. We faked our fight so I could get my marine alter-ego in Vice Admiral Jonathan's good graces. I'm going to keep this cover so I can locate the others and keep myself up to date on what they know."

"What do they—" Nami was cut off when the Head Nurse yanked the curtain opened. Chopper ducked back down into his crate.

"What are you doing in there?" the Head Nurse demanded.

"Oh… I… this marine only has a minor facial wound," Nami pointed out as she motioned to Ricky's blood-smeared face. "I thought I could treat him myself and leave the more severe cases for the doctor.

"Good thinking," the Head Nurse replied, "At this point we need all the help we can get." She turned and rushed back out into the chaotic infirmary.

Chopper popped back out of the crate with his medical supplies. "I'll treat it."

"What do the marines know about us?" Nami asked as Chopper used a wet rag to clean the blood off of Ricky's face. "Last I heard, they thought the Merry was a ghost ship."

"The Vice Admiral only told a few select units the truth," Ricky stated while Chopper stitched up his wound. "Everything they found out was based on their search of the Merry. Sanji decided that he didn't want to serve me coffee so they only think there's seven of us based off of the cups he put out. They know about Luffy, Zoro and me from our wanted posters and they also know we have a cook, a doctor and a historian based on the cookware and books they found. They also confiscated our gold."

"THEY—" Ricky sat up and clamped his hand over Nami's mouth.

"Keep it down!" he hissed at her. "Yes. They took the gold you got from the snake. They couldn't get my safe opened so they took the whole thing. Don't worry. Part of my plan involves finding our treasure and our ship." Ricky removed his hand and laid back down.

Chopper covered Ricky's eye with gauze then wrapped length of bandages around his head.

Ricky nodded then sat up and continued. "Now that I have an excuse to keep my eye covered, I'll be able to roam the base freely and locate the others. The only way we're getting out of this base is if we do it together. In the meantime, I'll need you guys to lay low in here."

"Good," Chopper said, "Then I'm going to help treat these patients."

"WHAT?" Nami questioned.

**-x-**

**Chopper's Emergency Operation:**

**-x-**

"Those injured marines need a doctor to treat them," Chopper insisted.

"Chopper, they're marines!" Nami reminded him. "If you treat them, they'll turn around and capture us!"

"Nami, I'm a doctor!" Chopper exclaimed. "I'm obligated to treat sick and injured people no matter who they are. Some of these marines are critically injured. They'll die!"

"I..." Nami couldn't think of a response to that. "Ricky! Say something!"

"Go ahead Chopper," Ricky encouraged him. "Be careful and make sure to disguise yourself."

Chopper nodded and dove out of the antler crate then crawled away under the curtain.

Nami rounded on Ricky. "What the heck are you doing? If the marines learn that a strange doctor is preforming surgery, they'll come and arrest him!"

"Vice Admiral Jonathan told me himself that its his duty to ensure the wellbeing of his marines," Ricky told her. "He'll keep an eye on the place but he won't have Chopper arrested for treating wounded marines. This actually works out to my advantage. He knows about 'One Eye' Ricky. He knows there's a doctor on our crew. If I tell him that One Eye Ricky is the unidentified doctor performing surgery he'll know exactly where I am and won't bother looking for me."

"And what do you plan to do if another marine comes by and realizes that Chopper _isn't _you?" Nami inquired.

Ricky flashed her a sly grin, "That's why you're going to be here to help him, _Nurse_."

"Fine," Nami conceded. "But this plan of yours had better work."

"It hurts that you doubt me," Ricky replied.

"I'll hurt you even more if we all end up locked in the brig!" Nami snapped before she turned and left his bed.

Nami stopped in her tracks when she found the other four nurses gathered around the terrified and clearly in-over-her-head Dr. Kobato.

"Doctor, what do we do?" the Head Nurse asked.

"Okay…" Kobato feebly replied. "Let's see… painkiller. He needs 50 milligrams of painkiller."

"Should we prep the Operating Room?" another nurse asked.

"Operating… operate…" Kobato mumbled. "I have to operate… There'll be…" Kobato looked down but that resulted in her seeing the bloody bandages on a nearby marine. "Blood…" Kobato's eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground.

"Doctor, pull yourself togother!" one of the nurses pleaded as they set Kobato down on a stool.

"We don't have time for this," the Head Nurse complained. "Tell us what to do!"

"**I'll be directing treatment today."**

The nurses turned to see a large hairy… man. Chopper stood before them wearing a white coat, a pair of swirly glasses and a fake mustache.

"First administer this patient a dose of both aphidicolin and cardiotonic," Chopper ordered. "Then prepare some ticillin."

"…" the nurses stared silently at the strange looking… person.

"Respond if you understand!" Chopper barked at him.

"Yes, doctor," the nurses chorused. They needed a doctor now more than anything. Instead of focusing on his strange appearance or where he had come from, they decided to follow his instructions and treat the injured marines that needed them.

The nurses scrambled to follow Chopper's instructions while Chopper walked along the room.

"Now cross-match every patient's blood type," Chopper continued. "Begin pre-op treatment for everyone that requires an operation."

Dr. Tony Tony Chopper continued to bark out orders as the took charge of the infirmary.

"Get this patient on antibiotics to treat tetanus and any other infections he may have."

"Right," the Head Nurse agreed.

"What's the status of the O.R.?" Chopper called across the room.

"The Operating Room is ready, Doctor," a nurse answered.

"Then start moving patients there!" Chopper prompted. "Start with those in critical condition."

"Yes sir," the nurses replied as they began to wheel the injured marines into the O.R.

Under Chopper's direction, the infirmary was quickly and efficiently cleared. Mostly.

Ricky sat up in bed and flashed Chopper a thumbs up. "I'm proud of you, little brother."

Chopper shrunk back down and his white coat dragged on the floor. "Stupid!" he exclaimed. "I don't need your praise! I won't make me happy!" The fact that reindeer was currently performing a happy dance made Ricky believe that was untrue.

Meanwhile, Nami had gone over to Dr. Kobato and was trying to revive her.

"Come on, snap out of it!" Nami said as she shook the woman.

Dr. Kobato's eyes fluttered open. "Um… sorry… what's going on?"

"Chopper! Human! Quick!" Ricky instructed.

Chopper stopped dancing and quickly became the big hairy doctor again.

"Where is everyone?" Dr. Kobato continued obliviously. "I seem to have fainted." She stood up and spotted Chopper. "Oh! You're a doctor! I don't know who you are or where you came from but I'm glad you came along! You sure saved us!"

"No one's saved yet, Doctor," Chopper replied.

"What?" Kobato questioned.

"The situation doesn't look good," Chopper stated. "Without emergency surgery many will die."

"Yeah…" Dr. Kobato whimpered.

"There's no time to lose!" Chopper insisted. "You must operate on the critically injured now!"

"Yes… operate…" Kobato's legs shook and she dropped to her knees.

"Hey, what's with you?" Nami inquired as she dropped down next to the doctor. Chopper came over and stood behind Nami.

"I… I can't do it…" Kobato whimpered.

"Do what?" Nami asked.

"I can't stand the sight of blood," Dr. Kobato confessed. "Honestly, I can barely even administer a shot. So the thought of putting stitches in or cutting someone is just…" She started to cry.

"Oh, just perfect," Nami complained as she stood back up. "This is a marine base. How can you call yourself a military doctor if you can't stand the sight of a little blood?"

"My field of practice is children's medicine," Dr. Kobato told her. "All the other doctors were called away on business. I was only left in charge as a temporary substitute."

"I still want to know why a pediatrician is at a marine base in the first place!" Ricky interjected from over in his bed.

"Substitute or not, you're in charge of the infirmary now," Chopper reminded her. "Aren't you?"

"Uh… yeah… seems so…" Kobato admitted.

"It seems so?" Chopper repeated. "You're a doctor! It's your duty preserve life!"

"That is what I have sworn to do," Dr. Kobato answered. "But still. I have limits. Even the best doctors have things they can't do."

"Limits? Can't do?" Chopper echoed. "The man who taught me medicine used to tell me a story. There once was a man who was told by his doctors that he had an incurable disease and that he would soon be dead. Everywhere he went, the doctors told his disease was incurable. In his despair, he wandered the wilderness in search of a place to die. But one day as he walked through a mountain pass he saw something extraordinary and beautiful. The entire mountain was covered in brilliant cherry blossoms. After seeing this, he went to see his doctors again. They were astounded to report that the man was now completely healthy. You see? It was a miracle. There's nothing that can't be cured!"

"…" Dr. Kobato stared silently up at Chopper.

"You're the only doctor for those patients in there," Chopper continued. "You alone can save them from a terrible death. A healer must never give up! There's no such thing as limits! There's no illness that can't be cured! Don't ever let you fear limit you! There is no patient that we doctors shouldn't try to cure! As doctors we have the power to make miracles happen. We have to always believe that!"

"Then…" Dr. Kobato whispered. "Will I be able to see the cherry blossoms too?" She shook her head. The nervous woman was suddenly overtaken by foreign confidence. "No. I will show them the cherry blossom! I'll show them to all of those suffering people in the Operating Room!"

"That's the spirit!" Chopper encouraged.

"_That's my doctor,"_ Ricky added silently.

"I'll even stick around to help," Chopper offered.

"I'll help too," Nami added. Even she had been swayed by Chopper's passionate speech.

Just then the other nurses came back out into the infirmary.

"Doctor," the Head Nurse announced. "The Operating Room is prepped and ready to go."

"Good, I'm on my way," Chopper replied. Nami nodded in agreement.

The two disguised Straw Hats turned and watched as Dr. Kobato rose to her feet.

"Right, let's go," she resolved.

Dr. Kobato made her way out of the infirmary towards the Operating Room. Chopper and Nami followed him along with the other nurses.

Ricky grinned in his bed. "Best doctor in the world."

**-x-**

Two marines stood stationed outside the door to the Operating Room. They looked up as three people made their way down the hallway.

Dr. Kobato, Dr. Chopper and Nurse Nami now all wore white surgeon scrubs, surgical masks and held their sterilized gloves out in front of them.

**Krek… **The automatic doors swung opened and the three made their way inside.

"Just who the heck was that guy?" one of the marines wondered.

"Beat me," the other replied. "We should probably warn Vice Admiral Jonathan."

**Beep! **Up overhead, a red light turned on to signify that there was surgery in progress.

**-x-**

"What?" Lieutenant Commander Drake questioned as he turned away from interrogating Zoro. "An unidentified doctor is preforming surgery?"

"Yes sir," the marine outside the cell answered. "Vice Admiral Jonathan requested that you investigate it."

"That could be our second Straw Hat of the day," Drake realized.

"_Chopper…" _Zoro thought to himself. _"Ricky… I hope you're still in the infirmary. You've got trouble headed your way."_

**-x-**

Bright lights shined down on the first patient in the Operating Room.

"There's a large shard of shrapnel embedded in his upper right torso that must be extracted," Chopper read from a clipboard.

"The patient has been anesthetized so we are ready to begin the procedure," Nami stated.

"Scalpel," Dr. Kobato requested as she held out her sterilized glove.

"Yes, Doctor," Nami replied as she handed her the instrument.

Dr. Kobato's hand shook as she stared down at the dark wound that she had to cut into.

"Dr. Kobato, you'll be fine," Chopper assured her. "Remember, you're the only one who can show these patients the cherry blossoms."

"Right," Dr. Kobato agreed. She slowly brought her scalpel in.

"This incision runs close to an artery so be careful," Chopper warned her.

"Right," Dr. Kobato replied as she cautiously cut the wound. Blood spilled out but she stayed focused on the task at hand and didn't waver.

"Nurse, suction," Chopper requested.

"Yes, Doctor," Nami replied as she stretched out a vacuum hose to clear away the blood.

Once the blood was cleared, Nami used a rag to remove the sweat from Dr. Kobato's forehead.

**Clink! **Dr. Kobato removed the shrapnel and dropped it on nearby tray.

"The shard has been removed," Chopper stated.

"Done!" Dr. Kobato gasped in relief.

"Dr. Kobato, we're not even close to done," Nami told her. "There are so many more patients."

"Of course," Dr. Kobato agreed.

"We can do it," Chopper encouraged her.

"Right," Dr. Kobato replied.

**-x-**

Ricky looked up as Lieutenant Commander Drake and four marines made his way into the infirmary and marched straight through and headed for the Operating Room.

"_Looks like this is my second marine officer of the day," _Ricky thought to himself. He looked down at Lieutenant Matthew and pushed the plunger on the syringe of sedative that he had stuck in the Marine Officer's arm.

"Nothing personal," Ricky addressed the now sedated Lieutenant. "But I need you unconscious until my crew and I get out of here."

**-x-**

**Krek! **Lieutenant Commander Drake pushed opened the doors to the Operating Room.

"Pardon the intrusion!" Drake called out as he entered with his men.

Dr. Kobato stuck her head out from the curtains around one of the beds. "We're operating. Please leave."

"This is urgent, I assure you," Drake insisted. "I need to ask you a few questions."

"**Doctor!" **a nurse called out from inside the curtains. **"His blood pressure is dropping fast."**

Dr. Kobato looked back inside at Chopper as he directed the two nurses that were with him.

"Give him six units of saline solution and one unit of platelets," Chopper instructed.

"Yes sir," the nurses agreed.

"He's out of danger now," Chopper noted. "Continue the transfusion and ready the dopamine."

"Eh-hem," Lieutenant Commander Drake cleared his throat. "Dr. Kobato."

"We're in the middle of surgery," Dr. Kobato said. "If you're going to stay, please be quiet."

"Excuse me, but did I hear you right?" Drake questioned with a smirk. "You're performing surgery? You? The doctor that faints at the sight of a paper cut?"

"…" Dr. Kobato glared silently at Drake.

"There are reports of an unidentified doctor here…" Drake changed the subject.

"Get out!" Dr. Kobato ordered. "The only things you'll find in here are people giving their all to save precious lives! Is that clear?"

Drake flinched in surprise. He stared at Dr. Kobato but the doctor returned the Lieutenant Commander's hard stare without wavering.

"Right… let's go," Lieutenant Commander Drake resolved.

Drake led his men back out of the Operating Room.

"Lieutenant Commander!" Drake looked up to see Seaman Recruit Natsu in front of him. "I heard that you came in here looking for one of the Straw Hat Pirates. I know where one is."

"You do?" Drake questioned. "Show me!"

"Of course, sir," Natsu agreed. "But on the other hand…" **Shunk! **He spun and jammed a syringe into Drake's chest. "I'm right here."

"Ahhh… pi..rate…" Drake gasped before his eyes rolled back and he passed out.

"You're under arrest!" one of the other four marines called out as Ricky set Drake on the ground.

"Don't touch that snail!" Ricky warned the marine by the door as he reached for his pocket. "You guys are lucky that you're already in the infirmary."

**-x-**

Dr. Kobato and Chopper continued their series of operations unabated. Even Nami and the rest of the nurses were so focused on their respective tasks that none of the noticed the sounds of a fight coming from the other side of the doors to the O.R.

"Procedure completed," Dr. Kobato eventually announced.

"That was the last of our patients," the Head Nurse informed her while another nurse dabbed Kobato's sweaty forehead.

The nurses rolled the final patient away out of the Operating Room.

For some reason the two marines that had been stationed outside were now missing.

Dr. Kobato was left alone with Chopper and Nami.

"Good job Dr. Kobato," Nami praised her.

"Ah!" Kobato sighed in relief as she removed her surgery mask and closed her eyes and she peeled off her gloves.

She didn't notice Chopper as he shrunk down to his tiny Hybrid form.

"No! Chopper, don't!" Nami warned him.

"You really are a great doctor," Chopper praised the now confident Kobato.

"Thank you," Dr. Kobato replied as she turned to face him. "But you're a much better doctor than I'll ever be, Mr. raccoon-dog."

"You stupid face, I'm not a raccoon-dog, I'm a reindeer!" Chopper corrected her.

"_She didn't even notice that Chopper just changed shape…"_

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan hummed to himself as he made his way towards the Dining Hall.

"Vice Admiral! Vice Admiral!"

Jonathan stopped outside the green double doors and turned to see Chief Petty Officer Todd.

"What's the matter?" Jonathan asked.

"We haven't heard back from Lieutenant Commander Drake since you instructed him to investigate the infirmary," Todd informed him.

Jonathan frowned. "It seems that the Straw Hats have made their next move," he mused. "I guess the Dining Hall will have to wait. Have Ensign Christopher meet us in my office. If Drake's gone missing then I need to alter my strategy with my remaining forces."

"Yes sir," Todd agreed. He turned and ran off to relay the Vice Admiral's message.

Jonathan gave the dining hall one last glance then followed after Todd at a more sedate pace.

**-x-**

"Really, what are we doing still hanging around here?" Sanji complained as he cut up onions in the kitchen mere feet away from where Vice Admiral Jonathan had just been standing. "We don't even know if Miss. Robin and Miss. Nami are out of harm's way. But I can't just abandon a task that the lovely Miss. Jessica assigned me."

Across the kitchen, Luffy decided to touch the oven to see if it was hot. **Ssss…**

"AAAH!" Luffy yelped has he burned his finger. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Dial that he had with him for some reason then held it up to the oven.

"Got that right," Luffy agreed with Sanji.

Sanji whirled around to stare at the pirate that he'd been practically babysitting this whole time. "What are you doing, you idiot?" Sanji demanded.

"Uh, I don't know," Luffy admitted. "Have you seen how awesome this glow thingy is?"

"Yes, I've seen how awesome the oven is," Sanji growled as he turned around and went back to his task of cutting onions. "Now help me figure out how to get us outta here."

"Oh yeah, how come we're still sitting around this stupid kitchen?" Luffy asked.

"We're still here because you haven't figured out a way for us to escape!" Sanji snapped.

"Hey Sanji, do you think someone could eat a raw octopus?" Luffy questioned.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sanji berated him.

"How's it coming?" Head Chef Jessica inquired as she walked over and caused Sanji's eyes to become hearts. "Are you done yet? If you don't hurry we won't be ready for the next one hundred marines."

"Oh, my sweet Jessica!" Sanji exclaimed. "I just finished the onions!"

"Well, looks like its just about break time," Luffy noted. "I'm beat."

"YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YET!" Sanji yelled at him.

"Since you're so eager to help I've got another three hundred onions here for you," Jessica informed Sanji before she walked away.

"More? You gotta be kidding me!" Luffy growled.

"I am ever your humble servant my sweet Jessica!" Sanji swooned.

"Hey!" Luffy called out. "I think I know why we're stuck in the kitchen! And its all your fault!"

**-x-**

Ricky locked the door to a closet in the infirmary and sealed Lieutenant Commander Drake and the six other marines that he'd beaten inside. He tucked the transponder snail that he'd stolen into his pocket then casually whistled to himself as he made his way out of the medical wing.

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan sat at his desk in his office while Ensign Christopher and Chief Petty Officer Todd both standing across from him.

Jonathan removed the King-side Rook from his white side of the chessboard.

"This game's starting to get really interesting," Vice Admiral Jonathan remarked.

**-x-**

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	37. Commander Shepherd

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** I'm still waiting for Ricky to recover the disclaimer. My next one won't arrive for another three chapters.

**Commander Shepherd:**

**-x-**

**WHAM! **"VICE ADMIRAL!" Ricky in his 'Seaman Recruit Natsu' disguise which had been updated with bandages over his right eye and eyebrows burst in to Vice Admiral Jonathan's office.

The Vice Admiral looked up, as did Ensign Christopher and Chief Petty Officer Todd.

"You've recovered quickly from your injury," Vice Admiral Jonathan noted.

"I had to come and give you my report, Vice Admiral!" Natsu exclaimed. "'One Eye' Ricky is in the infirmary! I saw him take out Lieutenant Commander Drake! I came here as fast as I could!"

"Calm down, son," Jonathan instructed. "Tell me what happened."

Natsu sat down in a chair opposite Jonathan. He glanced briefly down at the chess board in between them then looked back up.

"'One Eye' Ricky is in the infirmary impersonating a doctor," Natsu explained. "But the odd thing is, he's actually treating people. He stitched up my wound from Roronoa Zoro in a matter of minutes. Now he's in the O.R. tending to the trauma patients that came in one those three battleships."

"So 'One Eye' Ricky is the Straw Hat Pirate's doctor and he's treating injured marines," Jonathan noted.

"The only other doctor left in the base is Dr. Kobato," Natsu added. "Who – as you know – is a pediatrician who faints at the sight of blood. One Eye told her that as a doctor he took an oath to treat the sick and injured. He's actually coaching her through some surgeries. Sir… if you don't mind me asking… why is there a pediatrician at our Marine Base? There are no kids here."

"Her father works at Dock 88," Jonathan informed him. "She came to visit him while our doctors were called away. I requested that she stay in the meantime so that we would at least have one trained doctor at the base… even if she is inexperienced. But you're saying that he's actually helping her get over fear of blood? Other than attacking Lieutenant Commander Drake, has he shown any hostility towards us?"

"Um, no sir," Natsu admitted. "The nurses are all following his instructions. Dr. Kobato is with him in the Operating Room. Actually, the truth is, sir, the only reason he attacked the Lieutenant Commander is because he interrupted a surgery when he burst into the O.R."

"Hmm…" Jonathan mused to himself. "If One Eye wishes to treat our injured, I'll allow him to do so. I already told you that it's my duty to ensure the wellbeing of all the marines on this base. We'll station some men outside the infirmary but warn them against going in. As long as we know where One Eye is and that he's not causing trouble, I'll let him do as he pleases."

Jonathan looked down at his chess board. "You play chess, Natsu?"

"I know of it, I know the pieces, but I've never played," Natsu answered. _"What self-respecting strategist doesn't know how to play chess?" _"It seems like you're in the middle of a game but none of the pieces have been moved."

"This is the game I'm playing against the Straw Hat Pirates," Vice Admiral Jonathan told him. "There are seven black pieces for the Straw Hats. Plus one for their ship. Thanks to you, we've captured one of their Rooks, Roronoa Zoro and we've also know the location of their Queen. 'One Eye' Ricky."

"You made 'One Eye' the Queen?" Ricky questioned. "I know he's the First Mate but I'm not sure he'll like that very much."

"Why's that?" Jonathan inquired.

"He didn't strike me as very Queen-like when I saw him," Natsu said. "He was very friendly with the nurses in the infirmary. There was one in particular… you know what? Never mind. It's your game. Play it however you want."

"For your information," Jonathan stated, "I made One Eye Ricky the Queen because of his ties with the Whitebeard Pirates. If he's a skilled doctor I can see why they had him on such a notorious crew. Isn't there another dangerous rookie pirate that's a doctor?"

"I believe you're talking about Trafalgar Law, sir," Chief Petty Officer Todd chimed in. "He's a rookie pirate Captain like Straw Hat. They're calling him the 'Surgeon of Death'."

"But let's focus on the pirates that we're currently dealing with," Jonathan suggested. "We've already suffered casualties when we lost Lieutenant Matthew while capturing Roronoa Zoro and One Eye Ricky took out Lieutenant Commander Drake."

"_That's only a Rook and a Bishop," _Ricky noted as he eyed the white side of the board. _"Is there a higher ranking officer on this base than Drake?" _Ricky scanned Jonathan's desk and his eye narrowed when he spotted a picture of a blonde woman in a chef's hat. _"Oh! You old bastard! You made me the black queen while your wife is the white one?"_

"I'll need the three of you to step up in their absence," Vice Admiral Jonathan continued. "Ensign Christopher, I need you to take over Lieutenant Commander Drake's Units and patrol the island. Make sure that none of those pirates get in or out of this base."

"Yes, sir," the tan-skinned man with sunglasses responded.

"Chief Petty Officer Todd," the Vice Admiral called out, "You've been promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer. For now, that's the highest rank I can give you. I can promote my Infantry as I please but I need approval from Headquarters to make you a Commissioned Officer. I want you keep watch of Dock 88 where we have the Straw Hats' ship. We have it in our custody and they won't leave without it."

Jonathan reached out and removed the remaining Rook from the black side of the chess board.

"Chief Petty Officer…" Natsu turned and looked over his shoulder to see who Jonathan was addressing. "That's you, Natsu."

"Me sir?" Natsu questioned.

"I told you that I'd reward you for capturing Roronoa Zoro," Jonathan reminded him. "You've been promoted to Chief Petty Officer. We're in a State of Emergency, I need more brave officers like you."

"Thank you sir!" Natsu gushed as he stood up and saluted. "I won't let you down, sir!"

"I'm sure you won't," Jonathan replied. He pulled an officer's uniform out from behind his desk and tossed it to Natsu. "I want you to guard the brig." Natsu looked up in surprise as he pulled on his new uniform with red patches and gold cuffs on the shoulders. "I assume that you'd want to ensure that the pirate you valiantly captured remained in custody. When the Straw Hats hear that he's been captured, they'll go to the brig to rescue him. Make sure he doesn't escape."

"Yes sir," Natsu agreed.

"Officers, you each have your assignments," Vice Admiral Jonathan addressed the group. "You're dismissed."

Ensign Christopher and the newly appointed Master Chief Petty Officer Todd left the room. But Chief Petty Officer Natsu stood in place.

"I just have one last question, sir," Natsu said. He motioned to the white side of the chess board. "If Ensign Christopher is your Bishop, Todd and I are your Knights, and your wife is the Queen, who is the remaining Rook?"

Jonathan smiled at Natsu. "You have a sharp eye, son. That's my fallback plan. We removed all the treasure from the Straw Hats' ship. I locked it up for safe keeping. So even if by some odd miracle, the Straw Hats manage to escape the base and reclaim their ship… they won't be able to leave their treasure behind. No self-respecting pirate would sail away without their treasure. Even if they escape, they'll come back for it and we'll have a second chance to catch them."

"Brilliant, sir," Natsu commented. He saluted then turned and left the office… with a frown.

**Grumble… **Jonathan looked down at his stomach as it rumbled. "These Straw Hat Pirates are turning out to be more of a challenge than I initially anticipated. I'll have to postpone my lunch until I've at least identified more of them."

**-x-**

Two of the eight Straw Hats had yet to actually enter the Marine Base.

Robin crouched behind some bushes on the ring shaped island of Navarone and surveyed the Marine Base while Usopp scampered around behind her and used a fake bush as cover. He came up beside her and looked in the same direction as Robin.

"Marine Command Branch 8," Usopp easily read off of the base while Robin had to look through her telescope.

"That's the official name," Robin said. "It's more commonly known as G-8 or Navarone. It was once the Marines' most powerful stronghold. The command center is most likely in that central tower. But that's all we know."

"Enough with all of the technical talk already," Usopp complained. "Weren't those ancient ruins enough for you? Now you've gotta analyze some stupid marine fortress?"

"Knowledge is power," Robin told him. "Or have you forgotten that we're in enemy territory."

"I haven't forgotten anything!" Usopp insisted. "But we can't just stand around looking at stuff. It feels like the two of us haven't done anything since we got here. All I care about is finding the Going Merry. I've gotta see if my baby is okay."

Usopp once again scanned the water where the ship had once been but the caravel was gone.

"Merry! Merry! Where are you?" Usopp called out to his lost ship.

"It's reasonable to assume that the ship was seized by the marines," Robin suggested.

"Why I are you so calm!?" Usopp demanded. "Don't you care about our ship?"

"Even if we can find the Going Merry," Robin stated, "How will we escape with it? Do you honestly think that the marines will show us the way out?"

"Uh… well I…" Usopp stammered.

"Which is why we must find out all we can about this place," Robin continued. "Right?"

"Oh yeah!" Usopp retorted as he shot to his feet. "I wouldn't be much of a pirate if I was scared of a few marines! I'm done with this. I'll leave the standing around and looking at stuff to you."

Usopp rushed off and used nearby bushes for cover. But his foot suddenly caught on something."My leg!" Usopp yelped. **WHUMP! **Usopp fell and landed on his face. He looked back and saw the disembodied hand that had tripped him. He shot back up and glared back at Robin. "Hey! That really hurt!"

A mass of over a dozen arms suddenly grew out of Usopp body and quickly pulled him up against a crooked tree then slipped him around it.

**SKISH! **A marine popped out of some nearby bushes less than a second later.

"Found 'em?" the marine asked.

**SKISH! **Three other marines stood up in some bushes near the first marine.

"No sir," the three marines chorused.

"We'll capture those filthy Straw Hat Pirates!" the first marine declared. "Leave no stone unturned. They couldn't have gotten far." He motioned onward and the three marines ran off. "There's no escaping. We've already captured the legendary Roronoa Zoro."

The marine walked off and never noticed the Straw Hat Pirate pinned to the other side of a tree.

Robin's extra hands disappeared and Usopp quickly jumped away from the tree.

"Zoro!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Are you alright, Mr. Long Nose?" Robin asked. Usopp turned and found Robin leaning against the tree he had just been pinned to.

"Did you hear what he said?" Usopp questioned.

"The marines seem to have realized that the Going Merry was filled with pirates, not ghosts," Robin reasoned. "Now they're angry. We need to worry about our survival instead of our ship."

"I don't care what you have to say anymore!" Usopp insisted. "That ship is more precious to me than life itself! I'm gonna go in there and get it back! Do you hear me? I've made up my mind. So stay out of my way. See you on board!" Usopp ran off.

"So stubborn," Robin remarked before she slipped around the tree and towards the base.

**-x-**

A moment later, Robin discretely peered around the rocky corner of a dock where three worn marine battleships were anchored.

She watched as a man with a briefcase made his way off of one of the ships. He had grayish skin and dark purple hair tied in a ponytail. He had a long nose, high cheekbones and glasses with purple lenses over his eyes. He wore white gloves on his hands and a purple shirt underneath a marine officer's coat.

"Ughh…" the man complained. "I weathered that storm to come to a backwater base in the middle of nowhere? And they don't even have the decency to welcome me."

The man scanned the dock and called out to a nearby marine. "Hey you, over there."

"Sir, yes sir," the marine replied as he turned to face the man in an officer's coat.

"I am here to meet whoever runs this base," the man stated with a puffed up chest. "So you inform the officer-in-charge that I have arrived and wish to commence the meeting posthaste."

"Yes sir," the marine answered but then he looked sheepish. "It's just uh… I have to ask what kind of business you have with the Vice Admiral."

"I have am under no obligation to explain anything to you!" the man spat.

"I'm really sorry sir," the marine said, although he didn't sound it. "But I also have to confirm your rank and which branch you are attached to."

"I will explain nothing to you! Understand!" the man exclaimed. "Now contact this Vice Admiral immediately!"

"Of course sir," the marine said. He looked at his watch. "But… I don't think it'll do any good."

"And why not?" the man snapped.

"Because this is the hour that Vice Admiral Jonathan normally takes his lunch," the marine explained. "If he's on schedule, he's probably eating in the Dining Hall right now."

"So call the Dining Hall, dimwit!" the officer berated him.

"Sir, you don't know the credo of Marine Branch 8, do you?" the marine asked.

"You have a credo?" the man who had refused to give his name questioned.

"Rule 1: You must wash your hands before every meal!" the marine recited. "Rule 2: Never leave any food behind on your plate. Rule 3: Never mention work in the Dining Hall. Rule 4: Always brush your—"

"ENOUGH!" the officer interrupted as he grabbed the marine's collar. "Are you saying that your officer-in-charge thinks lunch is more important than a V.I.P. sent by Marine Headquarters? Is that correct?""

"Yes!" the marine yelped. "That's correct sir!"

"Grrr…" the officer shoved the marine away from him. "I can see that you'll be of no use to me. I'll find your Vice Admiral on my own. But before I go, I have one piece of advice for you. If I were you, I'd start thinking of ways to explain this when you're COURT MARTIALED!"

The marine gulped as the still unidentified officer let out a weasel-like laugh and walked off.

"_This sector no longer requires the presence of this bloated stronghold," _the officer thought to himself. _"Or the peculiar isolated Vice Admiral that refuses to step foot outside of it. The Marines don't need either of these outdated dinosaurs and I will make sure to note that in my report to Headquarters. That old badger Vice Admiral Jonathan won't be paid to eat and fish on the Marine's time for long! Enjoy your last few meals at Navarone, Vice Admiral! Soon you will be relieve of your duties!"_

The officer left the dock through an isolated hallway. He got three steps in when he stopped in his tracks at the sight of a woman's shadow on the wall.

"Hm?" the man turned and looked back the way he'd come but there was no one there. "Guess it was nothing."

The man went to adjust his purple glasses but a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. **Whap! **The man was surprised by the fact that the hand was coming out of his own coat. So he was caught completely off guard when the hand bent his wrist backwards. **KRAK!**

"Aaah!" the man yelped. Another arm came out of his back and wrenched his other arm behind him. **Krek-KRAK! **"WAH!"

**CLUNK! **The man stumbled and banged his head against the metal wall of the hallway.

Robin stood over the unconscious officer and pulled an ID card out from his coat.

"**Commander Shepherd** from the Marine Headquarters Inspection Division," Robin read off of the card. Robin smiled as she looked down at the unconscious man… or more specifically, his uniform which happened to be in her favorite color. "You'll do just fine, Inspector. Fufufu!"

**-x-**

In the kitchen, Sanji swirled a skillet over a fire as the cooks of Navarone fed yet another group of one hundred marines.

"Oh, so good!" one of the marines in the Dining Hall remarked.

"That new cook is totally awesome!" another commented.

"Amazing!" a third marine exclaimed. "It tastes even better than the guys on the morning crew said it would."

"Alright! The next one hundred are waiting!" Head Chef Jessica called out to the marines as she stood in the middle of the Dining Hall. "Hurry up and finish!"

"AYE-AYE, SIR!" the marines chorused.

Jessica turned away and scanned the Dining Hall for one specific marine. She had a special dish balanced on her hand and frowned when she couldn't find the marine she'd made the dish for.

"_Where is he?" _Jessica thought to herself. _"It's not like him to miss his lunch."_

**-x-**

Ensign Christopher stood outside the base and addressed Lieutenant Commander Drake's three Units of Marines had had been assigned to him.

"Our enemy is the Straw Hat Pirates! You must be prepared to engage them at a moment's notice! For the honor of Navarone we must capture them swiftly and without mercy!"

"Sir!" the gathered marines chorused.

"Eeek…" Usopp squeaked as he hid behind a nearby pile of wooden crates. Usopp slipped away and walked backwards away from the marines. "These marines are really fired up. I won't last long if I try to play hide and seek with these animals!"

Usopp continued to walk backwards and slipped between two laundry lines which held freshly cleaned marine uniforms.

"Subterfuge is key," Usopp mused to himself out loud. "Yeah, that's it. I gotta blend in. Ah, what have we here? Ahahahaha!"

Usopp walked out of the laundry line in a fresh white marine uniform and with a cap thrown over his curly black hair. The strap of his arsenal bag went across his chest as the bag hung at his side.

"Transformation complete!" Usopp announced as he casually walked by three marines. "Now I'll be able to…"

"Hold it!" one of the marines called out to Usopp.

Usopp whimpered and stopped in his tracks. The marine walked over and stood right behind the terrified Straw Hat Sniper.

"As a Navarone Marine you will follow the dress code to the T," the marine instructed, "Even your collar's important, sailor." The marine reached up and adjusted Usopp's collar which was sticking up. "Don't ever forget that again."

Usopp let out a sigh of relief then spun around and saluted. "My apologies, sir! I assure you, it won't happen again." Usopp dropped his hand. "By the way… could you tell me how to get to the dock where the Straw Hats' ship is? I'm new here so I'm kinda lost."

"The docks are on the lower level about six blocks down," the marine informed him.

"Thank you, sir!" Usopp replied. "I really appreciate the guidance!" Usopp turned and ran.

"Wait that dock is…" the marine tried to call after him.

"Don't worry, I'll find it!" Usopp assured him.

The marine's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Dock 88 was on lock down.

**-x-**

Ricky frowned as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall across from Zoro's cell.

"So now what?" Zoro asked. They were alone in the brig.

"The Vice Admiral ordered me to guard you and the brig," Ricky said. "But I can't locate the others if I'm stuck down here."

"By the way, your pocket's buzzing," Zoro pointed out.

Ricky reached into his pocket and pulled out the Baby Transponder Snail that he'd gotten off of Lieutenant Commander Drake.

"_**Master Chief Petty Officer Todd!" **_the marine from the last scene called from the other end. _**"We just saw a suspicious character. It's a man with a long nose. He's wearing a marine uniform and claimed he was new. But then he asked how to get to Dock 88 even though it's on lockdown. I thought I'd warn you, sir."**_

"_**We're stationed outside the dock," **_Master Chief Petty Officer Todd responded. _**"We'll keep watch for the man you mentioned."**_

"Damn it Usopp…" Ricky growled.

"What're you gonna do?" Zoro inquired.

"The Vice Admiral ordered me to make sure no one busted you out," Ricky reasoned. "So… if a Straw Hat Pirate came down here to free you… but ran away when they saw me… I'd have to chase after them. And if they happened to escape… I'd have to report what I saw to the Vice Admiral in person. Just like I did when I told him One Eye Ricky was in the infirmary."

Ricky turned and ran out of the brig. "HEY YOU! STOP! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!"

Zoro shook his head. "I guess I'm gonna have company soon."

**-x-**

"MERRY!" Usopp called out to and his beloved ship in Dock 88. "You're really okay!"

"**A fine boat," **came a voice that caused Usopp to stiffen. Mekao the old Shipwright walked up behind him. "Carvel model with lateen sail and an actual stern rudder right down the center. It's an older model but it can hold its own with the best of 'em."

"Hey, who are you?" Usopp exclaimed..

"You don't know me?" Mekao questioned. "You must be a rookie."

"Uh… yeah," Usopp admitted.

"From the looks of it she's seen her share of action," Mekao remarked as he turned back to the Going Merry. "She's covered in patches but you can tell they were done with care. Yup, this ship is truly loved."

"So you can tell that by looking at her?" Usopp asked the wacky old shipwright.

"Makes no difference to me if it's a marine ship or a pirate ship," Mekao stated. "I can tell at a glance whether a boat has gotten proper TLC."

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp giggled happily, momentarily forgetting his cover. "That means so much! Thanks old man!"

"Well, I wasn't complimenting _you_," Mekao told the rookie marine.

"No," Usopp admitted. "But I like the sound of it. Is that so wrong?"

"You're a strange one, aren't you?" Mekao noted.

"**Hold it right there!"**

Usopp stiffened in terror while Mekao turned to face Master Chief Petty Officer Todd and eight other marines.

"Oh, Chief Petty Officer Todd," Mekao greeted the officer.

"That's Master Chief Petty Officer," Todd corrected him with a small smile. "I got promoted."

"Ah, good for you!" Mekao replied. "But if you're here about the ship repairs it'll be at least another week. It seems that marines these days are under the impression that ruining perfectly good ships is their job. Thanks to that the repair schedule is completely packed."

"Quietly… quietly…" Usopp whispered as he tried to sneak away.

"I didn't come here for you, Mekao," Todd told him. "I'm here to talk to your new friend there. HEY YOU!"

"AAH!" Usopp shrieked then quickly spun around and saluted. "YES SIR?"

"What Unit are you with?" Todd asked.

"Uh… uh…"

"Did you really forget your Unit?" Todd question in disbelief.

"Um… eighteen?" Usopp guessed.

Todd smiled. "Oh, Unit 18… the Sniper Unit, right? Don't you know that this dock is on lockdown? It's off limits to anyone except maintenance personnel."

"Well… we snipers are forgetful types…" Usopp replied. "It'll never happen again! Sorry! I'll just be on my way!"

"Don't move another step!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd ordered. "ARREST HIM!"

"AAAaahhuugghhahhh…" Usopp let out a high pitched shrieked that ended up as a low gurgle when he suddenly found four swords pointed at his neck. "I just wanna get back to my unit, sir!"

"We received a report that a suspicious new recruit was seen outside," Todd informed Usopp with a wide smirk. "And Unit 18 is a Supply Unit. Not a Sniper Unit."

"That's right… my bad… I'm in a Supply Unit!" Usopp squeaked. He stretched his head upward to make his neck more narrow to avoid the pointy swords.

"STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY YOU JACKALS!" Mekao shouted at Todd. "DON'T YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE? For the Shipwrights, THIS PLACE IS HOLY! If you shed even a single drop of his blood here! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU REGRET IT!"

"I… I…" Todd stammered and stepped backwards. He was clearly shaken by Mekao's anger. "Right… um… we'll take him to Vice Admiral Jonathan… lower your swords…"

"Yes sir," the marines replied.

"Thanks old man…" Usopp whispered to Mekao as he was dragged off. "You saved my skin."

**-x-**

**Second Member Captured**

**-x-**

Ricky made his way up through the base towards Vice Admiral Jonathan's office. He stopped when he saw a tall woman in a purple shirt and marine officer's coat being escorted in the same direction by a marine. Ricky immediately recognized the woman's dark blue almost black hair.

"_Robin."_

"What's going on here, recruit?" Chief Petty Officer Natsu called out to the marine.

The marine and Robin turned to face him.

"Chief Petty Officer, Natsu, sir," the marine saluted. "This is Commander Shepherd an Inspector from Marine Headquarters. She requested that it take her to Vice Admiral Jonathan."

"I'll escort her the rest of the way," Natsu volunteered. "I need to tell the Vice Admiral about the Straw Hat Pirate that I just chased away from the brig. In the meantime, I need you to go back down there and guard the brig. Make sure Roronoa Zoro doesn't escape."

"Yes sir," the marine replied. He turned and ran off.

"Inspector," Ricky greeted Robin.

"Officer," Robin responded to Ricky. "I hear you're in a State of Emergency."

"The _seven _Straw Hat Pirates have invaded out base," Ricky explained. "I captured Roronoa Zoro and got promoted for it. We secured their ship in Dock 88 and it sounds like they just captured a man with a long nose that snuck in to see it. Their doctor 'One Eye' Ricky is in the Infirmary operating on injured marines with an unidentified nurse. Vice Admiral Jonathan has confiscated the Straw Hats' treasure and hidden them somewhere on the base so they can't leave. So far there's been no sign of their skilled cook or Straw Hat Luffy. However, the men have said good things about a pair of new cooks that arrived from Mariejois so I'm going to make a point to investigate the Dining Hall soon."

"My, you're certainly in character, Mr. One Eye," Robin remarked, "and you seem to have things well in hand."

"I'm operating right under the Vice Admiral's nose," Ricky told her. "I can't afford to slip up. Neither can you. He knows there's a skilled historian on our crew. I'm going to tell him that I chased a pirate away from the brig but he'll still be searching for a seventh Straw Hat. If you're going to use your cover as an inspector to search for a way out of this base, don't head straight for the archives in the library. That will make him suspicious."

"I'll take my time getting there then," Robin resolved. "I'll also make a point to find a storage room where they could have stored the treasure. Here… Oreja Fleur." Ricky felt an ear grow out of the top of his head under his marine cap. "This way we can keep in touch while in cover."

"Right," Ricky said, "Vice Admiral Jonathan's office is this way, Commander."

Chief Petty Officer Natsu headed for Jonathan's office and Commander Shepherd from the Inspection Division fell into step behind him.

**-x-**

Usopp had been brought to Vice Admiral Jonathan's office by Master Chief Petty Officer Todd. He was on his knees in front of the Vice Admiral's desk while two marines held his arms. Twenty more marines stood behind him to prevent escape.

"Is this him?" Jonathan inquired.

"Yes, Vice Admiral," Todd confirmed. "The suspect insists that he's a marine. But he we caught him in Dock 88 where the Straw Hats' ship is on lockdown. I think he's one of the Straw Hats."

Jonathan walked around his desk and stood directly in front of Usopp then stared down at him.

"You there, what's your name?" Jonathan asked.

"…" Usopp didn't respond. He was terrified. There was a puddle of sweat around his knees.

"What's your name?" Jonathan repeated.

"Uh…it's… classified…" Usopp squeaked.

"And your Unit?" Jonathan questioned.

"It's classified…" Usopp answered.

"Why did you go to the dock where the pirate ship was impounded?" Jonathan persisted.

"It's classified…" Usopp said again.

"It's classified…" Vice Admiral Jonathan repeated Usopp's only response.

"Uh-huh…" Usopp weakly replied.

"I don't think he's a marine at all, sir," Master Chief Petty Officer Todd insisted. "I think he's a Straw Hat Pirate. Let's throw him in the brig with Zoro."'

"Hold on, officer," Jonathan instructed. "Come to think of it, I heard that a special inspector was supposed to arrive this morning."

"What?" Todd sputtered.

"A special inspector?" Usopp whispered to himself. That was perfect.

"Vice Admiral…" Todd protested.

"If he is an inspector then its only natural that he wouldn't be able to reveal his name or what unit he's attached to," Jonathan explained.

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp laughed. "So you figured it out."

"Huh?" Todd gasped in surprise.

"You should be proud of yourself Vice Admiral," Usopp remarked. "I am the Special Inspector from Marine HQ. But you can call me… INSPECTOR USOPP!"

Usopp shot to his feet while Todd stared at him in surprise. "Is there any illegal activity in G-8?" Usopp barked. "Are all military rules and regulations being followed? How is the moral for the troops on the base? In order to answer these questions, I infiltrated this base as a grunt. And there you have it!"

"We're sorry Inspector Usopp!" the twenty marines chorused as they saluted behind Usopp.

"If he's really a Special Inspector… that means he's a higher rank than I am!" Todd realized. He darted forward and shook Usopp's hand. "I'm sorry for earlier, Inspector."

"That's alright, officer," Usopp reassured him. "You were just doing your duty. You managed to catch me so that's a good sign."

"I'm sorry for the confusion, Inspector," Jonathan chimed in. "I was just about to send someone down to greet you. Please, accept my apologies."

"Of course, Vice Admiral!" Usopp exclaimed. "Everyone makes mistakes!"

**Knock! Knock! **The door opened and Chief Petty Officer Natsu entered.

"Vice Admiral," Natsu addressed Jonathan. "Special Inspector Commander Shepherd has just arrived from Marine Headquarters and is requesting a meeting."

"GAH!" Usopp stared in shock at Ricky. Then his eyes bugged out as Robin entered dressed as a marine officer.

"Vice Admiral," Robin greeted Jonathan. "Please to make your acquaintance. Your officer here informed me that you were in a state of emergency so I thought it best to reveal myself in order to avoid confusion."

"Who's that?" Ricky asked as he pointed at Usopp.

"This man claims to be a marine inspector too!" Todd exclaimed as he glared at Usopp.

"_Looks like Ricky and Robin got disguises too," _Usopp realized. He quickly called out. "Oh! Hey there fellow inspector! Fancy meeting you here? You know me, right? I'm from your division. It's me, Inspector Usopp, remember? Did you forget me because you've been traveling so much?"

Todd stared from Usopp to Robin and looked utterly bewildered.

"Commander Shepherd, do you know this man?" Vice Admiral Jonathan inquired.

"No sir, I do not," Commander Shepherd answered.

"AAAAH!" Usopp shrieked. "HEY LOOK AT THAT!" He turned to run out of the room but Ricky stuck out his leg and tripped him. **WHUMP! **Usopp fell on his face and Ricky dropped down and sat on his back.

"Vice Admiral, I have reason to believe that this inspector impersonator is a Straw Hat Pirate," Natsu announced.

"Oh really?" Jonathan inquired. "Why's that?"

"Look at 'Straw Hat' Luffy's Wanted Poster, sir," Natsu instructed. "You'll see a man in the bottom left corner."

Jonathan went to his desk and pulled out Luffy's wanted poster. Natsu pulled Usopp up off of the floor and removed his marine cap. Jonathan clanked down at the back of Usopp's head in the poster then at the back of the real Usopp's head.

"You're right," Jonathan realized. "That man is a Straw Hat Pirate."

"I KNEW IT!" Todd shouted.

"Master Chief Petty Officer, take that pirate into custody," Jonathan instructed. "Then bring him down to the brig."

"AAAAHH! AAAAAAH!" Usopp shrieked over and over again as he was dragged kicking and screaming out of the office by Todd and eight other marines.

The office doors closed and Jonathan was left with Robin, Ricky and twelve other marines.

"Good eye, son," Jonathan praised Natsu. "Now search the other inspector."

"What?" Ricky and Robin asked at the same time.

"That fake inspector was a pirate in disguise," Jonathan pointed out. "Search that inspector to ensure that she's the real one."

Ricky looked over at Robin. "Well um… did anyone tell you anything about the inspector that was coming today?"

"No," Jonathan admitted. "I just received word that a Special Inspector would arrive today."

"Well, according to Mass Effect, Commander Shepard can be a man or a woman," Ricky noted.

"What?" Jonathan asked in confusion.

"I'll start searching," Ricky said and quickly changed the subject. Ricky turned to Robin and awkwardly patted down her sides. Robin stood there and stared silently at him. "Ah-ha!" Ricky's hand flash into Robin's coat and he pulled out the ID card that she'd taken off of the real Inspector Shepherd.

"She's legit, she's got ID," Natsu announced as he looked up at Robin and then down at the picture on the ID. Natsu turned and showed the ID to Vice Admiral Jonathan with his finger conveniently covering the real Inspector Shepherd's face. "Command Shepherd from the Marine Inspection Division."

"In that case, I apologize for the inconvenience, Commander," Jonathan stated.

"That's alright, Vice Admiral," Commander Shepherd replied, "In a state of emergency you were right to be cautious. Rest assured, your actions as well as the actions of your two officers that were involved in exposing and capturing that impersonator will be featured in my report when it return to Headquarters."

"Very good," Jonathan said. "And please let them know that I plan to file the paperwork to have Chief Petty Officer Natsu and Master Chief Petty Officer Todd promoted to the rank of Ensign as Commissioned Officers."

Natsu's visible eye widened in surprise. "Really, sir?"

Jonathan nodded, "These two have be instrumental in locating and capturing the Straw Hat Pirates that have invaded our base. I want their efforts today to be rewarded."

"I'll be sure to pass on the good news to Todd, sir," Natsu said. "But speaking of which, the reason why I abandoned my post in the brig was because I identified another Straw Hat Pirate."

"Really?" Jonathan questioned. He glanced at Commander Shepherd, "Commander, I hope you don't mind if I get to the bottom of this first."

"By all means, Vice Admiral," Shepherd agreed. "I'm here to inspect the base. That includes how you perform your duties as the commanding officer."

Jonathan nodded and turned back to Natsu, "Tell me everything."

"Well, I was guarding Roronoa Zoro down in the brig," Natsu recounted. "He taunted me about my eye. So I told him that his doctor was the one to treat me and that we have him under close surveillance in the infirmary. But then this strange man in a marine uniform came in. He was a good foot taller than me and had blue hair so he kind of stood out. I asked for his name and rank but he turned and ran. I assumed he had come to break out Zoro so I chased after him. He ran out onto a balcony and dove into the water. I'm afraid I lost him, sir. I decided to come up here and give you my report in person. I made a point to send any marines that I came across down to the brig to guard it in my place."

"Interesting," Jonathan remarked. "So this blue-haired would-be escape artist is our fourth identified Straw Hat Pirate." Jonathan addressed the twelve marines across his desk from him. "You six, go join Master Chief Petty Officer Todd down in the brig. Inform him and all the other guards of the pirate that Chief Petty Officer Natsu described."

"If it helps sir, he had… a star tattoo on his arm," Natsu added.

"There you have it, men," Jonathan resolved, "Keep your eyes peeled for a tall, blue haired man with a star tattoo."

"Yes sir!" six of the marines replied before they left the office.

Jonathan sat down at his desk and removed the black King-side Knight represented Usopp. "We've captured our second Straw Hat and identified a third. We also have One Eye Ricky under surveillance confined to the Infirmary. But we still need to locate Straw Hat Luffy."

"If you don't mind me suggesting sir," Natsu spoke up. "But the men keep talking about the great food that's being made by those two new cooks. The Dining Hall is one place that we really haven't checked."

"You're right," Jonathan agreed. "The kitchen is the perfect place for a skilled cook to hide." Jonathan turned to Inspector Shepherd. "Would you care to join us for lunch, Inspector?"

"No sir," Shepherd answered. "I can see that you are running things appropriately and have this pirate matter well in hand. I believe I should continue my inspection of the base itself. I understand that you have been downsized recently. I need to ensure that the space that you are using is being used adequately and is up to code."

"Of course," Jonathan agreed. "But I wouldn't want you to be harmed in the chance that you run into one of them while you're preforming your duty." Jonathan pointed at two of the marines. "You two, please provide Commander Shepherd with an escort as she continues her inspection."

"Yes, sir," the two marines replied.

"Vice Admiral, Officer," Commander Shepherd nodded to the two officers before she and her two marine escorts left the office.

"By the way Natsu," Vice Admiral Jonathan motioned to the four remaining marines. "Say hello to your new unit. You seem to be very lucky when it comes to encountering these Straw Hats. Things would work out better for you if you had some men under you command."

Ricky grinned as he eyed the four marines that were under his command. "Alright boys, what is Rule 2 of the Navarone Credo?"

"Rule 2: Never leave any food behind on your plate, sir!" the four marines chorused.

"Exactly," Natsu replied. "That's why we're going there to investigate. Not to eat. If we find one of the Straw Hats we need to able to respond immediately. And if we're there to perform work we don't be violating Rule 3… which is?"

"Never discuss work in the Dining Hall, sir!" the marines answered.

"Good thinking Chief Petty Officer Natsu," Vice Admiral Jonathan noted. "I can see that command suits you. I, however, will be eating at the Dining Hall. I postponed my lunch when Lieutenant Commander Drake went missing and Jessica will be very upset if I miss it."

"Of course, sir," Natsu agreed. "Leave it to us, sir."

**-x-**

"And what is this room here?" Inspector Shepherd inquired as she pulled open a door.

"That's a closet, Commander," one of her marine escorts told her.

"…" Robin stared silently into a broom closet. "So it is." She turned to her two-man escort team. "Tell me, where would I find a map of this base?"

"Well… we keep maps in the archives in the library, Commander," the other marine replied.

"Then take me to it," Shepherd instructed. "I need to know what I'm looking at before I can decide if it is up to the proper standards. I would like to keep from confusing important rooms for broom closets."

"Of course, inspector," the first marine agreed. They turned and led Robin towards the library.

**-x-**

"Stupid Ricky, stupid Robin…" Usopp complained as he sat next to Zoro in the brig with his hands cuffed behind his back. His arsenal and his marine uniform had been confiscated which left him in his usual brown overalls.

Zoro glanced down the hallway of the brig and noted that the marines were all busy having a discussion about some blue-haired guy.

"Do they suddenly hate me now?" Usopp raged. "They straight up stabbed me in the back! That's messed up! If they went along with my plan we'd have the Merry back by now!"

"You should be grateful of Robin," Zoro told Usopp.

"Grateful? Why?" Usopp demanded. "Why should I be grateful to her?"

"Because it means you're with me now," Zoro explained. "Ricky told me his plan. He said the only way we're getting out of here is if we do it together. Ricky and Robin are going to find us a way out. Once the others arrive, we'll break out and escape together."

"I see…" Usopp said. His anger at being betrayed forgotten. "And they knew I'd be safer here with you. She was actually thinking of my wellbeing."

**CHIK-CHUCK! **Usopp looked up to find that the marines had broken up their meeting and saw that there was now an entire squad of gunmen standing outside the cell with the barrels of their rifles aimed at them through the bars.

"Don't move a muscle!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd warned the two pirates.

"But still…" Usopp whimpered. "This place doesn't seem all that safe…"

**-x-**

"Alright men!" Ricky addressed his newly appointed unit of four marines as they made their way to the Dining Hall with Vice Admiral Jonathan. He had a cannon-like gun strapped on his back. "Let's hear it the way we do it in Unit 55! With fiery spirit! I don't know but I've been told!"

"BEING A MARINE WILL NEVER GET OLD!"

"G-8's gonna keep things right!"

"IF YOU DON'T LISTEN WE'LL USE OUR MIGHT!"

"If they're dumb enough to come near!"

"BAD GUYS ALWAYS RUN IN FEAR!"

Vice Admiral Jonathan smiled to himself as he led the way to the Dining Hall.

"_We've captured the ship and two crewmates," _Jonathan mused to himself. _"We've also identified two others, one of which is confined in the Infirmary. Two celebrity chefs from Mariejois were supposed to arrive today… Jessica's been complaining about them for days. However, I've heard nothing but good things about these two. They could be our fifth and sixth member of the Straw Hat Pirates…and odds are… one of them could be Straw Hat Luffy. And then of course... there's the seventh member... what are you going to do?"_

**-x-**

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	38. The Brig

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** Ricky has enlisted Robin's help in locating and recovering the disclaimer. I'm sure they'll have it in no time.

**The Brig:**

**-x-**

"Listen up, men!" Ensign Christopher addressed his gathered units of marines outside the base. "Among the Straw Hats that have been captured, one was impersonating a Marine Officer. So if we're going to capture any of those pirates, do not worry about reports or paperwork! If you see an unidentified person, ARREST HIM IMMEDIATELY! DON'T LET THOSE BRATS GET AWAY!"

"SIR!" the marines chorused.

**-x-**

At Dock 88, Mekao surveyed some of Usopp's patchwork on the mast of the Going Merry.

**Tink! Tink! **Mekao tapped the metal plate with his hammer.

"Did you hear?" one of the other shipwrights asked two others down on the dock. "That long nosed guy that was snooping around here was a crew member of the Straw Hats."

"…" Mekao stayed silent as he moved around the mast and tapped it again. **Tink! Tink!**

"I wonder what he was doing nosing around this dock," the other shipwright remarked.

"Yeah," one of the other shipwrights replied, "There's an entire harbor full of ships that are way better than this sad little hunk of junk."

Mekao continued his work. **Tink! Tink!**

"He could have hopped in any of these ships and sailed away."

**Tink! Tink!**

"Pirates are dumber than I thought."

"Me too. And I already thought they were pretty dumb to begin with."

**Tunk! Tunk! **Mekao frowned at the different - almost hallow - sound as he tapped on the mast again.

Without a word, the old shipwright left the Going Merry and climbed down the metal stairs that they had going alongside it.

"Hey, Mekao," one of the other shipwrights called out to the old man. "You already calling it quits for the day?"

"Cut this old geezer some slack, will ya?" Mekao replied as he walked out of Dock 88.

"Did he say 'geezer'?" the shipwright asked the others in surprise.

"We must have heard wrong," one of the other said before they all laughed. "Hahahaha!"

**-x-**

A marine hummed to himself as he pushed a cart of wooden crates down a hallway into the base.

**Klunk! **The cart jerked to a stop when it hit something. The stack of crates fell off of the cart and dropped onto the obstruction. **KRASH! **

"Aah!" the marine yelped in surprise as he stared around the cart at the body of the real Commander Shepherd. Of course, since he had no coat or identification and was stripped down to a purple undershirt, he just looked like a suspicious man.

The marine turned and ran off.

"Uugghh…" Commander Shepherd groaned as he finally woke up. He opened his eyes and pushed the crates off of him as he sat up. He gingerly held his arm that Robin had brutally twisted before she'd knocked him out on the metal wall.

**CLICK! **"What the—" Commander Shepherd sputtered as he suddenly found himself face-to-face with the barrel of a rifle.

"Don't move!" a marine barked as he and four other stood around Shepherd and aimed their guns at him.

"Good work, men," Ensign Christopher addressed the marines as he joined them in the hallway. "Looks we've found one of the Straw Hat's this time!"

"Straw Hat?" Shepherd repeated. "I'm Special Inspector Commander Shepherd! I demand that you take me to your commanding officer so I can have you court-martialed!"

"Well, I certainly don't want to be court-martialed,_ Shepherd_," Christopher remarked. "And I'll have you know, that Special Inspector Shepherd has already checked in with Vice Admiral Jonathan. From where I'm standing, you're an imposter. Take him to the brig, men! This'll show the Vice Admiral that I can keep up with those two upstarts!"

"WHAT! NO!" Shepherd protested as the five marines grabbed him and carried him away.

**-x-**

Robin stood behind one of her marine escorts in the Navarone Library and archives. The marine pulled a book off of the shelf in front him and handed it back to the Special Inspector.

"Here," he told her. "This book should have a map of the base in it."

"Very good," Robin replied as she pried the book opened and paged through it until she came to a large map of the base that spanned across two whole pages. "This will do. Let's continue with the inspection."

The two marine escorts led Robin out of the library as she continued to survey the map.

"_It appears that there's only one way out of this base…" _She thought to herself as she stared at the gateway out of Navarone that was depicted on the map.

**-x-**

Down in the brig, Master Chief Petty Officer Todd stuffed Shepherd into the cell with Zoro and Usopp and slammed the door. **KLANK!**

Ensign Christopher stood behind Todd with a mini-Transponder Snail.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Shepherd yelled at the two officers. "DO YOU IDIOTS KNOW WHO I AM?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're Special Inspector Commander Shepherd from HQ," Todd retorted. "You already said it three times since you walked in."

"IF YOU VALUE YOUR JOB, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Commander Shepherd yelled. "I HAVE TO SPEAK TO VICE ADMIRAL JONATHAN IMMEDIATELY!"

"_Commander Shepherd…" _Usopp thought to himself as listened to the new arrival yell at the marines outside the cell. _"This must be the Marine big-wig that Robin was pretending to be. Those guards think he's one of us. In that case…" _Usopp smirked. Time to lie.

"That's enough, you're embarrassing yourself!" Usopp called out to Shepherd. "A man's gotta know when he's done for. Struggling will only make it worse. Good to see ya, Condoriano."

"C-Condoriano?" Shepherd repeated. "Who is that? What are you talking about?"

Usopp smirked as he walked over to Shepherd, "Hey now, stopping kidding around old buddy, old pal," Usopp said as he annoyingly poked the side of Shepherd's face with his long nose. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your own name and my beautiful face!"

"GET AWAY!" Shepherd shouted as he shot to his feet and knocked Usopp away from him. "I'M NOT YOUR BUDDY!" He turned and yelled at Todd and Christopher who were both watching silently. "OFFICERS! I DON'T KNOW THESE MEN!"

Usopp pushed himself back up, "What… happened to you?" he asked. "Did the fall damage your fragile brain? Oh no! Say it ain't so! How-how sad!" Usopp stood up and addressed the marine officers outside the cell. "I'm begging you! Please let this wretch with the broken mind out of here! He's not the same Condoriano that I once knew!"

"Well… that settles it," Todd reasoned. "I guess there's no point in interrogating him."

"Wha-what do you mean that settles it?" Shepherd sputtered.

"We've got to report this to Vice Admiral Jonathan, _Condoriano_," Christopher announced.

"Wait-what!" Shepherd exclaimed. "GET ME OUT OF HERE! I'LL HAVE YOU ALL COURT-MARTIALED!"

"Hey Condoriano!"

Shepherd turned and found himself facing Zoro. The swordsman suddenly lunged forward and smashed his hard head into Shepherd for a vicious headbutt. **WONK! **Shepherd was knocked backwards into the cell bars. **WHAM!**

"Con… doriano…" the inspector mumbled and he dropped to the floor unconscious. **FWUMP!**

"I think we've had just about enough of that crap," Zoro resolved.

"Nice move, Zoro!" Usopp praised him. Usopp turned away from the marines and laughed to himself. _"Ahahahaha! It worked! Ricky and Robin owe me big time!"_

"Stop it Usopp," Zoro instructed, "That face is creeping me out."

"Vice Admiral," Ensign Christopher spoke into his mini transponder snail. "We've captured another one of the Straw Hats. He claimed he was Special Inspector Shepherd but the two in the cell recognized him and called him 'Condoriano'."

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan stopped in his tracks and listened to his Transponder Snail.

"_**Vice Admiral, we've captured another one of the Straw Hats. He claimed he was Special Inspector Shepherd but the two in the cell recognized him and called him 'Condoriano'."**_

"_Condoriano?" _Ricky repeated as he stood nearby in his Chief Petty Officer Natsu disguise.

"Very good Ensign," Jonathan replied. "Stay in the brig and use your units to guard those three. We've captured three Straw Hats, located a fourth in the brig, identified a fifth that is still at large and I believe we're closing in on the final two…"

"_**Yes sir," **_Christopher replied on the other end of the snail.

"_Thanks guys," _Ricky thought to himself, _"Now he thinks he has all seven of us accounted for."_

"_There are two Commander Shepherds?" _Vice Admiral Jonathan thought to himself before he turned to Petty Officer Natsu and the other four marines. "Well men, looks like we've captured another Straw Hat. Let's see if we can continue our good fortune in the dining hall."

Vice Admiral Jonathan put his snail away in his coat and continued the trek down the hallway to the green double doors of the dining hall.

"Um, sir, if you don't mind me asking," Ricky spoke up. "I heard a rumor about you and was wondering if it was true…"

"Oh, what's that?" Jonathan inquired.

"Some of the men were staying that you're Admiral Akainu's protégé," Ricky said.

"That's true," Jonathan confirmed.

"Really?" Ricky questioned. "It's just… I've heard about Akainu's reputation and his dedication to Absolute Justice. You don't seem to have that in common with him, sir."

"That's how most people see Admiral Akainu," Jonathan admitted. "A vicious hell hound that's hell-bent on Absolute Justice. But when they look at him that way, they often overlook that fact that he's a skilled strategist. Akainu saw that I had the same gift for strategy and took me on as his apprentice. We exchange weekly letters where he asks me for my take on some of the situations he's been encountering. I'll be sure to mention you in next week's letter, Natsu."

"Oh gee… thanks…" Ricky replied. The last thing he wanted was to gain Akainu's attention.

**-x-**

Ensign Christopher, Master Chief Petty Officer Todd and the other marines that were guarding Zoro, Usopp and 'Condoriano' in the brig tensed when they heard the door opening. **Kreeek!**

**Tmp-tmp… tmp-tmp… **Foot falls echoed through the brig as someone came down the steps.

A figure in a jump suit with wild hair appeared at the end of the hallway.

**Whish! **Ensign Christopher waved his hand.

**SHINK! **"WAAAAHH!" Mekao yelled in alarm as he suddenly found himself surrounded by marines with sharp swords pointed at him. He old shipwright stuck his arms up in the air.

"Mekao?" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd questioned. "What's he doing here?"

"Huh? You mean that guy from the docks?" Ensign Christopher questioned.

Todd approached Mekao, "What're you doing down here, old man?" he inquired.

"I came down here to ask a question, that's all!" Mekao insisted. "There's no need for those swords! Put 'em away!"

"What's your question?" Ensign Christopher prompted.

"It's not for you," Mekao told him. "I need to talk to long nose in that cell over there."

"What? You can't just walk in here and start talking to the prisoner!" Christopher protested.

"Sir," Todd whispered. "What if we let him? If they're talking honestly we might be able to get better information than we would with an interrogation."

"Hmm…" Christopher grunted, "Very well. I'll give my approval. You can-GAH!" He yelped in surprise when he realized that Mekao hadn't waited for permission and had walked right passed him to the cell.

Mekao sat down in front of the cell and greeted Usopp, "Hey!"

"You're that guy from…" Usopp realized. "Did anything happen to the Merry? Is she alright?"

"Don't worry," Mekao reassured him. "She's in good hands for the time being. I promise. Your ship is okay."

"Ah, what a relief," Usopp sighed.

"You're the one that does the repairs on that ship, right?" Mekao questioned.

"Huh… yeah… well… sort of," Usopp answered.

"You've gotta do something about those mast plates," Mekao told him. "If you nail steel plates down without applying a proper splice the mast will snap like a twig at the first sign of a strong wind."

"A splice?" Usopp repeated in confusion.

"You don't know what a splice is?" Mekao asked.

"Actually… I have to admit, I'm not really a bonafide shipwright," Usopp confessed. He thought back to the 'ghost' that he'd seen repairing the ship on Sky Island. "The one who fixed the ship is uh…"

"Did he do all the repairs in just one night?" Mekao inquired.

"Yeah, it happened in a place called Sky Island," Usopp explained. "Its miles and miles above the ocean."

"Hm, miles above the ocean?" Mekao questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, it's okay if you don't belive me," Usopp replied. "I mean, who would?"

"Hm, well, come to think of it, your ship did fall out of the sky, didn't it," Mekao reasoned.

"You mean you're not gonna call me a liar?"

"I might have thought you were pulling my leg if I didn't see it with my own eyes," Mekao said. "But considering the angle that it came down, it looks like your ship fell from a considerable height."

"It was crazy!" Usopp gushed. "There were Gods, priests and angels! We saw things up there I never even dreamed of!"

"Gods and angels?" Mekao repeated with a chuckle. "Aheh heh. Sounds to me like you died and came back to life."

"Well there were close calls," Usopp admitted, "But I don't think I actually died."

The two laughed together while Ensign Christopher glanced at his watch in irritation. "They're talking nonsense now…"

"Alright, about what you were saying earlier," Mekao resolved. "Think back to the night that the mystery man repaired your ship. Tell me, did he appear from the mist late in the night?"

"Yeah, he did," Usopp confirmed. "How in the world did you know that? Hold on-Do you know who this guy is?"

"I think I know what you saw that night," Mekao told him.

But that was when two marines came over and grabbed Mekao's arms so they could pull him up to his feet.

"Huh? Hey! What's going on?" Mekao protested.

"Enough of your nonsense," Ensign Christopher announced. "Time's up, old man. I've got prisoners to guard. Show him the way out."

"Yes sir," the two marines agreed as the mostly carried Mekao away from the cell.

"No! Stop!" Mekao complained.

"WAIT!" Usopp called after him. "Mekao! Told me what it was that I saw that night! Please! Tell me!"

"I didn't get a chance to tell you the most important thing of all!" Mekao said as he was carried towards the stairs. "When you make repairs to the ship, always pay special attention to the parts that you normally wouldn't bother with. Those are the areas that need it most. If you treasure that ship half as much as I think you do, you'll do well never to forget that! Did ya get all that?"

The two marines had reached the end of the hallway and now were carrying Mekao up the stairs and out of sight.

"Yeah! I got it old man!" Usopp answered. "And I'll always remember that!"

"Hmph," Ensign Christopher grunted as he surveyed Usopp, the silent Zoro and the still unconscious Condoriano.

**-x-**

The two marines pushed Mekao through the outside doorway to the brig.

"Aheh heh…" Mekao chuckled to himself as he made his way down the metal stairs.

**-x-**

"Here you go," Head Chef Jessica announced as she pulled the lid off of a plate that was piled high with vegetables and a little bit of meat.

Vice Admiral Jonathan had finally made it to the dining hall and was seated in his personal dining room. He looked dubiously down at the veggie-filled plate.

"Uh… Jessica…" Jonathan said, "This is the same dish you always prepare for me… isn't it?"

"It sure is," Jessica replied. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, my men keep carrying on about the food prepared by the new cooks from Mariejois," Jonathan explained. "Don't get me wrong. I love your cooking. But I'd really like to try something from these new guys."

Jessica leaned on the other side of the desk and smiled at him, "Are you saying you don't like it? The Head Chef herself personally took the time to prepare a meal for you and you don't like it? Would you rather eat the same food as the grunts? I'll have you know that this meal was made with love and care just for you."

"I really appreciate the love and care in my meal," Jonathan assured her, "But I don't so much like the broccoli and carrots."

Jessica smirked. "Have you forgotten our base's credo?"

"No, I'm eating! I'm eating!" Jonathan insisted as he speared a carrot and quickly ate it. "See? It's good! Mmmmm!"

"I'm so glad you like it," Jessica said, "But I'll tell you what. If you finish all your vegetables, I'll get you a plate from the other cook too," Jessica leaned across the table and pecked her husband on the cheek then pulled back and sauntered out of the personal dining room.

"…" Ricky stood awkwardly beside the door. His face was bright red.

Jonathan looked up and saw the flustered marine, "Say Natsu, how do you feel about broccoli?"

"Uh sorry sir," Natsu apologized. "But I came here to investigate… not to eat. I'm afraid you'll have to eat your own vegetables."

"Oh bother," Jonathan muttered as he turned his attention back to his plate.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking sir," Ricky spoke up, "If you don't like vegetables… why do you put up with that?"

"Well, when you love a woman, these are the types of sacrifices you make to keep her happy," Jonathan explained.

"But… what if she doesn't seem to appreciate the sacrifice you're making?" Ricky inquired.

Jonathan's eyes narrowed, "I thought you said you weren't married, Natsu?"

"Oh, I'm not, sir," Ricky quickly assured him. "There is… was… this girl back home. I broke up with her… to protect her. She doesn't seem to understand that. There are monsters out there. I broke up with her to keep her safe. But… she was still hurt… and I don't know if she'll ever forgive me for it."

"Well, you need to remember why you're doing what you're doing," Jonathan told him. "You didn't leave her so she would acknowledge the sacrifice you're making for her. I don't eat these plates full of broccoli and carrots so Jessica will acknowledge it, I do it because I care about her. You didn't leave her so she would acknowledge your sacrifice. You left because you wanted to protect her because you care about her. And you know what? The reason that she's so upset is because of how much she cares about you. So as long as you still care about each other and your feelings for each other don't diminish, there's still hope. You still have a chance."

"I… thank you, sir," Ricky replied. "You've given me a lot to think about. Enjoy your meal. I'll begin my investigation of the dining hall." With that, Chief Petty Officer Natsu spun to the side and slipped through the double doors out of Jonathan's personal dining room.

"Hmm…" Jonathan mused to himself as he continued to eat his lunch, "He's a good kid."

**-x-**

**Showdown in the Dining Hall**

**-x-**

"Whoa! It's like a buffet of deliciousness!" Luffy exclaimed as she shoveled food into his mouth from the table filled with plates of dishes that were meant for the marines outside the kitchen. "Keep up the good work guys! You're doing great!"

While Luffy continued to eat most of the marine's food, Sanji continued cooking it as he stood in front of a stove with Shinpachi.

"What's up with that other guy?" the marine cook wondered. "He's just been inhaling the food non-stop."

"Don't mind him," Sanji replied, "His job is taste testing."

"It doesn't look to me like he's tasting anything," Shinpachi stated as he looked back and watched Luffy indiscriminately stuff handfuls of food into his mouth. "And he sure isn't a good cook…" Shinpachi turned back to Sanji and smiled. "You, on the other hand, are a clear master! A true talent! And you're getting very popular among the troops."

"Hey, thank you," Sanji said. "I'll be sure to write down some of my recipes."

Sanji and Shinpachi were jolted out of their conversation when Jessica walked over.

"I have an order for Table 8," Jessica called out, "And make it snappy."

"Aye-aye, SIR!" Sanji swooned he put on a burst of speed and readied a special dish for Jessica. "For a woman that strong and beautiful I'd go through any culinary torture to make her happy!" A moment later, Sanji spun around and presented Jessica with a plate of meatballs. "Done!"

"SO FAST!" the Navarone cooks gasped.

"HEY! LOOKS GOOD!" Luffy shouted from the back of the group. He slipped through the assembled chefs and was standing in front of Sanji a second later. He eagerly eyed Sanji's dish. "I'll be happy to take that for you!"

"HOLD IT!" Jessica snapped at him. "If you touch any of that, you'll be eating the rest of your meals in the brig!"

"Yeah, yeah, no problem!" Luffy reassured her before he took the plate and ran off with it.

"Did he hear anything I just said?" Jessica wondered.

Sanji leaned over to Shinpachi, "Who is this guy at Table 8?" he inquired quietly. "Jessica sure seems concerned about what he's eating."

"She's always pretty wound up," Shinpachi replied with a knowing smirk, "But it gets even worse when I comes to her husband's food."

"Wait! My sweet Jessica's a married woman?" Sanji asked in alarm.

Jessica turned to them, "No time for chitchatting! Get back to work!"

"Her husband is definitely the luckiest guy in Navarone," Sanji grumbled in annoyance. "Maybe even the world."

"She's married to Vice Admiral Jonathan," Shinpachi told him, "The commander of his base."

"Ah! He's the commander?" Sanji sputtered. He'd just made a dish for Vice Admiral Jonathan. And Luffy had just run off to deliver it. _"WAIT! LUFFY!"_

**-x-**

Ricky sweat-dropped out in the dining hall as he watched a very familiar waiter run through the double doors to Vice Admiral Jonathan's private dining room.

"That… idiot…" Ricky muttered. He shook his head then pulled his gun off of his shoulder and headed for the double doors. "Guess that means I'll have to clean up the mess."

**-x-**

Luffy smiled widely as he set the plate of meatballs on the table in front of the Vice Admiral.

Vice Admiral Jonathan idly noted that the big goofy smiled on the 'chef's' face perfectly matched the big goofy grin that was worn by Monkey D. Luffy on his Wanted Poster.

"Eat up!" Luffy encouraged Jonathan.

"Thank you," Jonathan replied. "You're dismissed."

"Right, aye-aye, sir," Luffy said. He scrambled backwards to the doors but didn't actually leave.

Jonathan speared one of the meatballs with a fork and put it in his mouth.

"Mmmm… outstanding," Jonathan remarked. "It's everything they said it was." Jonathan smiled as he speared another meatball and quickly ate it. "It's surpassed all my expectations."

"Mmm, mine too," Luffy agreed as he chewed his own meatballs by the door.

**Tink! **Jonathan brought his fork down to pierce another meatball but came up empty.

Jonathan looked down at his plate and saw that over half of the meatballs were now gone. He'd only eaten two. Jonathan glared across the room and watched the chef with the oddly shaped hat chew some food by the door.

Jonathan turned back to his plate and went to get another meatball. **Swish! **The meatball was snatched off of his plate before he could get it. Jonathan went for another meatball. **Swish! **That one too was whisked right out from under his form.

Jonathan looked up and once again glared at the chef as he ate his meatballs from the other side of the room.

There were now four meatballs left on the plate. Three were close to the edge facing Jonathan while the fourth was in the middle.

**Swish! Shunk! **Jonathan stabbed the middle meatball and pinned it to the plate just as a hand reached out to grab it. Jonathan looked up and saw that the annoying chef's arm had stretched.

"HEY! I JUST WANT A MEATBALL YOU SELFISH JERK!" Luffy shouted with his mouth still filled with the meatballs he'd stolen off of Jonathan's plate.

"I see you finally decided to show your face, 'Straw Hat' Luffy," Jonathan greeted the pirate.

Jonathan pulled his fork up and Luffy's arm snapped back to him so fast that he punched himself in the face and ended up on the floor. **POW!**

"Mmm…" Luffy set up and happily chewed the meatball he'd just slammed into his mouth.

**-x-**

Sanji rushed out of the kitchen but skidded to a stop when he saw a marine leaned against the wall beside the double doors to the Vice Admiral's personal dining room.

The marine looked up at Sanji and the cook instantly recognized him by his dark, slanted eye and his pointed face.

"_Ricky,"_ Sanji realized.

Ricky-the-marine raised his hand and snapped his fingers. **Snap! **Four marines ran in front of the exit to the dining hall and aimed their guns at Sanji.

"_What the hell are you doing?"_ Sanji wondered.

"YOU'RE UNDER ARREST, PIRATE SCUM!" Ricky yelled loud enough to gain the attention of the cooks in the kitchen and the marines in the dining hall. He aimed his own cannon-like gun at Sanji.

Head Chef Jessica walked out of the kitchen with the other chefs. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "This man is one of the celebrity chefs from Mariejois."

"I'm afraid not, Head Chef," Ricky replied. "The chef that's in the Vice Admiral's dining room is none other than Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy. A pirate worth one hundred million berries. Since these two are working as a pair that can only mean that this man is the skilled cook from the Straw Hat Pirates."

Sanji stiffened and glanced around him. He was exposed and surrounded. Four armed marines guarded the door, Jessica and the assembled chefs blocked his escape back into the kitchen and another hundred marines that he had been feeding had stood up from their seats at their tables.

"CHEF JESSICA! TAKE HIM DOWN!"

Sanji spun around in time to see a fry pan. **WHAM! **Sanji crashed to the ground.

"Alright boys, arrest him!" Natsu called out to the four marines in his new unit by the door. "Cuff that cook and bind his hands! Don't let him near any kind of knife or cookware!"

Natsu's four marines pried Sanji's arms behind his back and secured wrists with a thick set of wooden handcuffs.

"_He didn't have them bind my legs…" _Sanji realized. _"That means he hasn't turned traitor…"_

Natsu turned to the marines in the dining hall, "Don't forget that base's credo! We'd have heard something if he tampered with his food. Clean those plates, men!"

The hundred marines sat back down at the order of the disguised pirate and began to wolf down the remainder of their lunch.

Natsu walked up to Sanji and grinned down at him, "Don't worry pirate," he taunted Sanji. "You'll get to have a nice reunion with your other three crewmates down in the brig. Once we catch Straw Hat, of course."

"_Other three crewmates?" _Sanji repeated to himself. _"Some of the others must have been caught. That means Ricky's gonna bring me right to them. So that's his plan…"_

Sanji looked up and flinched when Head Chef Jessica glared down at him like he was scum and to make it even worse, the beautiful Head Chef turned to the one-eyed bastard and smiled at him.

"_Bastard!" _Sanji mentally cursed Ricky.

"Excellent work officer," Jessica said. "I can see why my husband has grown so fond of you."

"All in a day's work," Chief Petty Officer Natsu replied with a salute before he turned and aimed his gun at the doors of Jonathan's private dining room. "Now let's catch the other one…"

**-x-**

"I am Vice Admiral Jonathan, the Chief Officer of G-8," Jonathan introduced himself to Luffy as he sat against the door and ate Jonathan's meatballs. "Your sworn enemy. I would rather not resort to violence in the dining hall so please be civil. Just answer me one question if you would be so kind."

"If I answer it can I split that food with you?" Luffy inquired.

Jonathan glanced back at the three meatballs that were left on his plate. He also recalled his obligation to clear it as per the base's credo.

"If you answer the question, you can have all of it," Jonathan told him.

"Really? You've got a deal!" Luffy exclaimed. He stretched his arm out and snatched the plate off of Jonathan's desk and brought it over to him. "Sorry I called you a selfish jerk!"

"No matter how hard I try I can't figure out your purpose here," Jonathan explained as Luffy ate the remaining meatballs. "I heard the reports that Commodore Smoker is the one who defeated Crocodile in Alabasta while your shenanigans there resulted in no discernable gain. They acquired you neither fame nor fortune. Your motives remain a mystery and I want to know why you came to Navarone of all places."

"That's easy, we fell from the sky," Luffy answered. "This is just where we landed."

"Hm?" Jonathan sputtered in surprise.

"Here in the Grand Line it;s just one crazy thing after another," Luffy remarked as he stood up. "I've gotta say, I'm really starting to like this fortress. The food here is great!"

"Hmhmhm," Jonathan chuckled, "You should know that even with your Devil Fruit Powers, you'll find that escape from our charming little fortress is impossible. It would take nothing short of a miracle. You're stuck with no hope of escape Straw Hat Luffy, checkmate."

"I'll leave when I'm good and ready Fortress-guy!" Luffy taunted. "Shishishi!"

"I doubt you'll talk so tough when you hear that we've captured Zoro," Jonathan retorted. "We've trapped him along with two of your other crewmates. We've also located One Eye and have him confined in the infirmary."

"Huh?" Luffy asked. "Zoro? Ricky?" Luffy turned serious. "Alright, Fortress-guy, where'd you put my Nakama?"

"Why do you ask?" Jonathan questioned.

"So I can find them… AND RESCUE THEM!" Luffy snapped.

"Don't be so hasty," Jonathan replied, "You'll see your friends again soon enough. I'll make sure of that."

**Tmp! **Jonathan took a loud step towards Luffy. The room practically shook.

"Whoa! This guy's like grandpa!" Luffy gasped as he flinched back from the invisible aura that Jonathan seemed to be giving off. "WHAA!" Flinching backwards had thrown Luffy off balance and he ended up falling backwards through the double doors behind him. **WHAM!**

Luffy tumbled out of Jonathan's personal dining room into the middle of the dining hall.

**BANG! WOOOSH! **Luffy suddenly found himself trapped in a net.

"Gotcha!" a familiar voice called out.

Luffy looked back and instantly recognized Ricky disguised as a black haired marine officer. Sanji had his arms cuffed behind his back and was being restrained by four other marines.

"HEY!" Luffy started to call out.

**SKISH! WHOMP! **He was forcibly cut off when Ricky-the-marine launched himself across the room and crashed down on top of him.

"You're under arrest, Straw Hat Luffy," Chief Petty Officer Natsu announced. "We know all about your Devil Fruit Powers. This net is Sea Stone. Now you're as helpless as a little puppy."

**Krek! **Vice Admiral Jonathan walked out of his dining hall and stood over the trapped Luffy.

"Mission accomplished, sir!" Natsu called out as he saluted Jonathan. "We got him… and thanks to your wife's quick actions, we caught the other impostor too."

Jonathan grinned as he looked down at Luffy then across the hall at Sanji.

"_That makes six Straw Hat Pirates that we've accounted for," _Jonathan thought to himself. _"Roronoa Zoro, long nose, Condoriano in the brig, One Eye in the infirmary, and now our mystery chef and Straw Hat himself. The only one missing is the blue haired escape artist."_

"As I told you, Straw Hat Luffy," Jonathan announced out loud, "You'll find escape from our charming little fortress quite impossible. Checkmate."

"Your orders, sir?" Natsu inquired.

"Well, I did tell Straw Hat that he'd be seeing his friends again soon enough," Jonathan stated. "Take these two pirates to the brig." Jonathan glanced at his watch. "And it appears as though this lunch our his just about over. I believe you'll find one hundred off duty marines that will be glad to help you escort these two fugitives to the brig."

"Yes sir," Natsu agreed as he hauled Luffy up off of the ground and onto his back.

The one hundred marines in the dining hall had cleared their plates as Ricky had instructed earlier so as one they all rose and made their way over to the two captured Straw Hats.

"Alright men, let's get these two pirates to the brig," Natsu instructed.

"Yes sir," the marines chorused. They followed Ricky carried Luffy right out the door of the dining hall while the other four marines in Natsu's new unit dragged Sanji along with them.

Two marine stepped forward and pushed the double doors opened for the lead officer and revealed the new batch of one hundred marines that had been gathering for the next meal.

"Step aside men!" Chief Petty Officer Natsu barked out. "Captured pirates, coming through." The new marines split apart and made path for Ricky to carry Luffy through followed by the other one hundred and four marines.

Head Chef Jessica eyed the new batch of marines then looked back at her assembled cooks. "Everyone get back in the kitchen!" she ordered. "We've got another one hundred marines to serve and this time we're doing it _without _that pirate's help."

The Navarone chef's nodded and headed back into the kitchen while the new batch of marines came into the dining hall.

"Excellent work catching that pirate, Jessica," Jonathan remarked to his wife.

"Your new golden boy was just being modest," Jessica admitted. "He was the one that revealed he was an imposter and brought it to everyone's attention. I just hit him with a frying pan."

"Is that so?" Jonathan inquired.

Jessica hung her head and frowned, "I should have suspected something. That cook was amazing. It's such a shame that someone with skills like that would waste his life as a filthy pirate. Maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see. I guess it was too good to be true."

Jonathan frowned. "You don't say?"

**-x-**

Ricky let his entourage of one hundred four marines and two pirates out of the base and up to the Straw Bridge. Luffy was still slung across his shoulders but Ricky could sense the positive air that the other marines had at capturing the infamous Straw Hat Luffy and other Straw Hat pirate.

Ricky grinned and sang out, "I DON'T KNOW BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD!"

The marines quickly responded, "BEING A MARINE WILL NEVER GET OLD!"

"G-8'S GONNA KEEP THINGS RIGHT!"

"IF YOU DON'T LISTEN WE'LL USE OUR MIGHT!"

"HEY! HEY! I wanna chant too!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed.

Chief Petty Officer Natsu stopped in his tracks then spun around and threw Luffy down on the bridge in between him and the other marines.

"You want to chant?" Natsu questioned Luffy.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy replied with a big goofy grin. "That seems really fun!"

"I'll make you a deal, Straw Hat," Chief Petty Officer Natsu announced. "I'll let you out of that net and swap it for some Sea Stone handcuffs so you can march and chant with us marines. But only on one condition…"

"What's that?" Luffy asked.

"You've gotta do it all the way to the brig until you get in your cell," Natsu replied.

"That's it? Sure! Sure!" Luffy happily agreed.

"I'm serious Straw Hat," Natsu insisted. "You've gotta promise on whatever honor you scummy pirates have that you won't fight back or try to escape until we get you to your cell."

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Luffy said. "I promise!"

"That goes for both of you," Ricky clarified as he locked eyes with Sanji, "Don't do anything… until you get to your cell."

"Whatever…" Sanji growled but faintly nodded.

"Sir, is this really a good idea?" one of the marine spoke up.

"How many pirates have you fought, recruit?" Natsu inquired.

"Um… none," the marine admitted.

"They're way easier to deal with if they're content," Natsu told him. "The second we got them into the brig they probably would've started to fight back. Now they've agreed to go along with us so we don't have to deal with any last minute attempts to break out. Remember, this is a pirate that's wanted for one hundred million berries. He might not look like much now but I for one don't want to deal with him when he's pissed off and struggling."

"Oh, you're right sir," the marine realized.

Natsu nodded then withdrew a set of Sea Stone handcuffs out of his pocket and slipped them into the net and onto Luffy's wrists. **Klik-klik! **Once the cuffs were secured, Natsu grabbed the net and yanked it off of Luffy in one clean motion. **WHISH! **Natsu handed the net off to one of the men in his unit then hauled Luffy up to his feet.

"Remember your promise, pirate!" Natsu growled.

"Aye-aye, sir!" Luffy answered.

"So you were, men!" Natsu addressed the other marines before he turned around and continued across the Straw Bridge from the coastal ring to the central island where the brig was located.

Luffy smiled widely as he fell into the step with the marines and marched with them.

"_If only grandpa could see us now," _Ricky thought to himself glanced down at his officer's uniform then looked back over his shoulder at Luffy who was still in his marine chef uniform.

Natsu loudly called out, "I don't know but it's been said!"

"I DON'T KNOW BUT IT'S BEEN SAID!" Luffy and the marines repeated together.

"We fight pirates 'cause we're not yet dead!"

"WE FIGHT PIRATES 'CAUSE WE'RE NOT YET DEAD!"

"Become a marine and you'll go far!"

"BECOME A MARINE AND YOU'LL GO FAR!"

"In suspenders and a bra!"

"IN SUS-penders… and a bra?" the marines trailed off in confusion.

But Luffy continued unhindered and loudly sohuted, "IN SUSPENDERS AND A BRA!"

Ricky spun around and grinned at Luffy, "Got ya."

"Hahahahahaha!" some of the marines burst out laughing. "Nice one, chief!"

Luffy shrugged and laughed along with the marines. "Shishishshishi!" But then he trailed off. "Hey wait, what's a bra?"

**-x-**

They large group made it across the bridge and down the stairs to the brig with no other incident.

Ensign Christopher scowled as Chief Petty Officer Natsu and his unit marched into the brig with two Straw Hat pirates, one of which was Straw Hat Luffy himself.

Natsu and his unit led Luffy and Sanji towards the cell. Luffy smiled when he spotted his crew.

"Hey guys!" Luffy greeted Zoro and Usopp. "We got caught!"

"Well don't sound so happy about it!" Zoro scolded him.

"Back against the wall!" Ensign Christopher ordered Zoro and Usopp. They complained and backed up against the rocky rear wall of the cell. "And take him with you!"

Usopp slipped forward and kicked the still unconscious 'Condoriano' in the side until he rolled across the cell over to the far wall then reclaimed his spot against the wall next to Zoro.

Master Chief Petty Officer Todd and ten other marines all aimed rifles in the cell at Zoro, Usopp and the still seemingly unconscious Condoriano.

Ensign Christopher unlocked the cell and pulled it opened so Chief Petty Officer Natsu and his unit could shove Luffy and Sanji into the cell with the others.

Natsu stepped back and Christopher slammed the door shut and locked it. **KLANG!**

"There it is," Natsu resolved. "Five Straw Hat Pirates locked in a cell. Good work, men."

"I'm still in charge here!" Ensign Christopher suddenly snapped at him. "Just because you caught most of them, doesn't change the fact that I outrank you!"

"No need to be jealous there, Ensign," Natsu replied. "This was a team effort. There's no place in this brig for petty individual ideals like jealousy. Besides…" Ricky leaned in and grinned at the flustered marine officer. "At the rate I'm going… you won't outrank me for long. You'd better get ready to start referring to me as Lieutenant Natsu."

Christopher flushed. "BUT YOU'RE NOT YET! KNOW YOUR PLACE!"

"Christopher, calm down," Todd chimed in, "We have to present a united front in front of the pirates and the men."

"DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME!" Christopher rounded on him. "You two brats think out can show me up because you had a lucky day? I'm the ranking officer here, so I'm in command! Master Chief Petty Officer Todd, you and your unit guard that hallway." Christopher spun around to face Natsu again. "Chief Petty Officer Natsu, guard the stairs with your unit." Christopher looked passed Natsu at the marines that were crammed into the stairwell. "As for the rest of you, you're dismissed!"

"Someone's on a jealous power trip," one of the marines remarked as the large group from the dining hall made their way up the stairs and out of the brig.

Master Chief Petty Officer Todd and his unit backed away from the cell and barred the hallway while Ensign Christopher and his two units remained in front of the cell as the active guards. Chief Petty Officer Natsu's four-man unit made their way towards the stairwell.

Ricky glanced into the Straw Hats' cell and gave a faint nod before he followed his unit.

Zoro, Usopp and Sanji all shared a glance, _"It's time."_

"_Phase Two of Plan Get the Heck Outta Here is now complete," _Ricky thought to himself. _"I've successfully located everyone on the crew. Now to start Phase Three: Break Out." _Ricky casually reached up and slid his hand under his cap so he could tickle the ear that was growing out of the top of his head under the pretense of scratching his head.

**-x-**

"Fufufufu…" Robin let out a light laugh and held her ear.

The two marines that had been assigned as Special Inspector Shepherd's escorts turned to look at the woman in surprise.

Robin smiled faintly, _"It seems like the boys are ready to make their move."_

**-x-**

"You know," Zoro said as he stepped away from the wall and smirked at Ensign Christopher, "As fun as watching your little meltdown was… I think it's time for us to leave."

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan had returned to his office and was now seated at his desk.

"_We've captured the King," _Jonathan mused to himself as he stared down at his chessboard _"That's checkmate. The game should be over."_

"_Condoriano…" _Jonathan removed the black Queen-side knight. _"The talented chef…" _Jonathan removed the black King-side bishop. _"Straw Hat Luffy." _Jonathan knocked over the black King.

Jonathan put the three recently captured pieces down with the two rooks and the other knight. _"In addition to Roronoa Zoro, long nose, and their ship… that's almost everyone."_

The two pieces remained on the black side of the board: the black Queen and the black Queen-side bishop.

"Why doesn't this feel right?" Jonathan asked out loud. He suddenly remember his wife's words.

"_I should have suspected something. That cook was amazing. It's such a shame that someone with skills like that would waste his life as a filthy pirate. Maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see. I guess it was too good to be true."_

Vice Admiral Jonathan eyes widened in abject horror, "NO!"

**-x-**

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	39. The Breakout

**Another Nakama III**

**Disclaimer:** Ricky is going to use the breakout as a distraction to finally retrieve the disclaimer. Of course, at this point it almost too late. I've got the next disclaimer coming in next week.

**The Breakout:**

**-x-**

"You know," Zoro said as he stepped away from the wall and smirked at Ensign Christopher. "As fun as watching your little meltdown was… I think it's time for us to leave."

"You're not going anywhere," Ensign Christopher growled as he stood with his men outside the cell in the brig that contained Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and the real Commander Shepherd who, thanks to Usopp, everyone thought was a Straw Hat named Condoriano.

"That's where you're wrong," Sanji retorted. **SKISH! **The cook jumped up and swung his hands down below him then he brought his foot down and smashed it through the wood cuffs. **KRAK! **

Ensign Christopher turned and glared at Ricky who was guarding the stairs out of the brig in his Chief Petty Officer Natsu disguise along with his unit. "You didn't bind his legs?"

"He's a cook," Natsu pointed out, "How was I supposed to know he fights with his legs?"

**KLANG! **Christopher whirled around to see Sanji kick the cell. But the bars didn't budge. **KLANG!**

"Oh, this is good," Master Chief Petty Officer Todd taunted, "It would take nothing short of a cannon to break those bars down."

"A cannon?" Usopp repeated.

**KRESH! **The marines stared in surprise in time to see that instead of kicking the cage, Sanji had smashed his foot through the wooden cuffs that had been binding Zoro.

The unarmed swordsman surged at the bars and lashed out his arm, **BANG! **Not a scratch.

"That's one tough cage," Zoro remarked.

"That's enough!" Ensign Christopher snapped as he tried to regain control of this situation. "You-Stop that right now!"

"Are you gonna come in here and stop us?" Zoro goaded him.

"I… No!" Christopher growled. "One more move and we'll open fire!" Christopher raised his arm and the marines behind them responded by readying their rifles.

**Ring… ring… ring…/Ring… ring… ring…/Ring… ring…ring!**

Ringing suddenly filled the brig from three separate locations.

Chief Petty Officer Natsu pulled his mini-Transponder Snail out of his pocket.

"Oh, hello Vice Admiral Jonathan," Natsu greeted the officer on the other line.

Ensign Christopher turned and glared at him.

"We're in the middle of a situation here, sir," Natsu informed the Vice Admiral. "The Straw Hats are attempting to escape."

"You're not taking the credit for this one!" Christopher snarled as he stalked towards Natsu.

"What's that, sir?" Natsu continued undaunted. "You want to speak to Ensign Christopher? Of course sir, he's coming right this way. Hold on one moment." Natsu grinned as he offered his mini-Transponder Snail to the enraged Marine Officer.

Christopher snatched the mini-Transponder Snail away from Natsu. "Don't listen to him! I have the situation under control!"

"Sir!" one of the marines by the cell called out. "One of the pirates just pulled out a weapon!"

"I'll call you back when I've dealt with the situation!" Christopher shouted into the Snail before he threw it down on the ground and stomped on it. **WHOMP!**

"That seemed unnecessary," Natsu said as he looked down at the crushed snail.

"This is my moment you little weasel!" Christopher growled. "You're not taking it from me!"

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan blinked then stared at his Transponder Snail in surprise.

"He hung up on me…" Jonathan noted. "Natsu may be a lousy pirate but at least he was polite."

Jonathan glanced at the Wanted Poster of 'One Eye' Ricky that he had set on his desk.

"It looks like I'm too late to prevent a break out," Jonathan realized. "I'll have to prepare my forces to catch them once they escape the brig."

Jonathan looked over at the black Queen on his board, it was now in the middle of the board surrounded by the black King, a black rook, a black bishop and a black knight. The other black rook was in one corner of the boat and the other knight and the other bishop were together in another corner.

"It seems I've been playing against the wrong opponent," Jonathan noted, "No wonder this game has been so interesting. Your move 'One Eye' Ricky…"

**-x-**

"**Who? This well-mannered snake?"**

The marines all stared at the Straw Hat cell in confusion as Usopp's voice filled the brig.

Usopp flinched while Sanji flushed bright red.

"That… was not… an Impact Dial…" Sanji snarled at Usopp.

"Oops… my mistake," Usopp said. "The Impact Dial was in my other pocket."

Sanji turned and glared at Zoro, "You do it."

"Fine," Zoro said as he reached into Usopp's pocket and pulled out another shell.

"What're you doing?" Ensign Christopher demanded. "Is that a weapon? Put that down!"

"Not likely," Zoro retorted. "We're getting out of here." Zoro took the Dial and pressed it against the bars of the cell. **Click! PPPFFFFFTTT! **A loud fart ripped through the brig and the cell and the hallway was suddenly filled with the rancid smell of someone's fart.

**Fwump! **Ricky face-faulted and clamped a hand over his nose. _"Those idiots…"_

"AAWWW!" Ensign Christopher exclaimed. He and his men had been completely caught off guard by the foul smell and didn't even think about shooting the Straw Hats.

"STINKY!" The smell had even reached Master Chief Petty Officer Todd with his unit on the far end of the hallway.

"What kind of juvenile idiot would store a fart in my Odor Dial?" Usopp complained.

"I thought it would be funny…" Luffy confessed.

"I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" Zoro yelled at them.

**Ssss…**

"Huh?" Sanji looked up in time to see that the fowl brown gas that had sprayed out of the Dial had reached the torch lamps that lined the walls of the brig hallway. "ITS GONNA BLOW!"

**KA-BOOOOOOM! **The torch across the hall from the Straw Hats' cell exploded and blasted straight through Ensign Christopher and his unit and blew up the bars of the cell.

The other torches that lined the hallway exploded and blasted the surprised marines.

**BOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

**RRRIIING! RRRIIING! **An alarm blared through Navarone as marines ran around in a panic.

"THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION IN THE BRIG!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

"I DON'T KNOW! ALL THE OFFICERS WERE DOWN THERE!"

"CALL THE VICE ADMIRAL! HE'LL KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

**-x-**

The battered and heavily damaged cell door shook and crashed to the ground. **KRATA-KRASH!**

"Hey, you guys okay?" Sanji asked the others.

"Ugghhh… mission accomplished…" Usopp groaned.

"I guess you could say that," Zoro agreed the turned and drove his fist through Usopp's cuffs. **KRESH!**

"YAAAH!" Usopp yelped as the wood stung his wrists when Zoro roughly shattered it.

"Can you get mine?" Luffy requested as he pushed himself out of a pile of rubble and held up his Sea Stone handcuffs.

"Use this," Sanji looked up and caught a key as Ricky tossed it to him. **Whap! **

Zoro looked up in time to catch his swords. **Whap! **

Usopp didn't look up fast enough and was knocked over by his arsenal bag. **Whump! **

"That didn't exactly go as planned," Ricky admitted, "but it was good enough…"

**Click! **Sanji unlocked Luffy's handcuffs and the rubber pirates jumped back up to his feet.

"Are we escaping now?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, head for the Merry," Ricky instructed. "I'm going to go find Robin and recover the gold that the marines took off of our ship. We'll catch up."

"What about this guy?" Zoro asked as he pointed down at Commander Shepherd.

"I'll take him with me," Ricky decided. "Jonathan doesn't know how many of us there are so if Condoriano disappears along with the rest of us that'll keep him guessing a little bit longer."

Zoro picked up Shepherd and tossed him to Ricky who lifted him into a fireman's carry.

"No sense standing around then," Zoro resolved.

"Let's go Luffy," Sanji prompted.

"Right!" Luffy agreed. "EVERYBODY RUN!" Luffy, Zoro and Sanji took off running down the long brig hallway.

"HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" Usopp hollered as he chased after them.

Ricky turned towards the stairs but stopped then he spotted the unconscious form of Ensign Christopher. Ricky picked the man up and carried him into the Straw Hats' empty cell then sat him against the far wall.

"I hope you enjoyed your moment," Ricky addressed the unconscious officer then he reached up and poked the ear on his head, "I'm coming your way Robin."

**-x-**

"Yes, yes, I heard the explosion!" Vice Admiral Jonathan told a frantic marine over his Transponder Snail for what felt like the twentieth time. "I know that the officers are missing! Don't worry I have a plan! Just guard the exterior of the brig and don't let any of the Straw Hats escape it! Remember, Chief Petty Officer Natsu is one of them! Don't let him out either!"

**Klak! **Jonathan slammed the receiver on his Transponder Snail down.

"Damn you One Eye," Jonathan complained. "Not only did you gather your crew together for a mass breakout but at the same time you also eliminated my best officers…"

**Whap! **Jonathan slapped his desk. "This base is so much more difficult to run all by myself. The highest ranking officer left in this base is that Commander Shepherd." Jonathan stiffened. "Wait… One Eye was the one that confirmed her identity… DAMN IT!"

Jonathan frantically picked up his Transponder Snail.

"_How could I have been so foolish?" _Jonathan berated mentally himself. _"A huge, blue-haired man with star tattoos? Someone that ridiculous couldn't possibly exist!"_

**-x-**

"_**Listen men, do not let that woman out of your sight!" **_

Robin stared down at her two unconscious marine escorts as Vice Admiral Jonathan's voice drifted out of one of their pockets.

"Looks like Mr. One Eye is still one step ahead of him," Robin noted. "Boca Fleur…"

**-x-**

"**Mr. One Eye…" **Ricky twitched as he heard Robin's voice come from the side of his neck. He reached up and felt the mouth that had just bloomed out of his neck. **"I believe I've located the storage room where the marines are storing the confiscated treasure. It's over here on the main island. The Straw Bridge is the only way across."**

"I'm heading for the bridge now," Ricky replied. **WHAM!** He slammed the door opened and ran out of the brig and down the stairs.

He turned and saw the large red bridge that stretched across the water towards the ring-shaped island of Navarone.

"CHIEF PETTY OFFICER NATSU!" Ricky turned and saw a bunch of marines with their guns aimed at him, "OR SHOULD WE SAY ONE EYE RICKY! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!"

"_They were still in formation," _Ricky observed. _"That means the others didn't leave this way…"_

"I guess the cat's out of the bag," Ricky remarked. "But I accomplished my goal. I know where every member of my crew is and we're all set to break out. I'm done pretending to be a marine. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to go through you guys to get out of here."

"We'll never let you escape, you traitor!" one of the marine snapped.

**SKISH! **Ricky jumped from the railing landed in the middle of the formation behind the marine that had just snapped at him. "Now how can I be a traitor if I was never loyal to you guys to begin with?"

"_I don't have my sword," _Ricky thought to himself, _"I guess I'll have to improvise…"_

**SWISH! **Ricky swung Commander Shepherd off of his shoulders, "Condoriano… TORNADO!" **WHA-WHA-WHAM! **Ricky spun around and used Shepherd as a human-sized club to send the formation of marines flying away from him.

"So long suckers!" Ricky jumped over the fallen formation of marines and ran towards the huge red bridge that connected the island the main base as on with the outer ring of Navarone.

**-x-**

"I knew we shouldn't have let Zoro lead!" Usopp complained as they ran down a hallway through the upper level of the brig. "Now we're lost!"

"How could you get lost heading for the front door, Moss Head?" Sanji berated the swordsman

"OH SHUT UP!" Zoro snapped.

"SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "This is exciting!"

What they didn't realize was that thanks to Zoro getting them lost, they'd managed to avoid the marines that were guarding the outside of the brig. Zoro's poor sense of direction had led them further into the base instead of out to where the marines were waiting for them.

**-x-**

"Uuuuggghh…" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd staggered to his feet. He surveyed the destroyed remains of the brig and the unconscious marines that had been guarding it.

Todd staggered down the hallway and saw that the Straw Hats' cell no longer contained any pirates but now had an unconscious marine occupant. "I'll send someone to get him later…"

**-x-**

"_**I'm sorry, sir… I failed…" **_Master Chief Petty Officer Todd's dejected voice came through Vice Admiral Jonathan's Transponder Snail in his office.

"That's alright, you're still alive," Jonathan replied and let out a sigh of relief. "What happened down there?"

"_**The Straw Hats caused an explosion using something what looked like a common shell. It release a cloud of gas that caused the torches to explode. I'm sorry sir… they all escaped…"**_

"All of them?" Jonathan questioned.

"_**Yes sir, Straw Hat, the cook, Roronoa Zoro, the long nose and even Condoriano… Ensign Christopher is unconscious and I can't find Chief Petty Officer Natsu anywhere…"**_

"I wouldn't have expected him to stick around," Jonathan replied. "Chief Petty Officer Natsu was Straw Hat's First Mate 'One Eye' Ricky."

"_**What? He was a pirate this whole time? I'm sorry sir… I should have realized…"**_

"That's alright, he fooled me as well," Jonathan reassured him. "I've already started enacting my plan to counteract the Straw Hats' escape. Come to my office and I'll fill you in."

"_**Yes, sir."**_

Jonathan hung up his receiver and turned away from his desk. His bushy eyebrows furrowed as he spotted movement on the Straw Bridge. Jonathan quickly grabbed a telescope off of his desk and stared through it at the bridge.

"That cheeky bastard…" Jonathan muttered as he watched Ricky run across the Straw Bridge still in his Chief Petty Officer Natsu disguise and with Condoriano slung across his shoulders. "This means they've split up. But he won't leave without the others. If I catch them, he'll have to come back and save them again. I can still win this."

**-x-**

**Jonathan's Strategy:**

**-x-**

"Come on you guys! Keep running!" Luffy encouraged the others as they continued to run through the hallways of Navarone. Luffy and Sanji had lost their cook uniforms at some point.

"I… I don't think I can keep up!" Usopp gasped. "I'm beat! Wait up!"

"Come on! Let's get to the Merry!" Luffy exclaimed.

They didn't slow down but the thought of seeing his beloved ship again was enough to motivate Usopp to keep up with the Monster Trio.

**-x-**

"Hey! Let me go this instant!" Ricky slowed down as the man on his shoulders started to struggle. He'd managed to make it to the other side of the Straw Bridge but now Commander Shepherd had woken up.

"Oh, Condoriano, you're awake," Ricky realized.

"Put me down, you dolt!" Shepherd ordered. "I'm not Condoriano! I'm Special Inspector Commander Shepherd!"

"But everyone said you were a Straw Hat Pirate…" Ricky counted.

"I'M NOT A PIRATE!" Shepherd yelled. "This base is full of incompetents! Once I deliver my report to Headquarters I'll have you, Vice Admiral Jonathan and all these other buffoons court martialed! NOW PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

Ricky shrugged and put Shepherd down. "So you're _not _a pirate?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Shepherd shouted. "I HATE PIRATES! Once I get back to Headquarters I'll make sure the Admirals focus their efforts capturing and executing these damn Straw Hats!"

"Oh, well that's too bad," Ricky remarked, "Because on the other hand, I _am _a Straw Hat Pirate."

"That's right, you're…" Shepherd trailed off when Ricky's words registered. "Wait… what?"

**POW! **Ricky drove his fist into the bridge of Shepherd's nose. The Special Inspector crumbled to the ground unconscious.

"That guy's a loud, pain in the neck," Ricky admitted, "But I can't just leave him here. He'll squeal to the marines and cause trouble." Ricky scooped the unconscious marine inspector and hefted him onto his shoulders then took off running again.

**-x-**

Luffy suddenly stopped running in the middle of an intersection between two long hallways.

"What? What is it?" Usopp questioned. He stared passed Luffy and shrieked in alarm. "AAAH! MARINES!" A full unit of over a dozen marines was running down the hallway to meet them.

Usopp turned and saw another full unit of marines charging down the hallway to the right. "OVER THERE TOO!"

Usopp whimpered as he looked from in the other direction and saw a third unit of marines racing down the left hallway. "AH! MORE OF 'EM!"

He turned around and looked behind them and saw a fourth unit quickly gaining on them. "THEY'RE BEHIND US TOO! WE'RE TRAPPED LIKE RATS!"

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "It's about time things got interesting!"

"What?" Usopp squeaked.

"I wanna see if Fortress-guy was right," Luffy said. "He said escape was impossible and it would take a miracle."

"It might," Sanji told him, "The odds aren't in our favor, that's for sure. There's a thousand troops stationed here."

"You find this interesting?" Usopp questioned. "Why Luffy?"

"Because escape is supposed to be impossible!" Luffy replied, "I wanna prove that it's not!"

"THAT IS _NOT _INTERESTING!" Usopp shouted.

"Forget it Usopp," Sanji remarked, "You know that there's no stopping him when he gets an idea in his head."

"Unit 37 reporting!" one of the marines in the unit charging from the front called out.

"Unit 44 reporting!" the group on the right announced.

"Unit 6 reporting!" the group coming down the left hallway announced.

"Unit 21 reporting!" the group running up from behind chimed in. "Let's catch the Straw Hats!"

"EEEEP!" Usopp squeaked in shocked as marines rushed in from all directions.

Luffy grinned as he swung his arm around at his side. "GUUUM… GUUUM… GATLING!" **POW-POW-POW-POW-POW! **Luffy's rubber fists blasted through Unit 37 and sent them flying backwards.

"SHISHISHI! COME ON!" Luffy encouraged his crew as he ran onward.

Zoro and Sanji silently followed while Usopp screamed and ran away from the other three units.

"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" one of the marines yelled.

**-x-**

Vice Admiral Jonathan stood out on the balcony outside his office.

Master Chief Petty Officer Todd stood behind him in the doorway.

"**FREEZE PIRATES!" **Jonathan looked downward at the sound of a marine's shout.

**POW-POW-POW-POW! BAM! **An entire unit of marines were blasted through a doorway out of the base and dropped into the water below.

"Hm?" Jonathan grunted.

Todd ran forward, "Sir, look, it's Straw Hat!"

They both looked down and saw Luffy run out through the doorway onto a ledge that ran around the central base. He was quickly joined by Zoro, Sanji and Usopp.

"Oh great," Zoro complained, "It's a dead end."

"No, we can run along this cliff here," Luffy pointed out.

**BAM-BAM-BAM! **The Straw Hats flinched as someone suddenly opened fire at them. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp dove for cover behind a rock. While Luffy turned to face the intruder and saw Vice Admiral Jonathan up on the balcony and Master Chief Petty Officer Todd beside him holding a smoking rifle.

"So, you've finally shown yourselves, eh?" Vice Admiral Jonathan questioned as he grinned down at the Straw Hats.

"IT'S THE VICE ADMIRAL!" Usopp shrieked.

"Oh great," Sanji groaned.

"Hey Fortress-guy!" Luffy greeted the marine officer. "Why're you up there?"

"This is the balcony to my office," Jonathan pointed out as Todd rushed inside. "I'm afraid you just missed One Eye. He ran across the bridge a moment ago. For all the trouble he's caused, I must admit, he made an excellent marine."

"Well he makes an even better First Mate!" Zoro insisted. "You can't have him!"

"Now, fire the cannons!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd ordered a gunner through Jonathan's Transponder Snail while the Vice Admiral had the Straw Hats distracted outside.

"_**But sir, if we fire at the central tower, won't that cause some kind of damage?"**_

"YOU HEARD ME!" Todd shouted. "FIRE!"

Luffy ran up on top of the rock that the others had ducked behind. "My crew and I are escaping!" he taunted Jonathan. "What do you ya think? Sorry I beat your guys up. But I told ya I was gonna leave when I wanted to, didn't I?"

"Indeed," Jonathan agreed, "And are you still planning to do that, Straw Hat Luffy? Leave?"

"Yup," Luffy chirped. "We're leaving right now."

"Hahahaha!" Jonathan laughed as a cannon on the outer ring was rolled into positioned and aimed at Luffy and the other Straw Hats. "You're funny. Do you really think you can escape from Navarone? With your treasure?"

"Ricky said you guys took our gold," Luffy replied, "But he's already on his way to get it back. You guys won't catch us."

"Is that so?" Jonathan inquired.

**BOOOOM! **The cannon fired at the Straw Hats.

"RUUUUUUUNNN!" Usopp shouted. The four Straw Hats scrambled out of the way before the cannon stuck the ledge they'd been standing on and blew up. **KA-BOOOOOOOOM!**

When the explosion and the lingering smoke cleared, Jonathan looked down at the destroyed ledge and doorway in disappointment.

Todd ran back out onto the balcony and growled when he saw that the cannon had missed.

"They escaped…" Todd spun around and saluted Jonathan, "Don't worry Vice Admiral. We can still catch them. Unit 21 doubled back and is now waiting on Block 7. If the pirates head down there we can take them once and for all."

"No, have Unit 21 withdraw from Block 7 immediately," Vice Admiral Jonathan ordered.

"But sir… it's a dead end," Todd pointed out. "It's perfect for an ambush."

"That'll only work if the Straw Hats played by the book," Jonathan lectured him. "That kid didn't get a one hundred million berri bounty on his head by doing the obvious. Besides, it would just result in further injuries and more damage to this base. Navarone's seen enough of both."

"Oh, of course, you're right sir," Todd agreed.

"Instead of focusing on where they might go, let's focus on where they will go," Jonathan said. "Their ship is moored in Dock 88 and it's only a matter of time before those pirates reach it. You're my last remaining officer, so I want you to rush to Dock 88 and set up an ambush there. Apprehend the Straw Hats. Use of excessive force is granted."

"Yes sir," Master Chief Petty Officer Todd answered. "But… it'll take me some time to reach Dock 88 and get everything ready..."

"That's true," Jonathan admitted, "But there's only way for the Straw Hats to reach Dock 88 is by crossing the Straw Bridge. We'll leave the gate on the upper deck unguarded to lure them across but we'll have troopers concealed on both ends to ambush the pirates when they cross. They don't need to stop them just slow them down. That should buy you all the time you need."

"Yes sir, good thinking," Todd responded.

"And I know just the Unit to use that'll delay them," Jonathan announced.

"Sir… you don't mean…" Todd questioned.

"That's right," Jonathan confirmed. "Unit 55 was very upset when they learned that One Eye was impersonating a member of their unit. They'll make sure to slow down those Straw Hats."

"But sir, what about One Eye?" Todd asked.

"Straw Hat told me himself that One Eye was going after the treasure," Jonathan explained. "I'll admit that telling him about my fallback plan was a mistake. I had planned on using the pirates' treasure as a way of ensuring that they wouldn't leave even if they did recover their ship. However, One Eye has now compromised that plan. He's going after the treasure and since you'll be leading the ambush at Dock 88, I'll have to stop One Eye myself."

"I won't let you down sir," Todd assured him.

"Very good," Jonathan replied as he slipped on his fancy Vice Admiral coat then turned and picked up his big Transponder Snail. "Let's go catch these pirates."

Todd followed Jonathan out of the office, "Sir, I just have one question… if One Eye was impersonating Natsu this whole time… then who was in the infirmary?"

"One Eye told us that he was in the infirmary because he didn't want us to search inside there," Jonathan reasoned. "I have a hunch that this mysterious doctor is someone very dear to him…"

**-x-**

Dr. Kobato pulled opened the door the infirmary and her eyes widened at the sight of a unit of armed marines.

"Wh-what's going on?" Dr. Kobato asked.

"There's been a jailbreak," the lead marine announced. "The Straw Hat Pirates are running amok in our base. We're under a Code Red situation until they're recaptured. We're here to apprehend the one that's been impersonating a doctor."

Inside the infirmary, Nami and Chopper hid behind a bed curtain as the listened in.

"I guess this means that the others have made their move," Nami whispered.

"And if they want to look in here that means that they've realized that Ricky isn't a marine," Chopper reasoned.

"We've gotta get out of here," Nami told him, "The others are probably on their way to the dock where they're keeping the Going Merry. We don't know the layout of this base and Ricky never gave us an actual escape plan. But we need to get to that dock before it's too late. The only problem is getting passed those marines out there…"

"Wait… you're saying there's a pirate… in here…" Dr. Kobato asked the marines.

"That's right," the lead marine answered. "Vice Admiral Jonathan is convinced that one of the pirates is disguised as a doctor. We need to search that room immediately."

"Ahh!" Dr. Kobato gasped in a alarm. **KREK! **And slammed the door in their faces. **Click! **The young doctor quickly locked the door then turned away from it. "Pirates… in disguise…"

"WAH!" Nami and Chopper yelped as the turned and tried to escape through a small window. The problem was that it was a small window and the two of them were trying to get through it at the same time.

"You two!" Nami and Chopper froze.

They looked back to see Dr. Kobato marching towards them.

"Um… yes… Dr. Kobato?" Nami asked as she turned around and hugged Chopper to her.

"I guess we should've told you this earlier…" Chopper whimpered, "But that pirate they're looking for…"

"…" Dr. Kobato stopped in front of the two pirates.

But both of them were caught off guard when she grabbed Nami's hands and Chopper's hooves in an attempt to comfort them. "Don't you worry," she reassured them. "Everything will be okay. We'll get you to safety. You heard what those men said. There's a pirate disguised as a doctor! And for all we know, he could be nearby!"

"_Can someone actually be this oblivious?" _Nami thought to herself.

"Um… yeah…" Chopper said, "About that… he is nearby… actually there's two of them. 'Cause they're kind of us… We're pirates…"

"…" Dr. Kobato stared silently at Nami and Chopper.

"DON'T YOU GET IT?" Chopper exclaimed. "WE'RE THE PIRATES!"

"Look," Nami stated, "You seem like a nice person and we're sorry to put you through this but we won't hurt you so don't scream. All we want from you is the location of the dock so we can get to our ship."

Dr. Kobato's lips quivered. She opened her mouth and she finally said something. She screamed. LOUDLY.

"AAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! YOOOUUU'REE THE PIIIRAATEES! EEEYYYYYAAAAAHHHH!"

Nami and Chopper shouted in alarm and ran frantically around the infirmary.

"**That scream!" **a marine exclaimed from outside. **"Dr. Kobato!"**

"…" Dr. Kobato finally finished screaming. And promptly fainted.

"**WHAT HAPPENED?" **a marine shouted through the door. **"WE'RE COMING IN!"**

**KRASH! **The marines rammed the doubled doors and knocked them open.

The first few marines staggered into the infirmary and stared down at Dr. Kobato and a nurse laid out on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Doctor! Nurse!" the marines ran over. One of them pulled off the gag that had been tied over the orange haired nurse's mouth. "Are you alright, Miss? Say something?"

The other marines searched the nearby beds. They missed the tiny reindeer that was hiding under a blanket next to an injured and unconscious marine.

"Look! An open air duct!" one of the marines pointed out as he motioned to the ceiling.

The marines quickly climbed up and disappeared into the duct.

"Nurse," another marine addressed the nurse, "Did the pirate go up there?"

"Yes, and if you hurry you can probably catch them," Nami lied.

Two more marines raced up the vent after the first one while the others ran out of the infirmary. "We'll head him off! He won't get away!"

And just like that, Nami and Chopper were alone in the infirmary with Dr. Kobato again. The doctor in question was just waking up.

"Oh, you're awake," Nami noted.

"AH—" Dr. Kobato opened her mouth to scream again but Nami was ready this time and quickly clamped her hand over the woman's mouth.

"None of that," Nami instructed her. "I know you wanna scream right now but I need you to promise to stay quiet for a bit."

Dr. Kobato meekly nodded in agreement.

"Nami!" Nami and Dr. Kobato turned to see Chopper 'peeking' out from behind a bed curtain. "We have to get out of here right now!"

"You… you were big…" Dr. Kobato realized.

"You mean you're just noticing that now?" Nami questioned.

"But… how?" Dr. Kobato wondered.

"Oh, here, I'll show you," Chopper offered. He suddenly grew in size as he transformed into his Human Form. "I ate a Devil Fruit and it gave me the ability to transform."

"Look," Nami resolved. "We'd love to sit and chat and explain to you how Chopper's powers work but if you haven't already noticed, we're a little pressed for time."

"It's okay," Dr. Kobato replied. "What a strange day this has been."

"Well we've gotta go," Nami announced, "It shouldn't take those marines too long to realize we're not in the ducts." The two Straw Hats turned to leave.

"Mr. Deer, wait!" Dr. Kobato called after Chopper. "Even if you are a pirate and a magical dear, you're still the only person who ever taught me what it truly means to be a doctor. I would really like to find a way to thank you."

"Oh, that's okay, you don't have to thank me!" Chopper assured her while he did a giddy dance that showed exactly how he felt about the praise. "And for the record, I'm a reindeer."

"Wait a minute… you two said you needed to go to the docks, didn't you?" Dr. Kobato recalled.

"Yeah," Chopper confirmed.

"Well I can show you the way there if you'd like me to," Dr. Kobato offered.

"You'll take us there?" Nami questioned.

"But won't you get in trouble for helping pirates?" Chopper asked. "They'll throw you in the brig for sure if anyone finds out about it."

"Oh yeah, right," Dr. Kobato realized. But then she clapped her hands when she had an idea. "Ah! But in the event that we get caught I'll just act really scared and tell them that you've taken me hostage."

"Great!" Nami and Chopper replied as they clapped their own hands.

Dr. Kobato smiled, "I'm so glad I could be of service."

**-x-**

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp continued to run along the ledge and ducked behind a rock as they surveyed the nearby Straw Bridge.

"Hm, I don't think they can see us here, guys," Usopp observed as he peeked nose-first out from behind the rock.

"Careful," Luffy said as he popped up next to Usopp. "Fortress-guy's probably just waiting for us to stick our necks out."

"Like you're doing right now!" Sanji growled as he shoved Luffy back down behind the rock. "Get down here!"

"See that path down there?" Usopp pointed out to the others. "Dock 88 is on the other side of it. That's where they've got the Going Merry stowed."

"Yeah, but how do we get across, though?" Sanji wondered. "There's lots of guards."

"What about up there?" Luffy suggested as he looked up at the bridge.

"Well it looks crossable," Usopp reasoned.

"Yeah, it sure does," Zoro agreed. "But isn't it strange that there are no guards? Its almost like they're inviting us up there."

"A trap, huh?" Sanji questioned.

"A TRAP?" Usopp exclaimed.

"Who cares?" Luffy replied with a wide smile. "Let's just go for it! I'm not scared! What about you guys?"

"Worrying about annoying stuff is annoying," Zoro stated. "I say we do it."

"If it really is a trap, let's just spring it," Sanji decided.

With that, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro took off running.

"Hey! Luffy! Sanji! Zoro!" Usopp called after them. "HEY WAIT! Don't I have a say in this?" Usopp reluctantly ran after them. "FINE! IF YOU GUYS GET CAUGHT IN A TRAP, I'M NOT GONNA RESCUE YOU, YA HEAR? AND WITHOUT MY HELP, YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? Um… but uh… if I get caught in a trap… you guys will rescue me, right? RIGHT? Please say yes…"

**-x-**

**Battle on the Bridge:**

**-x-**

"Do you have any idea which dock your ship was taken to?" Dr. Kobato questioned as she and nurse Nami ran down a hallway and pushed a gurney in between them. Chopper was hidden underneath the gurney's sheets. "There are actually a number of docks here but they're scattered all over the base."

"Well, I can't be certain," Nami admitted, "But judging from where our ship touched down I'd have to guess a dock on the western side of the base."

"Oh! Then I think I might know where your ship might be," Dr. Kobato told her. "Dock 88."

"What makes you think that?" Chopper inquired as he peeked his head out from under the sheets.

"Due to recent budget cuts a lot of the docks here have been shut down," Dr. Kobato explained, "Including most of the ones on the western side of the base. However, Dock 88 is one of the few docks that is still operational. My father works there. I'm sure that's where your ship is."

"Do you think that's where Luffy and the others are headed?" Chopper asked Nami.

"We've got no way of knowing but I'd say it's a good bet," Nami replied. "Plus, we can take advantage of all the commotion they've caused and get there while everyone's still shaken up. Well Dr. Kobato, Dock 88 it is. Lead on."

They veered around a corner and a familiar marine jumped clear over them to avoid being hit by the speeding gurney. **SKISH! **"Nami! Chopper!"

"Ricky!" Nami and Chopper exclaimed. **SQUEAK! **They skidded to a stop.

"You're going the right way," Ricky told them. "The others are headed for Dock 88 to retrieve the ship. The Vice Admiral probably has an ambush planned but I figure that with all of you guys working together you should be able to break through it and spring the ship."

"Then where are you going?" Chopper asked. "And who's that guy?"

"This guy is a nuisance but he was also Robin's cover," Ricky explained. "Robin managed to find a map to the base and figured out where they're keeping our treasure. I'm heading over to meet her there now. We'll recover the treasure and then we'll meet up with you guys once you spring the ship. But we've gotta move now!" Ricky turned to go.

"Wait! Get my Waver!" Nami called after him. "I stashed it in a patch of tall grass on the southern shore!"

"Right, I'll figure something out," Ricky agreed. "Now let's move!" Ricky took off running in one direction while Nami, Chopper and Dr. Kobato headed in the other towards Dock 88.

**-x-**

Zoro peaked around a corner and eyed the empty bridge that was ahead of them.

"Nobody here," he observed.

"Great!" Luffy replied. "That's perfect! Let's get going then! Shishishishi!" He quickly rounded the corner through the gate and raced onto the bridge.

"HEY!" Zoro called out as he, Usopp and Sanji chased after him.

"WAIT YOU MORON!" Usopp shouted.

"He never learns!" Sanji complained. The four Straw Hats raced out onto the bridge.

They didn't notice the man watching them from inside a nearby crate.

They also didn't notice the marines that watched them run below them as they hid among the red beams up overhead.

They also didn't notice the marines that were on the pipes that ran underneath the bridge.

"Whoa! We're really high up!" Usopp noted as he brought up the rear and looked over the sides. "That's a long way to fall! Yikes!"

It was only once the Straw Hats were halfway across the Straw Bridge that the noticed something was wrong. A clump of bushes on the far side of the bridge started to rustle. **Swish-wish!**

**SWISH! **The bushes were thrown away to reveal part of Unit 55.

"ALRIGHT! THERE THEY ARE!" Luffy shouted.

More marines climbed over the sides of the bridge ahead of the Straw Hats and caused them to stop running.

"AAAAHH!" Usopp shrieked. He turned and attempted to run the other way. "SEE! I TOLD YA BUT YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME!"

But to the sniper's horror, more marines sprang out of boxes at the end of the bridge, others dropped down from the red girders overhead and even more climbed up over the sides.

"EEK!" Usopp squeaked as he found himself staring at the other half of Unit 55. The four Straw Hats were now trapped in the middle of the bridge by almost fifty marines on each side.

"Nice," Sanji remarked as he eyed the trap they'd willingly run into. The marines of Unit 55 all wore sleeveless uniform shirts and looked very muscular. Unit 55 was a special combat unit.

"Just as many behind us," Zoro noted. "Looks like we're all gonna get a little work out."

**Pow! **Luffy slammed his fists together. "Listen up!" Luffy addressed the marines. "We're getting out of here no matter what!"

A tanned marine with a scruffy handlebar mustache that didn't quite meet his beard stepped forward through the crowd of marines to face the Straw Hats.

"Please allow us to introduce ourselves!" the leader called out. "We're the legendary Unit 55! The same unit that your pal One Eye Ricky disgraced by impersonating one of us! NOW NONE OF YOU PIRATES WILL CROSS THIS BRIDGE ON OUR WATCH!"

"We already crossed once today," Sanji remarked as he lit up a cigarette. "But I guess you guys were off the clock then."

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, pirate!" the leader growled before he stuck a pose and sang out. "WE'RE FIFTY-FIVE AND YOU'D BETTER FEAR IT!"

The other marines matched the leaders pose and sang out together, "OR YOU'RE GONNA FACE OUR FIERY SPIRIT!"

"Whoa! That's catchy!" Luffy exclaimed. "How's the rest of it go?"

"FIFTY-FIVE! ATTACK!" the leader shouted.

"RAAAAH!" Unit 55 roared as they charged at the Straw Hats.

Zoro and Sanji looked up in surprise as more marines shot up over the railings right beside them.

**SWISH! **Zoro ducked under on marine then lashed out his fist and grounded a big marine with a punch. **POW! **He turned and ran towards the marines that were charging them from behind.

**THWAK! **Sanji surprise didn't last long. He quickly swung his leg and decked two marines with one hard kick.

**SKISH! **Luffy jumped back to avoid an attack then lashed out his arms. "GUUUM… GUUUM… GATLING!" **POW-POW-POW-POW! **Luffy's rubber fists lashed out and sent ten marines flying over the side of the bridge.

"ZORO!" Usopp cried out as he ran passed Zoro. He was running away from the charging marines while Zoro was charging towards them.

"Outta my way!" Zoro retorted.

"ON IT!" Usopp was happy to oblige.

**POW! POW! **For some reason, Zoro decided that he didn't want to use his swords and he proceeded to fight off one marine after another with his bare fists. **POW! POW!**

"ATTA BOY, ZORO!" Usopp cheered from the red girder he'd managed to climb up onto. "KICK THEIR ASSES!"

"Hope you're ready for me, Straw Hat!" a marine taunted as he held up a pair of boxing gloves. He threw a couple of punches. **Swish-swish!**

"Those are neat!" Luffy remarked. "But I bet my punch is still better!" Luffy wound up his arm and prepared to punch. "Gum… gum…

"_Now!" _The marine boxer prompted himself. **SHOOM! **The boxing glove on his right hand shot forward on a spring and whizzed at Luffy's head.

**SWISH! **Luffy was caught off guard but ducked to the side to avoid the surprise punch.

"GRAB HIM!" another marine shouted. **WHOMP! WHOMP! **He and three other marines tackled Luffy while he was off balance and Luffy suddenly found himself on the bottom of a dogpile as another five marines joined in and jumped on top of him. **FWUMP! FWUMP!**

"We sure fooled ya!" the marines with the boxing gloves taunted as he squeezed the trigger on his boxing gloves and showed off his fancy extendable boxing gloves. "Ha-ha! We carefully studied your moves, Straw Hat!"

"What-That's cheating!" Luffy complained from underneath a dozen marines.

**THWAK! **Sanji kicked a marine in the chin then delivered a spin kick to the chest of a marine behind him. **THWHAM! **

Sanji jumped up and drove his foot into the face of a third marine. **THWAK! **Then he flipped off and drove hit foot down onto the head of a fourth marine. **THWHAM!**

**WHAP! **But a fifth marine dove and grabbed Sanji's ankle and a sixth, much fatter marine, ran up and grabbed Sanji from behind while he was off balance. **WHAP! **A seventh marine joined in and grabbed Sanji from the front. **WHAP!**

"Scumbags!" Sanji snapped. There were simply too many of them.

"Surrender pirate!" the sixth, very fat marine taunted as he held Sanji from behind. "It's over for you and your friends!"

"Yeah, I don't think so tubby!" Sanji retorted.

"Guys! What're you doing?" Usopp called out from on his girder overhead. "Quit fighting like a bunch of scared little girls."

**CHING! **"RAAAH!" A marine swung down from overhead on a grappling hook.

"WAAAAHH!" Usopp screamed like a scared little girl and dove out of the way.

"YOU'RE MINE!" The marine snarled as he charged Usopp and swung his sword.

Usopp pulled a shell out from his arsenal and held it over his head. **BING! **The big marine's sword slammed down on the shell but it absorbed impact.

"Wha-what the…" the marine sputtered in surprise. "How'd that little sea shell stop my sword?"

"_Oh, it's an Impact Dial!" _Usopp realized.

**SWISH! **The marine raised his sword and brought it down again. **BING! **Usopp used his Impact Dial to block the attack and absorb the force. **SWISH! **The marine attacked again but again Usopp managed to neutralize the attack with his Impact Dial. **BING!**

While the marine was still caught off guard, Usopp dove off of his girder and onto another one. **SKISH!**

"RAAAH!" a big marine with an ax swung down on a rope.

"EEEP!" Usopp squeaked as he held up his Impact Dial. The marine swung his ax down at Usopp but the Impact Dial once again absorbed the impact of the attack. **BING! **Usopp took advantage and scrambled away through the girders to escape this marine as well.

**POW! **Zoro decked a marine with a punch. "There's no end to them!" the swordsman noted as he continued to not use his swords. **SWISH! **Zoro ducked a punch from another marine.

**WHAM! **A big, bald marine headbutted Zoro from behind and caused the swordsman to groan and hold the large lump that was now on the back of his head.

"Listen up pirates, and listen good," the big bald marine taunted, "We putt the 'N' in Navarone! We're the Special Forces Unit that the other Special Forces Units are scared of! You should give up now!"

Zoro glared back at the marine, "And you should shut that dumb yap of yours, chrome-dome!"

**Whap! **The marine grabbed Zoro by the collar then drove his forehead into Zoro's for another big headbutt. **WHAM! **Zoro recoiled back before the marine lashed out and delivered another headbutt. **WHAM!**

"Ptoi!" Sanji spat out his cigarette the swung his unrestrained left leg up over his head and kick the fat marine in the face. **THWHAM! **Sanji spun and delivered a sweep kick that knocked away the marine that was holding his other leg as well as the marine that had been holding him from the front. **THWAK-WAK!**

Sanji looked up from the fallen marines and saw that another twenty had taken their place… on both sides of him.

"Alright, who's next?" Sanji called out.

**WHISH! **Sanji looked up in surprise as a big pile of marines was suddenly lifted up above the other marines that were in front of him. **"RRAAAAH!" WHAM! **The dozen marines in the dogpile went flying off the bridge as Luffy overpowered all twelve of them and shot himself back up to his feet.

"Hey! Those toys of yours are pretty neat!" Luffy told the marine with boxing gloves as he hoisted another surprised marine up over his head. **SWISH! **Luffy threw the marine upward so fast that the unfortunate sailor ended up flying over the top of the huge bridge.

Luffy shot his hands back behind him. "GUUUUM… GUUUUUUM…" Luffy ran forward and shot his fists back and slammed them into the marine boxer's chest. "BAAAZOOOOKAAAA!" **WHAAAM! **Luffy smashed the boxer-marine through the crowd of marine behind him, over thirty marines were knocked off of the bridge as Luffy blasted the boxer-marine and the three unfortunate marines that had been righ behind him all the way back to the end of the bridge.

"NOW MEN!" the Leader shouted. "GRAB HIS ARMS BEFORE THEY'R RETRACTED!"

**WHAP-WHAP-WHAP! **Luffy's long arms were almost too easy for the marines to grab onto. "WAAAAAH!" They all yelled back in surprise as Luffy's arms snapped backwards and they ended up slamming into the rubber pirate.

The Unit 55 Leader ended up face-to-face with Luffy as he held onto Luffy's arm. "I'm not letting you go this time, Straw Hat!"

"You stubborn jerks…" Luffy growled as a crowd of no less than thirteen big, burly marines grabbed onto him. **Shooom! **Luffy stretched his leg up out of the crowd and overhead. "GUUUUUM… GUUUUUUUM…"

The marines looked up in surprise as Luffy's sandaled foot shot up over the top of the bridge.

"Uh oh," Sanji said as he paused to look up at Luffy stretched foot. Then he quickly lashed out his own legs and took down another two marines. **THWAK-WAK!**

"…BAAATTLEEE AAAXX!" **WHAAAAAM! **Luffy snapped his foot down through the thirteen marines and drove it down into the bridge with so much force that the massive steel structure shattered from the impact.

Zoro took a page out of Sanji's book as he swung his feet off and kicked the big bald marine in the face while he was caught off guard by the shaking, breaking bridge. **THWHAM! **

**Tmp! **Zoro landed in time for the steel underneath him to break apart. **KRACK!**

**KREEESSHH!** The mighty Straw Bridge was no match for the strength of Straw Hat Luffy and the middle of it broke to pieces and brought Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Usopp and what was left of Unit 55 crashing down into the water below.

**SPLA-SPLASH!**

The bridge was still standing but it would take a long time to repair the large hole that Luffy had left in the middle of it.

**-x-**

A couple minutes later, Zoro and Sanji had dragged Luffy and Usopp onto the far shore.

"Uugghhh…" Luffy groaned as he recovered from his encounter with the water.

"Moron!" Sanji spat. "You never think of the consequences, do you? DO YOU?"

"I'm sorry…" Luffy mumbled in apology.

"Well, let's go…" Zoro resolved as he pushed himself up to his feet. "Where's the dock?"

"Um… that way…" Usopp answered as he weakly pointed off to the side.

**-x-**

"What a mess…" Vice Admiral Jonathan remarked as he looked out through a window on the main island of Navarone. Due to his unmatched knowledge of his base, Jonathan and Todd had avoided the Straw Bridge and beat the Straw Hats across to the main land.

"They collapsed the Straw Bridge…" Jonathan observed, "I didn't think they'd cause that much damage. But it doesn't look like there were any casualties so Unit 55 served their purpose."

"_**Vice Admiral!" **_Master Chief Petty Officer Todd called through the Transponder Snail that the Vice Admiral had hanging from a strap that ran across his chest. _**"We're in place at Dock 88 and are ready to carry out the capture operation."**_

"Very good," Jonathan replied. "The Straw Hats just waded to shore after collapsing the bridge. They'll arrive any minute now."

"_**We won't let those lousy pirates escape us, sir!" **_Todd assured him.

"_**Very good," **_Jonathan said. _**"I'm going after One Eye now. These pirates are crafty so don't let your guard down. Good luck."**_

Jonathan turned and surveyed the unit of marines that he's assembled. Four of the men were carrying a large box between them.

"This game's almost at an end," Jonathan announced. "Let's go men."

**-x-**

"CEIN FLEUR…" One hundred arms grew out of the bodies of a little over twenty very surprised marines. "CLUTCH!"

The marines dropped to the ground as Ricky and Robin walked through their bodies and stared up at a massive safe that was easily fifty feet high and had five huge gears going across the top of it that interlocked to keep the safe secured.

"Yup, this is the place," Ricky noted. "I can sense our stolen treasure in there."

"And even if you couldn't," Robin said, "That unit of guards I just dispatched tells me that we're in the right place."

Ricky looked up at the five interlocked massive gold gears that the safe-like storage room was locked with. "Now that's a big safe." Ricky walked up to a panel in front of the safe that had five combination locks on it. "Right, I'd better get to work."

Ricky dropped Commander Shepherd on the ground next to the panel and then pressed his ear against it as he turned the first dial. **Click-click-click… **The sound was faint but Ricky had years of experience in safe cracking in addition to his enhanced hearing so he knew exactly what to listen for. **Click-click-clunk! **"Ah-ha! That's it!"

**CHUNK! **The first of the five gold gears popped out of its old in the safe and dropped downwards. **KRASH! **The gear crashed to the ground next to the panel.

"Good thing that didn't land on us," Robin remarked, "It's big enough to crush us both to death."

"Now isn't that a pretty image," Ricky retorted. "Wait… Hold on…" Ricky looked up at the safe and noted the large hole that had been left behind when the gear had come out. "When you get one of the combinations right… there gear comes out and leaves behind a man-sized hole?" Ricky looked over at Robin. "Do you see the obvious flaw in this design?"

"Doce Fleur…" A chain of twelve arms came down out of the hole.

"Ladies first," Ricky said as he motioned Robin towards the chain of arms while he hefted Shepherd onto his shoulders.

"Why are you bringing him along?" Robin inquired as she walked up to the safe and started to climb up her chain of arms.

"I've been leaving the marines I take out in fun places for the old badger to find," Ricky answered. "One's in a box in a storage room, two are sedated in the infirmary, I left another one in the empty cell down in the brig, and I figured I'd stash this guy in the safe once we cleared it." Ricky started to climb up the chain of arms as Robin reached the top then pulled herself up so she could sit on the bottom of the circular hole the missing gear had left behind.

"You were right," Robin confirmed as she glanced into the safe, "The hole goes all the way through the door. I suppose most people trying to get in would be deterred by the thirty foot climb followed by the drop."

"Just makes it easier for us," Ricky reasoned.

Robin created another chain and climbed down into the safe. She reached the bottom just as Ricky reached the hole. But he didn't bother climbing down and instead just jumped down into the safe and landed beside Robin. **TMP!**

Ricky and Robin surveyed the large, open storage room and noted the large picture of a fish that was on the far wall. Then they looked downward and spotted the familiar keypad-locked safe that Ricky kept in the men's quarters along with the large sack of gold that the other Straw Hats had gotten out of Nola.

"Now that we've found the treasure, there's something I promised I'd do…" Ricky said. He opened the sack and fished into it. He grinned as he pulled out a golden tablet. "It took a long time but we finally got the disclaimer."

**-x-**

**Disclaimer: **The following is a non-profit fanfic. One Piece and all the related characters are owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga and Eiichiro Oda. QPython only owns the original characters that he created for this story.

**-x-**

"Next time don't let Nami steal it," Robin suggested.

"Yeah, who would've thought the thief would've stolen the disclaimer," Ricky replied. "I probably should've seen that coming."

"Well, there's an old saying 'love is blind'," Robin pointed out. "Although in your case, maybe we should take it literally."

"And now to change the subject," Ricky announced as he punched in the combination on the keypad lock. "I'm going to put the rest of the gold in my safe so there's less to carry."

"Right and how do you plan to carry that safe to begin with?" Robin inquired.

"I put straps on the back of it so I can carry it on my back," Ricky answered as he stuffed the sack of gold into his safe. Ricky closed the door and locked it.

"Maybe we should have opened the door all the way," Robin reasoned as she stared up at the hole that was high overhead. "I'm not very eager to deadlift you and your safe thirty feet up."

Ricky went around the safe and hefted it onto his back using the two straps he'd rigged onto it. He suddenly turned ran at the door seemingly ignoring the large safe on his back. **SKISH! **Ricky jumped straight up in the air and grabbed onto the bottom of the hole in the safe.

"Ugh…" Ricky grunted but managed to pull himself and the safe up then and rested the safe on the empty hold while he sat on the edge of it and grinned down at Robin. "Did I ever tell you how Mana helped me, Zoro and Sanji train on our way across the Sandora Desert?"

"I think you might have left that part out…" Robin dead-panned.

**-x-**

"Are you sure it's this way Usopp?" Zoro asked as they ran through a hallway towards Dock 88.

"Yeah, trust me," Usopp assured him. "It's just around the corner."

**-x-**

"They're coming sir!" a marine in Dock 88 reported when he heard the sound of four sets of approaching footsteps.

"HERE THEY COME!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd shouted to his assembled forces. "READY, AIM…"

Usopp led the way through the doorway and stopped in his tracks. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji stopped behind him and stared in surprise. There were nearly three hundred marines crowded into the floor of Dock 88. Another hundred marines with guns were perched on the rafters up overhead.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhh…" Usopp let out a weak scream that turned into a whimper at the sight of Master Chief Petty Officer Todd and his army of four hundred marines.

**-x-**

"MEDICAL EMERGENCY!" Dr. Kobato called out to two marines stationed in the hallway. "LET US THROUGH!"

**WHAM! **The two marine were knocked aside as Dr. Kobato and Nami pushed passed them with Chopper and their gurney.

They ran down the rest of the hallway and spotted a silhouette in the open doorway to Dock 88.

**WHAM! **The gurney slammed into Usopp and knocked him to the ground.

"Miss. Nami… dressed as a nurse…" Sanji squealed in delight.

Nami paid him no mind and instead focused on the HUNDREDS of marines that had guns trained on Zoro and Sanji. Usopp was down on the ground next to her. And Luffy…

"Uuugghh…" Nami heard a groan and looked back to see Luffy trapped in a net beside the door.

"LUFFY!" Nami exclaimed.

"Uughh… hey…" Luffy mumbled from inside the Sea Stone net.

Nami and Chopper had just run straight into a pirate's nightmare.

**-x-**

**TOMP! **Ricky landed in front of the giant safe door with his own safe still on his back. Robin quickly climbed down her chain of arms to join him at the bottom.

"That wasn't too bad," Ricky remarked.

**Click-click-click-click-chuck! **Ricky and Robin turned to see Vice Admiral Jonathan and a unit of fifteen marines with their rifles aimed at them.

"'One Eye' Ricky… you're under arrest," Jonathan announced. "Checkmate."

**-x-**

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


	40. Showdown

**Another Nakama III**

"You what us to WHAT?" Usopp shouted as he, Ricky and Chopper stood together outside the menacing temple with a snake mouth for an entrance.

"We need to go in there and find a gold tablet," Ricky explained.

"And to do that we have to face booby-traps…" Usopp stated.

"Yup, darts shoot out of the walls, huge columns drop from the ceiling, walls close in, floors fall away, there's usually a whole mess of stuff," Ricky informed him. Usopp paled further with each trap Ricky mentioned while Chopper looked scared to death. "Oh, and sometimes there are statues and monsters that attack us."

"THERE'S MONSTERS TOO?" Chopper shrieked.

"Yeah, last time Nami, Robin and I got attacked by a giant snake," Ricky replied.

"And you want US to go in there with you?" Usopp demanded.

"You two were the only ones left," Ricky pointed out. "Everyone else has already gone."

"Yeah but the rest of you guys are monsters!" Usopp insisted. "You can't expect us to face traps and monsters like that! I bet Nami didn't like it!"

"Nami was the first one to jump through most of the traps," Ricky countered. "But she ended up stealing the disclaimer last time and then the marines confiscated it. Robin and I just got it back. So there's a whole separate reason why I'm not bringing her again."

"Wait-wait-wait!" Usopp cut in. "Just got it back? You mean you still have it?"

"Uh, yeah," Ricky admitted. "But that's the old one. This is the new one."

"So let me get this straight," Usopp said, "You want us to go into a big, scary temple, face deadly traps, statues that attack us and huge monsters… all to get a gold tablet… THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE? ARE YOU NUTS? I'M OUT!"

Ricky's eye widened in surprise as the sniper turned and ran off.

"Usopp! You can't just run away!" Ricky called after him. "What are we gonna do for a disclaimer?"

"JUST USE THE OLD ONE!" Usopp shouted without looking back.

Ricky looked over at Chopper, "Are you too scared to go into the temple too?"

"N-no!" Chopper stammered. His tiny legs were shaking. "I'm not scared." He'd broken out into a cold sweat. "I'm a man." He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Ricky looked up at the foreboding snake-like entrance of the temple. "I guess we don't _have to _hunt for the disclaimer this time…"

"REALLY?" Chopper exclaimed. His face lit up and he positively beamed at the prospect of _not _risking his life over the disclaimer. Chopper looked down and shuffled his feet. "I mean… I don't care. I'm tough. I'm not scared of monsters or traps."

"Don't worry about it Chopper," Ricky resolved. "This is the last chapter anyway. It would be a waste to go through all that trouble just to get a disclaimer for one chapter. We might as well get one last use out of the old one."

"OH BOY!" Chopper shifted into his reindeer form and took off running after Usopp. "USOPP! USOPP! RICKY SAYS WE DON'T HAVE TO GO! YOU CAN STOP RUNNING NOW!"

Ricky shook his head as he watched his brother run off then he turned and looked back at the temple entrance. The menacing snake head suddenly looked disappointed and sad.

"Next time..." Ricky told the temple, "Next time."

'**The following is a non-profit fanfic. One Piece and all the related characters are owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga and Eiichiro Oda. QPython only owns the original characters that he created for this story.'**

**-x-**

**Showdown:**

**-x-**

"I'm gonna rip your nose off if you sent us in the wrong direction!" Zoro growled at Usopp as they ran through the marine base towards the dock with Luffy and Sanji to recover the captured Going Merry.

"Don't worry, we're definitely heading the right way!" Usopp assured him as he recalled his previous visit to Dock 88. "Just keep moving. Hurry!"

The four Straw Hats raced down the hallway and saw that it made a sharp right turned.

"Yeah, I recognize that wall," Usopp observed. "Merry's docked just around the corner!"

"_Something's wrong," _Zoro thought to himself. _"This is way too easy."_

"Alright, stay alert!" Luffy encouraged the others as the rounded the corner. "No one's gonna stop us from stealing our ship!" They ran out into the dock and stopped in their tracks. "GAAH!"

The dock was filled with an army of four hundred marines. Marines with guns aimed at them from up on the metal catwalks while the rest of the marines were crowded down on the floor.

"Ugh… we're busted," Sanji groaned.

"I knew it was an ambush!" Zoro growled.

"SNIPER TEAM SEVEN TO THE FRONT!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd shouted as he stood in command at the front of the army of marines. "SHOOTERS TAKE AIM!"

Close to fifty marines that had formed the front line of their marine armed dropped down on one knee and aimed their rifles at the four Straw Hat Pirates.

"NO! DON'T AIM!" Usopp whimpered while the others prepared to spring into action.

"GUUUUMM… GUUUUUUMMM…"

"FIRE!" Todd yelled.

"BAAALLOOOOON!" **BOOINNNG! **Luffy inflated until he completely filled the large doorway they had just come in through but ended up knocking Zoro and Sanji aside.

**BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM! **The marine snipers opened fire and their bullet hit Luffy's rubber body AND WERE SHOT BACK AT THE MARINES! **SHO-SHO-SHOOOM!**

"WAAAH!" Officer Todd yelped and dove to the side as he and the men near him attempted to avoid the wildly ricocheting bullets.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Zoro and Sanji berated Luffy.

"I… CANNON TEAM TWELVE!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd called out as he pushed himself off of the ground. "TO THE FRONT!"

The front row of marine snipers were replaced as another unit of marines with large cannons stepped forward and aimed their own weapons at the Straw Hats.

"Great… bazookas…" Zoro complained.

"FIIIRE!" Todd ordered.

**BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! **The five cannons blasted at the Straw Hats.

**Tunk! Tunk! Tunk! Tunk! Tunk! **But all five of the rounds landed on the ground metal floor in front of the four pirates. They hadn't even exploded.

"Huh… duds?" Luffy questioned as he stared at the rounds.

**FWOOOOSH! **There was a bright flash of light as the five rounds exploded and a cloud of purple smoke suddenly clouded the entrance to the dock.

"Aw! My eyes!" Sanji yelped as he held his face. "What is this?"

"IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" Luffy whined as his eyes turned red from the suddenly exposure to bright light and then the purple gas cloud.

"Those were flash bombs and tear gas!" Usopp realized.

"SWORD UNIT!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd called out, "ATTACK!"

A large unit of forty marines that were all wearing special goggles charged into the purple gas clouds towards the Straw Hats.

Sanji squinted as he attempted to stare through the gas and saw two marines rushing at him.

**THWAK-WAK! **Sanji spun and kicked the marines away from him. "BASTARDS!"

"RAAAAH!" Another marine jumped at Sanji from behind.

**BOOOOM! **A small round ball exploded on the marine and blasted him away from Sanji.

Sanji turned and saw Usopp with his goggles down and his slingshot drawn.

"No worries!" Usopp reassured Sanji.

"Nice equipment you've got there," the cook praised the sniper and his goggles.

"You can borrow these," Usopp told him as he tossed Sanji a spare pair of goggles.

"Thanks," Sanji replied as he quickly slipped them on.

Zoro charged to meet a group of marines and slashed his swords, "DRAGON… TWISTER!" **SHOOOOM! **There marines were slash and blasted up into the air by Zoro's powerful attack.

"Blindness doesn't work on me," Zoro insisted, "Unlike a certain lovesick moron."

"Shut up mosshead!" Sanji snapped from nearby.

"RAAAAHH!" Luffy growled as he charged through the gas and lashed out his fists at a group of twelve marines. "GUUM… GUUM… GATLING!" **POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW! **The marines were blasted backwards by Luffy's barrage of rapid-fire bunches. **SKISH! **Luffy jumped and swung his leg which caused it to stretch and slam into another twenty marines. "AND WHIP!" **THWHAM! **

But what Luffy didn't notice was that his wide range attack had also caught Zoro and Sanji.

"GAAAH!" the swordsman and the cook gasped as they were knocked aside along with the rest of the sword unit marines.

The rushing air of Luffy whipping his leg around finally cleared the gas cloud.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Now that was fun!" But that was when Luffy finally noticed that only Usopp was with him by the entrance. "Hey… where're the guys?"

"YOU WHIPPED 'EM ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE!" Usopp yelled at him.

"SORRY!" Luffy called out to Zoro and Sanji.

"YOU! THINK NEXT TIME!" Sanji berated the captain as he and Zoro sat up then he turned and glared at Zoro. "Alright, you dimwitted moron, what'd you say to me?"

Zoro turned and glared back at Sanji, "What do you think I said you swirly-browed pervert!"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed as Zoro and Sanji started to bicker and fight each other instead of the marines.

"IN CASE YOU TWO FORGOT, THERE'S STILL AN ARMY HERE!" Usopp shouted.

"FIRE!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd shouted.

**BOOM! **The marine next to him fired a cannon and a net shot out and snagged Luffy before he even saw it coming. **WHAP!**

"GAAH!" Luffy tumbled backwards in the net and smacked into the wall next to the door.

Zoro and Sanji stopped their fight and looked down to see the captain caught in a net.

"Luffy!" Usopp exclaimed as he turned to help.

"STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!" Todd barked at Usopp which caused the sniper to freeze. "It says dead or alive on your wanted posters! Here at G-8 we lean towards alive. But if you continue to resist us we'll be forced to change that policy!"

Usopp turned around and found that the sniper united had their rifles trained on him, Zoro and Sanji again. Up overhead the marines on the catwalks still had their guns trained on the pirates.

"Luffy! You've gotta get outta that!" Usopp warned the captain. "We're in real trouble here!"

Luffy struggled with the net but his strength suddenly faded. "Trying… but worn out…"

"That net's Sea Stone!" Zoro realized.

"Exactly," Todd taunted. "It's a specially designed Sea Stone Net Bomb. One Eye was kind enough to demonstrate how effective they are against Straw Hat when he captured him in the dining hall. It's just like Vice Admiral Jonathan would say, this is checkmate Straw Hats."

**-x-**

Ricky and Robin stood together in front of the massive safe-storage room that they'd just broken into to recover Ricky's safe and the rest of the Straw Hats' confiscated treasure.

Vice Admiral Jonathan had them trapped with a unit of fifteen armed marines. "In addition to your other crimes the two of you are now guilty of impersonating marine officers."

"Hey, I just impersonated a marine," Ricky pointed out, "You made me an officer."

"Very well, your crime is impersonating a marine," Jonathan amended, "But your friend is still guilty of impersonating Commander Shepherd. You two in addition to Straw Hat Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Long Nose, the cook and your fake doctor make seven pirates. Looks like I've finally got all of you Straw Hats right where I want you."

Ricky and Robin grinned at the very obvious flaw in Jonathan's logic.

"What're you two grinning at?" Jonathan questioned. "Surrender yourselves immediately."

"That's what we're grinning at," Ricky quickly replied. "You seem to think you can keep us here with only fifteen men. What's the matter? Is everyone else crowded in the dock?"

"I had hoped that we could avoid resorting to violence," Jonathan confessed. "So before you two insist on doing this the hard way I would like to introduce you to my new toy." The fifteen marines kept their guns trained on Ricky and Robin while Jonathan looked back and called down the hall. "Bring it in!"

Four more marines ran in with a large box. They opened it and pulled out a massive bazooka. The huge barrel of the cannon was twice the height of a normal person and three times as wide. A large marine hefted the bazooka onto his shoulder and held onto the long handle that went down the front of his chest and had a trigger on it.

"And what is that exactly?" Robin inquired.

"Interesting that you'd ask that," Jonathan replied. "My men discovered it on the ship that the real Commander Shepherd arrived on. It's a high-powered bazooka called the Eagle Launcher. I doubt the real Shepherd would mind if I used to it apprehend you."

Ricky and Robin stared into the massive barrel of the Eagle Launcher as the big marine that was holding it stood behind Vice Admiral Jonathan. The other eighteen marines all had their guns aimed at the two pirates.

Jonathan held up the handset of his Transponder Snail. "Your friends ran right into our ambush at Dock 88. The game's over One Eye. Checkmate."

Ricky shook his head, "You keep making the same mistake, Vice Admiral."

**-x-**

Back in Dock 88, Mekao the Shipwright climbed up a ladder on the far side of the room and looked back over his shoulder at the cornered Straw Hats by the door. He looked down and saw Usopp standing alone in the open doorway.

"How'd I know he'd be here?" Mekao wondered outloud.

"What're you doing!" came a shouted from overhead.

Mekao looked up and saw a marine looking down at him from on the catwalk that he was climbing up to.

"This isn't a drill!" the marine continued. "Get to your station!'

"Aw, blow it out your rifle!" Mekao snapped in response.

**-x-**

"N-not good…" Usopp stammered as he backed away from the advancing line of marine snipers. Now over a hundred marines had rifles trained on him, Zoro and Sanji.

"Look at this," Sanji remarked to Zoro, "There's a sea of them left even after all the ones we took out."

"Make this easy on yourselves and give up!" Todd warned the three Straw Hat Pirates. "Escape from here is impossible. READY!"

**Click-click! **The marines readied their rifles.

"Damn," Zoro cursed, "We've got no choice."

"ATTACK!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd ordered.

"**AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" **But a loud scream cut the marines off before they could fire.

Nami and Dr. Kobato came running into the dock pushing the gurney with Chopper on it in front of them. **WHAM! **The gurney slammed into Usopp and he crashed to the ground in a heap.

Nami's eyes went wide in shock when she saw the Captain caught in a Sea Stone net, Usopp barely conscious on the ground, Sanji swooning and Zoro looking annoyed as they were surrounded by just small amount of the army of marines stationed in the dock.

Chopper peered out from under his sheet and off the front of the gurney at Usopp's body.

"Usopp?" the doctor called out.

"Somebody call a doctor…" Usopp groaned.

"USOPP!" **SWISH! **Chopper suddenly transformed into his big Heavy Point form. The man-deer scooped the injured sniper up off the ground. "LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO HIM! HE'S INJURED! HE COULD DIE AND ITS ALL BECAUSE OF THOSE MARINES!"

"That's not quite it…" Zoro and Sanji whispered to the high-strung reindeer.

**-x-**

:"Huh… Kobato?" Mekao questioned as he looked down and spotted the doctor behind the gurney with Nurse Nami.

**-x-**

"Master Chief Petty Officer Todd…" the marine next to the commanding officer spoke up, "That monster must be their doctor…"

"YOU! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" Todd shouted.

But suddenly Dr. Kobato took a deep breath… and screamed. "AAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHH!" The doctor's incredibly loud scream flooded the dock and forced a large number of the marines to plug their ears.

"Uuugghhh…" Zoro and Sanji groaned from their close proximity to the scream that seemed more like a sonic blast that would make a certain green haired monkey jealous.

Nami turned and snapped at Kobato, "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU!"

"WE'VE BEEN TAKEN HOSTAGE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" the doctor continued to scream. Nami's eyes widened as Kobato caught her eye and winked at her. "PLEASE SAVE US! IT WASN'T OUR FAULT! WE WERE FORCED HERE AGAINST OUR WILL!"

"Kobato?" Chopper questioned.

Nami grinned as she caught on and joined Dr. Kobato in screaming in terror. "AAAAAAHHH! THIS GIANT MONSTER IS ONE OF THE PIRATES!"

"Did I miss something?" Zoro wondered as he looked back at the screaming doctor and 'nurse'.

"Who's that other girl?" Sanji inquired. "She's got a lovely set of lungs on her."

"How should I know?" Zoro retorted.

"We can't afford to go in blasting," the marine next to Todd pointed out.

"I… you're right," Todd realized. "Damn those pirates… Now they're taking hostages!"

"So that monster's a pirate!" another marine realized. "What do we do?"

"I… I…" Todd stammered. Sweat started to trickle down the officer's forehead.

"THAT'S RIGHT! I'M A ROUGH AND TOUGH MEMBER OF THE STRAW HATS!" Chopper bellowed. "CRYING BABIES EVEN SHUT THEIR TRAPS WHEN THEY GET A LOAD OF ME!"

Zoro grinned and applauded Chopper's loud boasting.

"YOU MARINES HAD BETTER DO EXACTLY AS I SAY OR THESE HOSTAGES ARE DOOMED!" Chopper growled.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Nami and Dr. Kobato screamed on cue.

"ORDER YOUR BAFFOONS TO STAND DOWN AND LET US BOARD OUR SHIP!" Chopper demanded.

"Uugghh…" Todd mumbled.

"Now I get it," Zoro realized as a shark-like grin spread across his face.

"DO IT!" Chopper urged the marines. "DOUBLE TIME! OR I'LL SNAP THESE GIRLS' NECKS LIKE TWIGS! THEN THEIR BLOOD WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS!"

"I… blood…" Todd stammered in horror.

"I'd do as he says," Zoro chimed in as he motioned over his shoulder at Chopper. "He's serious. I've seen the neck-snap thing. It's pretty messy."

Sanji stared directly at Master Chief Petty Officer Todd. "How would it look if you, the righteous arm of justice let two innocent women die?"

Todd's legs started shaking. Sweat was pouring down from his forehead. The newly promoted commanding officer was clearly in way over his head.

"Master Chief—Todd!" one of the marines sputtered. "What do we do?"

"If those pirates kill two women on our watch… we'll be shut down…"

"Kill… shut down…" Todd repeated in horror.

"You guys…" Luffy mumbled from in the net. "This isn't helping…"

"Shut up!" Nami hissed at him.

"RRRAAAAAAHHHHHHRRRRRR!" Chopper let out a loud monster roar.

"HE'S GOING TO KILL US!" Kobato shrieked.

"DO AS HE SAYS!" Nami shouted. "I CAN'T DIE BEFORE I GET MARRIED!"

"What do we do?" "What do we do?" The question peppered Todd from all directions.

"I… I don't know…" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd stammered. He yanked out his transponder snail and shouted, "VICE ADMIRAL JONATHAN! WHAT DO I DO?"

**-x-**

"_**VICE ADMIRAL JONATHAN! WHAT DO I DO?" **_Todd's voice echoed through the hall. _**"THE FAKE DOCTOR'S A MONSTER! HE'S HOLDING DR. KOBATO AND A NURSE HOSTAGE AND IS THREATENING TO KILL THEM! WHAT DO I DO?"**_

"And that's our cue," Ricky remarked. "Robin, what's that you're always saying about dangerous weapons?"

Robin crossed her arms over her chest, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't point those dangerous objects at me."

"WAAAH!" the large gunman yelped as over a dozen arms grew out of his body. He was roughly spun around to face the marines behind him and one of the arms pulled the trigger. **BOOOOM! **A red rocket blasted out of the Eagle Launcher and blasted the ground. It exploded and blasted the marines backwards. The only ones left standing were the gunman and Jonathan.

**Swish-Click! **The gunman was roughly spun around again and now the Eagle Launcher was pointed directly at Vice Admiral Jonathan.

"It appears that now we're the ones that have you trapped Vice Admiral," Robin remarked.

Jonathan looked back over his shoulder and into the barrel of the Eagle Launcher at the red rocket that could blast him at any second.

"I… I'm sorry Vice Admiral…" the gunman apologized.

"It's not your fault soldier," Jonathan reassured him. He stiffened as six arms suddenly blossomed out of his own body. Robin's extra hands deftly undid the strap that was fastened to Jonathan's transponder snail then tossed the snail over to Ricky.

Ricky grinned and motioned to Robin, "Perhaps I should introduce our newest crewmate. This is Nico Robin. She joined our crew _after _Alabasta."

"After Alabasta…" Jonathan repeated. "But… there were only seven cups of coffee…"

Ricky looked over at Robin in confusion. "I'm assuming he means the coffee that Mr. Cook set out for us when we landed in the middle of the base. He must have judged how many of us there were based on the cups Mr. Cook set out."

"Our cook is mad at me because I broke our navigator's heart," Ricky explained. "She's actually the nurse that my crew is holding hostage."

"And you told me that you were in the infirmary so I wouldn't send men in there to investigate," Jonathan realized.

"Don't worry, our doctor is the best in the world," Ricky stated. "He really did help Dr. Kobato treat all those injured marines. Now she's acting as a hostage so my crew to repay him. Don't hold it against her. My crew has a way of inspiring people and changing their lives."

"_**VICE ADMIRAL! WHAT DO I DO?" **_Todd screamed again.

"Poor guy," Ricky remarked as he shook his head. "I actually like Todd. But he's nowhere near ready to lead a force that big in such an important battle. You didn't really have a choice though since I took out all your other officers. He could really use your advice right now."

Jonathan glared at Ricky and clenched his hands into fists.

"Losing is never easy," Ricky stated, "But don't do anything stupid. Robin's a trained assassin. We've got a cannon pointed at you but she can just as easily break your back. If she does that you'll never be able to fish again. Now hold still while I help Todd make a decision."

**-x-**

**Escape:**

**-x-**

"_**Hey Master Chief, I'd recommend letting them go."**_

"You… ONE EYE!" Todd snarled into his mini-Transponder Snail.

"Ricky?" Zoro questioned when he heard Todd shout.

"_**I commandeered Vice Admiral Jonathan's Transponder Snail," **_Ricky answered. _**"We also have a huge cannon pointed at him so he can't come to the snail-phone right now. You're on your own. You've got to decide if you want to be responsible for a nurse and a pediatrician dying on your watch. That's the sort of thing that'll not only destroy your career but will completely ruin what's left of your base's reputation. Are you really going to disgrace a thousand marines over five pirates?"**_

"Fine," Todd conceded. "You win." He gave his order. "Stand down men. We can't risk it."

Zoro and Sanji stood at the front of the group and watched the marines backed away from them and then parted to make a path to the Going Merry.

"Wow, they actually complied," Sanji remarked.

"Let's hope so," Zoro replied. He went over to Luffy and with a slash of his sword the rubber pirate was freed from his net.

"Thanks Zoro… I owe you one…" Luffy groaned.

"Alright, snap out of it," Zoro instructed as he pulled Luffy off of the remains of the Sea Stone and to his feet. "Keep your mouth shut so we can get outta here."

**-x-**

Mekao climbed down the ladder and walked over to the group of orange uniformed shipwrights that had just come through an adjoining room to see what all the fuss was about.

"Call me crazy, but I swear I just heard Kobato screaming," one of the shipwrights said.

"I heard her too," another agreed.

"What's going on up there, Mekao?" a third asked.

"Kobato's being held hostage," Mekao answered casually.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" the shipwright exclaimed. "THAT'S TERRIBLE!"

"Eh, it's nothing to worry about," Mekao assured him as he went passed the group of shipwrights into the dock control room. "What makes me nervous is those marines."

**-x-**

"Alright, we've complied with your demands," Master Chief Petty Officer Todd pointed out as he tried to regain control of the situation. "Now release the hostages."

"It worked! We did it!" Nami realized. She quickly elbowed Chopper. "Chopper, speak!"

"LISTEN! YOU DON'T GIVE THE ORDERS HERE!" the man-deer bellowed. "THERE WOMEN WILL ONLY BE RELEASED ONCE WE ESCAPE!"

"You spineless, rotten, miserable pirates!" Todd snarled. "Fine! Go!"

"How accommodating," Zoro remarked.

Before Zoro could stop him Luffy dashed over to Todd and smirked at him. "You seem upset. Want us to beat you up instead?"

"Grrrr…" Todd growled. "JUST GET OUT OF HERE, DAMN YOU!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Okay, if you say so. Let's go guys!" Luffy took off and ran for the ship. Zoro raced after him and the 'hostages' Nami and Kobato were forced to run so they could keep pace. Sanji was naturally right behind the two women while Chopper carried Usopp and brought up the rear.

**Woing! **Luffy stretched his arms and grabbed onto the railing of the Going Merry and shot himself up and onto it. **SHOOOM!**

**SKISH! **Zoro jumped up onto the side of the Merry and quickly hopped the railing.

**Woing! **Luffy stretched his arms down towards Nami and Kobato.

"What a long reach," Dr. Kobato remarked obliviously as he grabbed Luffy's outstretched hand. Nami grabbed Luffy's other hand and he yanked both his arms upward. **SHOOOOM! **Nami and Kobato flew up onto the ship.

**SKISH! **Sanji jumped up onto ship in one bound. **SKISH! **Chopper jumped after him and quickly went over the railing.

"ALRIGHT!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd called up to the Straw Hats from beside the ship. "You're on your ship. Now release the hostages!"

"Okay," Luffy agreed.

Zoro pulled him back, "Not until you turn us loose."

Everyone had been so caught up with the Straw Hats escaping that no one noticed Mekao as a spun a wheel to operate the dock controls.

**SHUNK!** The chain attached to the metal block behind the Going Merry on the dock ramp was pulled taught and then it yanked the block up out of the trench and into the air. **CHUNK!**

"Wait… I never ordered that…" Todd realized as the Going Merry started to slide backwards.

"Here, catch!" Sanji called out as he grabbed Dr. Kobato and tossed her over the railing.

Master Chief Petty Officer Todd looked up and raised his arms in time to catch Kobato in midair. **WHAP!**

"Oh, my hero!" Dr. Kobato gushed.

"He-hero?" Todd stammered as his face flushed.

"Sir, they're getting away with the other hostage!" a marine called out.

**WOOOOSHH! **The Going Merry slid backwards the rest of the way down the ramp, through the boat entrance to the dock and splashed down in the water outside. **SPLOOOSH!**

"SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed as the Going Merry sailed backwards away from the dock.

"Officer Todd, what do we do?" a marine asked.

"FIRE!" Todd ordered.

"But what about the hostage?"

"Uh… FIRE WARNING SHOTS!" Todd amended. "AND SOUND THE ALARM!"

**BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM! **Bullets splashed the water around the Going Merry as it sailed away.

"YEAH!" Luffy cheered. "IT WORKED!"

"Alright everyone, look alive!" Nami ordered.

**RRRRIIIIIINNNG! RRRRIIIIIINNG! **Navarone's alarm sounded as the Straw Hats made their escape on their newly reclaimed ship.

**-x-**

**RRRRIIIIIINNNG! RRRRIIIIIINNG! **The alarm had even reached the storage room hallway.

"Looks like the others managed to escape," Robin observed.

"Then I guess it's time to get out of here," Ricky resolved.

"There's a door near the end of the hall that we should be able to use to get out onto a balcony," Robin recounted from her study of the Navarone map.

**WHUP! **Robin's arms bent the gunman that was holding the Eagle Launcher forward so it was pointed at the ground then pulled the trigger. **BOOOM! **The red rocket shot out and exploded which caused the gunman and the huge bazooka to get blasted up into the air before the crashed to the ground in a heap. **BOOOOOOOM-KRASH!**

"Remember your fishing career," Robin warned Jonathan as she walked right passed him. Ricky followed but stopped in front of Jonathan.

"I promised the real Natsu I'd tell someone where he is before I left," Ricky stated. "He's in a crate in the large storage room near the infirmary. Also, I left the real Shepherd in your safe. No hard feelings. We just landed here and were trying to get out. That's why we held back and tried not to hurt anyone too badly."

"So this is checkmate," Jonathan observed. "You've beaten me at my own game."

"You know, that's why you lost," Ricky remarked. "It's not that you were playing against the wrong opponent. You and I were playing different games. In Chess, the game is over when the King is captured so whenever the King is in check steps need to be taken to prevent it from being captured at all costs. The King is the linchpin, and everything else does nothing but follow its commands. You caught our King twice but we still kept going and turned things around. That's because while you were playing Chess, I was playing Poker. In Poker, almost any combination of cards could be a winning hand to a skilled enough player. Intelligence, bluffs, tells, knowing the habits and quirks of both your opponent and yourself, the size of the pot, and even how your luck is running are just as important as having a good hand. In Chess, the King is the be-all end-all. But in Poker, even a pair of twos can win if you can make the other guy think you've got a Full House." Ricky shrugged. "I had fun though. Maybe we'll play again sometime."

Ricky stepped around Jonathan and followed after Robin.

"Tell her you love her."

Ricky stopped and looked back at Jonathan. "What?"

"Your nurse," Jonathan replied. "The one you kept safe in the infirmary this whole time. I don't know what the circumstances are behind you ending things and breaking her heart. But it's obvious that you still care for her. If that's the case make sure she knows it. The best way to do that is to tell her you love her because you can never say it enough."

Ricky nodded then ran off after Robin.

**-x-**

In the kitchen, while the marines were dealing with the Straw Hats, Head Chef Jessica was waging a war of her own against her two new cooks.

"No, no, faster!" Jessica demanded. "How many times do I have to go over this? We have one thousand mouths to feed! Speed is of the essence! Pick it up, or pack up!"

**Konk! Konk! **Jessica hit the celebrity chefs over the head with a ladel.

After Luffy and Sanji had been exposed as fakes, the Navarone Chefs had finally located the real Marley Brothers. Only it turned out that the fakes were the real cooks and the real ones.

"You didn't need to hit uh…" Robert Marley whined while Jacob looked on the verge of tears.

"Oh really? You have a grievance then?" Jessica challenged them. "Because let me be clear! First you two need to prove yourselves to be worthy of being in this kitchen! Now get over there and peel the potatoes! All three thousand!"

"Is it just me or is Jessica a little tense?" Tom asked as he, Billy and Shinpachi worked together at a table in the middle of the kitchen.

"She's having trouble coming to terms with the fact that our star cook turned out to be a pirate," Billy explained.

"And the fact that the real new guys are nothing but incompetent losers," Shinpachi added.

Jessica turned and glared at the three cooks. "Another word and I'll boil your tongues!"

"Yes ma'am!" the trio whimpered.

"Hey Billy, do me a favor and try the special sauce," Tom requested as he fed the other cook a spoon of the sauce he was working on. "Pretty amazing stuff, eh? Well…"

Billy tasted it carefully but then frowned. "It tastes good. Honestly it does."

"Isn't that our house sauce?" Shinpachi inquired.

"Yeah," Billy answered.

"You know what," Shinpachi said, "That pirate may have lied about his name but there's absolutely no questioning his culinary skills. I mean, we _are _good cooks. But _he _had real flare."

"Yeah, flare, that's for sure," Billy agreed. "And it's a shame."

"Damn it, what did he do different?" Tom wondered.

The big brown haired sous chef looked back at the other cooks and frowned.

"Jessica…" the Sous Chef said as he turned to the Head Chef.

"Yes? What?" Jessica asked.

"Perhaps this can be of some use," the Sous Chef suggested as he held up a piece of paper. "It seems he left some detailed notes and recipes for various dishes he prepared."

"THE PIRATE LEFT US WHAT?" Tom shouted.

"WHOLE RECIPES?" Billy repeated.

"Oh, that's right," Shinpachi realized as he remembered Sanji saying that he'd write down some of his recipes for them. "He did say he'd do that."

Jessica glared at Sanji recipes in the Sous Chef's hand. "What makes you think I care?"

"Uh… well… I was hoping that… well he did leave it… so what's the harm in using a few?"

"Idiot!" Jessica snapped as she snatched the paper away. "Give me that! Utterly pathetic! All of you! You dare stand there and call yourselves loyal to Navarone? If you accept this pirate's help, if you use one note on this page, then you betray our heritage!"

"Uh… sorry chef…" Jacob Marley suddenly called out as he and Robert held up a mutilated basket of potatoes. "It's just that…"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Jessica shrieked when she saw the large chunks of potato that were still on the poorly peeled skins. "CAN'T YOU FOOLS EVEN HANDLE A SIMPLE TASK LIKE PEELING POTATOES?"

"Uh… well… our men always used to do it," Jacob confessed.

"They always turned out like that…" Robert admitted.

"THIS KITCHEN IS A BATTLEFIELD!" Jessica berated the two cooks. "IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, WE DON'T HAVE ANY FOOD TO WASTE! EVERY SINGLE SCRAP IS A VITAL RESOURCE!"

Jessica blinked in surprise when she released that she was repeating Sanji's words from when he'd won the cooking challenge using scraps.

"Um… are you okay?" Jacob Marley inquired.

"SILENCE!" Jessica yelled. "REPORT TO DISHWASHING IMMEDIATELY!"

The Marely Brothers recoiled in terror and ran across the kitchen to the sink.

**-x-**

"Straight ahead, isn't that the pirate ship?" a marine pointed out as he stared through a scope while two others aimed the massive gun turrets on the outer ring of Navarone.

"Yeah, and we've got it dead in our sights," another marine replied. "Why won't the give the order to attack?"

"I hear they have a hostage," the first marine explained. "Some nurse they captured. The poor woman must be losing her mind being handled by such filth."

"Pirates!" a third marine growled. "I could sink the whole lot of 'em!"

"I think I've spotted her!" the second marine announced as he stared through his scope and saw the orange haired woman in the pink nurse's uniform on the Going Merry. "The hostage is safe. But… it looks like she's giving them orders…"

**-x-**

"Daddy!" Dr. Kobato exclaimed.

"Daddy?" Todd repeated as he stared at Mekao in surprise.

"Now this is how I like to see my baby girl," the shipwright remarked, "Safe and sound."

"So then you released the ship," Todd realized.

"Of course," Mekao replied. "What father in his right mind would stand idly by and watch his daughter fall into harm's way when he can stop it?"

"Oh daddy, don't yell at him," Kobato cut in, "He called off the whole ambush and even let the pirates get away to make sure I was safe."

"So he did," Mekao agreed, "But I can't say the same for that other girl."

"Sir!" a marine ran up to Todd. "I have some intel about the hostage! The scouts outside say that they can see her shouted orders at the pirates. We think that she might be one of them."

"SHE'S WHAAAAT?" Todd shouted. He whirled around to face the marines that were still in the dock. "BOARD THE SHIPS! HURRY UP! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

**-x-**

**CLANG! **The giant vault door fell forward and slammed to the ground.

Vice Admiral Jonathan stood safely in the middle of one of the gear holes in the door. He climbed out of the hole and walked into the vault-like storage room.

"I'M SAVED!"

Jonathan blinked in surprise at the sight of a very excited gray-skinned man.

"You, whoever you are!" Shepherd gushed. "I'm not Condoriano! I'm not a pirate!"

"I know," Jonathan replied. "You're Special Inspector Commander Shepherd from Headquarters. I'm Vice Admiral Jonathan. I apologize but we've been dealing with an invading force of eight extremely skilled pirates. I'm afraid my men got carried away when you were concerned."

"Oh, think nothing of it!" Shepherd replied.

Jonathan blinked. "Really? I thought for sure you'd be upset."

"Don't be silly you old badger!" Shepherd exclaimed. "Those awful pirates kept calling my Condoriano! Then they locked me in that safe! I'm claustrophobic! I thought I'd never get out! BUT YOU SAVED ME!"

"Oh… you're welcome then," Jonathan remarked. "Actually, those pirates are making their escape now."

"Say no more," Shepherd said. "Duty calls good buddy."

"Good buddy?" Jonathan repeated. This friendly gray man was starting to weird him out. Honestly, he'd almost prefer it if Shepherd was furious over the whole ordeal and trying to get him court-martialed.

Jonathan turned away from the vault and Shepherd dutifully ran after him but stopped when he spotted a large bazooka on the ground.

"Hey, is that my Eagle Launcher?" Shepherd asked.

"Yes," Jonathan answered. "I borrowed it in an attempt to apprehend One Eye and Nico Robin."

"Really? How'd it go?" Shepherd inquired.

"It didn't work," Jonathan testily replied.

"You mean it didn't fire?" Shephered questioned. "Or did you fire it backwards by accident? Because there was this one time…"

"No, as I said, one of them was Nico Robin," Jonathan explained. "She's actually the one that attacked you. She has Devil Fruit Powers and she caught us off guard."

"In that case, I'll bring it along," Shepherd decided. "I don't care what kind of ship those pirates have. One good shot from the Eagle Launcher and they'll sink like a stone!"

"I suppose there's no harm in bringing along an extra weapon," Jonathan reasoned.

"What's the plan then?" Shepherd prodded as he hefted his bazooka onto his shoulder.

"One Eye was kind enough to point out that I've been playing the wrong game," Jonathan said. "We're playing poker against these pirates and that means the game's not over. We've got one last chance, one last hand to turn this around. They're no doubt headed for the Sea Gate. That's the only way out of Navarone. We need to go all in and assure that we stop them there. Everything comes down to that."

"I had heard that you were a master strategist, not a gambler," Shepherd commented.

"I am a strategist," Jonathan stated, "But a good strategist can alter his strategy and cater it to a specific opponent. This is a big risk but if it pays off we'll capture all eight members of the crew. If it doesn't, they'll all escape."

"I'm with you good buddy!" Shepherd insisted, "Inspectors never get this kind of excitement."

**-x-**

**The Sea Gate:**

**-x-**

"Why are we hugging the edge of this cliff?" Zoro asked as the Straw Hats Pirates sailed the Going Merry alongside the island.

"Protection," Nami answered. "We'd have cannons blasting us from both sides if we went through the middle."

"**Uugghh…" **Usopp groaned and finally woke up. "Where am I?"

"Oh, you're awake Usopp!" Luffy observed.

"This is Merry," Usopp realized. "How did we get back?"

"I held a nurse hostage!" Chopper boasted.

Usopp noted Nami's pink nurse outfit, "Oh, I see, so Nami was the hostage."

"Still, I didn't see any of them make the ship move," Zoro pointed out. "How'd that happen?"

"If I had to guess, I say it was that old shipwright," Usopp suggested even though he hadn't been conscious for the ordeal.

"Why's that?" Zoro inquired.

"Just a feeling," Usopp answered.

"Oh, Miss. Nami dressed as a nurse!" Sanji swooned as he took in Nami in her nurse's outfit.

"Well we escaped," Nami reasoned, "But what good are we without maps or charts? We were way better off with you guys in jail. What do we do now?"

"Oh, it's Miss. Robin!" Sanji called out.

**VRRRRROOOOOOMM… **Nami spun around at the familiar sound of her Waver approaching.

"IT'S RICKY! AND ROBIN!" Chopper exclaimed.

Ricky and Robin pulled up alongside the Merry on the Waver. Ricky was driving and Robin was pulling along Ricky's safe with two chains of arms. Nami's eyes narrowed at how Robin's arms were wrapped around Ricky's waist.

"Hey Luffy! We could use a hand!" Ricky called up to the ship as he held up his hand.

**WOIINNG! **Luffy shot his arm down and grabbed his brother's hand then yanked upward on his own arm. **SHOOOOOOM! **Ricky, Robin, the Waver and the safe all flew up out of the water, over the railing and crashed down onto the main deck. **WHAM! Whap! **Robin acted quickly and managed to catch herself with some extra arms on the railing. Ricky wasn't as lucky and ended up in a heap on the deck.

Ricky pushed himself up and brushed himself off, "Okay, so I didn't stick the dismount but I did drive it decently. I think that Dial Board and those Dial Skis played a part in figuring it out."

"So… it went well?" Nami inquired.

"We had to directly deal with the old badger," Ricky admitted, "But as you can see we successfully retrieved the treasure as well as your Waver and we still have the G-8 map that will show us how to get out of here. I also stole Jonathan's main Transponder Snail."

**Squeak… **Nami skidded forward but stopped in her tracks. She was left slightly off balance as if she had just stopped herself mid-glomp

"Um…. Good job," Nami said awkwardly. "Let's... let's see that map."

Robin reached into her floral patterned shirt and removed the map that she'd taken from the book of charts. She unfolded it and presented it to Nami.

"The only way in and out of Navarone is through the Sea Gate," Robin explained.

"Right and according to this it should be somewhere on the northern shore," Nami noted as she scanned the map and spotted the marked gate at the top.

**BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! **Cannons suddenly started firing all around the Straw Hats and cannonballs hit the water around the Going Merry and exploded.

"They're shooting at us!" Luffy realized.

"You guys said they wouldn't attack us because we had a hostage!" Usopp pointed out.

"Well we knew it was only going to be a matter of time," Nami reasoned.

"Did we also know that they'd send warships after us?" Usopp exclaimed.

The Straw Hats looked back to see five marine warships in pursuit of the Going Merry.

**-x-**

"Yes, that's right, there is no hostage on board!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd confirmed as he stood at the front railing of the lead warship. "Fire at will!"

"_**Officer, good to hear you again," **_came the voice of Vice Admiral Jonathan.

"Vice Admiral!" Todd exclaimed. "I have five warships in pursuit of the Straw Hats."

"_**Excellent," **_Jonathan replied. _**"Commander Shepherd and I are here at the gate house at the Sea Gate. With the gate sealed and cannon fire from both sides there will be no escape."**_

"Right, sir!" Todd agreed.

"_**And Todd…" **_Jonathan added. _**"You did the right thing at the dock. There are some marines that would have followed Absolute Justice and risked the lives of hostages in order to capture the pirates at all costs. But despite my ties with Admiral Akainu, we are not that type of marines that endanger the lives of innocent civilians to accomplish our goals."**_

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Todd replied. "I know of your dedication to Moral Justice."

"_**Very good," **_Jonathan said. _**"Don't worry about being deceived by the Straw Hats. They're an exceptionally crafty group of pirates that we weren't prepared for. But we've got them now."**_

"That's right sir," Todd stated. "We're closing in on them and they should spot the Sea Gate any second now."

**-x-**

"There it is!" Nami called out as she pointed off the front of the ship at the big metal G-8 gate. "That's our exit! The Sea Gate!"

"Usopp, prepare the bow cannon!" Nami ordered then she looked back at Chopper who was in the galley manning the whipstaff. "Chopper, make extra certain you follow my orders."

"No problem," the reindeer agreed.

"This is the base's only way out so we'll have to break through that gate," Nami resolved.

Ricky looked over at Luffy, Zoro and Sanji. "Be ready guys," he warned them. "If this is the only way out of the base, the marines know that too. Be ready to see some cannon fire."

**-x-**

"Sir, we have a confirmed sighting of the Straw Hats' ship!" one of the marines operating the Gate House called back to Vice Admiral Jonathan as he stared out the window.

"Yes, I see them," Jonathan confirmed. "Do not open the gate under any circumstances. Those pirates will either crash into it or be forced to turn around."

"The cannons are locked on target, sir!" another marine reported.

"SO IS THE EAGLE LAUNCHER, BEST BUDDY!" Shepherd shouted down from on the roof. He had his huge bazooka perched on his shoulder and it was aimed at the Going Merry.

"Do not fire until I give the order!" Vice Admiral Jonathan commanded. "Let's give the warships some more time to close in on them."

"Yes sir!" the marines chorused.

"Sure things, good buddy!" Shepherd echoed.

"Sir… what is with that guy?" a marine wondered.

"One Eye left him trapped the storage vault," Jonathan explained. "It turns out that he's majorly claustrophobic so when I let him out I became his best buddy."

**-x-**

"What do you mean we don't have any cannon balls?" Nami snapped.

"Not just cannon balls, we've got not explosives of any kind," Usopp explained. "We don't even have the boxes they came in."

"Well that's hardly surprising," Robin remarked, "given that they confiscated the Going Merry."

"Well what do we do?" Usopp asked. "We can't burst through that gate without some serious firepower."

"And that's your cue," Ricky prompted.

"HI GUYS!" Luffy called out and waved to the others as he, Zoro and Sanji stood together on the front deck. "We're the firepower."

"Oh…" Usopp said as he surveyed the Monster Trio. "You know… that might work."

"Remember Luffy, when we close in on the gate they're bound to open fire on us," Ricky stated. "You remember what to do, right?"

"Yup, I'm ready!" Luffy exclaimed.

"So are we," Zoro announced. "No more holding back."

"We're getting out of here now," Sanji resolved.

**-x-**

"Lock on target… FIRE!" Jonathan ordered.

"HERE'S A PRESENT FROM CONDORIANO, YOU LOUSY PIRATES!" Shepherd shrieked. **BOOOM! **The redrocket blasted out from the Eagle Launcher.

Below him, the cannons mounted around the Se Gate shot off a volley of cannonballs.

**BOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM!**

**-x-**

"Now Luffy!" Ricky called out.

**SKISH! **Luffy jumped up into the air. "GUUUUM… GUUUUM… BAAALLOOOOON!" **FWOOOSH! **Luffy inflated until his round rubber body was the size of the front sail. The red rocket and the barrage of cannonballs sunk into his body and were then shot back. **SHOOOOM! **The rocket and the cannonballs flew across the water and blasted the Sea Gate. **KA-BOOOOM-BOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM!**

The resulting series of explosions resulted in a bright flash of light and a dark cloud of smoke.

"I can't see the gate!" Usopp exclaimed. "Did that do it?"

"Only one way to find out," Nami reasoned. "Chopper, forward full!"

"Aye!" Chopper chirped.

**-x-**

"Status report!" Vice Admiral Jonathan called out. "Has the gate been compromised?"

"The gate team are reporting that only the front layer of the gate was destroyed by the blast," a marine answered.

"Alright, everyone hold fire!" Jonathan ordered. "We can't risk further damaging the gate." Jonathan grabbed the receiver of his new Transponder Snail. "Master Chief Petty Officer Todd, are you in range?"

"_**Um… yes and no sir…"**_

"What's that supposed to means, soldier?" Jonathan demanded.

"_**We were in range," **_Todd explained. _**"But that explosion created a large cloud of smoke. We've lost visual of the Straw Hat ship. What do we do?"**_

"Hang back," Jonathan instructed. "Those are shallow waters. We can't risk damaging the ships. The gate is still intact. And we confiscated all the explosives from the ship. The Straw Hats are either going to crash into the gate or will turn around at the last second and sail back out. That's when we'll get them. Set up a perimeter outside the smoke cloud. I want every man onboard your ships to be scanning that cloud for signs of the Straw Hats."

_**Yes sir," **_Todd agreed. _**"We won't let them through our barricade."**_

**-x-**

"It's no good!" Sanji realized. "The cannons only destroyed the first layer. There's another one under it!"

"Oh no…" Ricky dead-panned, "If only we had someone that could blast through thatl…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Zoro replied. "Luffy, I'm borrowing your seat." The swordsman drew all three of his swords and slashed them in circle as he jumped up onto the Going Merry's figurehead. "108 CALIBER PHOENIX!" **SLA-SLA-SLISH! **The circular air blades flew off of Zoro's swords and plowed into the steel gate with the force of a cannon. **BOOOOOOOM!**

But when the blast cleared, the steel was dented but had not been broken.

"Damn it," Zoro complained. "That attack's still not strong enough to break through steel."

"Then I'll show you how it's done, mossball," Sanji taunted. **SKISH!** He ran and launched himself forward off the front of the Merry and swung his legs forward. "VEAU SHOOT!" **THWHAM! **Sanji foot smashed through the already dented and amaaged steel of the gate.

"Hey curlybrow!" Zoro called out, "You were supposed to make a hole big enough for the ship, not just a person! Why do you think I used a large blast instead of just slicing it?"

"Shut up mosshead…" Sanji growled as he pulled himself out of the hole he'd made in the door and jumped back onto the Going Merry.

"Wait… we can't fit through that!" Nami realized.

"OH NO!" Usopp shrieked. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"

"WE'RE GONNA CRASH?" Chopper shrieked.

**Whap-whap! **The two had made it to the front deck in an instant and here holding onto Ricky.

**Squeak… **Nami skidded to a stop as she once again stopped herself in mid-leap. She turned away from Ricky and spotted Robin standing alone behind her. **GLOMP!**

"Really?" Robin asked in annoyance. "He's right there. You know he won't mind."

"I'm still mad at him," Nami insisted. "I can't grab him now."

"But your forgetting one important thing," Robin pointed out, "_I _don't care for hugging."

"Eh, then that just means you're due for one," Nami waved her off. "Hug now, complain later."

"Luffy! Hurry up and finish it!" Ricky instructed.

"RIGHT!" Luffy agreed. "MY TURN!" **SKISH! **Luffy jumped up onto the sheephead and stretched his arms back behind him. **WOOOOIIIING! **Luffy's arms extended back over the heads of the others, whizzed past both sides of the galley and reached the rear railing.

**-x-**

"Sir! There's smoke coming through the Sea Gate!" a marine observed.

"No!" Jonathan gasped. "THEY'RE BREAKING THROUGH THE SEA GATE! SHEPHERD AIM FOR THE OTHER SIDE! ALL CANNONS, GET READY TO OPEN FIRE ON THE STRAW HATS AS SOON AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE GATE!"

**-x-**

"GUUUUUUUMMMMM… GUUUUUUUUMMMMM… BAAAAAZZOOOKAAAAAA!" Luffy's fists shot across the boat whizzed off the front and slammed into the Sea Gate. **WHAAAAAAM! **Luffy's hands smashed through the heavily damaged and already broken steel gate and wrenched the metal upward until the bottom half was sticking almost straight out ahead.

"And now we just need a ride," Ricky resolved as he pulled a snail out of his pocket. "Hey Sheldon! We're coming out the entrance now. Time to go."

Ricky grinned and reached down and grabbed the handset for the Transponder Snail that he'd stolen from Jonathan at the storage vault. "One more call to make…"

**-x-**

"_**Hey Jonathan!" **_Ricky's voice came through Jonathan's new Transponder Snail. _**"If you thought that was cool, get ready to see something even more incredible."**_

"BEST BUDDY!" Shepherd shouted down from the roof. "THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WATER! AND IT'S HUGE!"

The marines ran to the windows and stared down at the dark, utterly massive shape that was under the water beside the base.

**SPLOOOSH! **A round looking rock broke the surface but I was just the tip and was followed by countless other rockets which quickly formed a gigantic round dome.

"IT'S AN ISLAND!" Shepherd screamed.

"No… it's not an island," Jonathan realized, "It's a giant turtle…"

"IT'S NEARLY AS BIG AS NAVARONE!"

**SPLOOOSSHHH! **Sheldon emerged from the water. His massive head was bigger than the gate the Straw Hats had just sailed through and now his mouth was wide opened.

"They're-they're going into the turtle!" a marine stammered as the Merry sailed straight towards the monster turtles opened mouth.

"MONSTER!" **BOOOM!** Shepherd fired his Eager Launcher again and the red rocket round struck Sheldon's shell and exploded. **KA-BOOOOM! **But the sea turtle that was half the size of Navarone didn't even notice it. "WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE?"

**-x-**

Ricky dashed across the desk to the rear desk and stood by the rear railing.

Luffy bounded up beside him and Ricky offered him the receiver of the Transponder he'd stolen from Jonathan.

"BYE FORTRESS-GUY!" Luffy shouted into the receiver.

**-x-**

"_**BYE FORTRESS GUY!" **_Vice Admiral Jonathan watched as the giant turtle's mouth closed after the Going Merry and then sank back into the water.

"Goodbye… Straw Hat Luffy… One Eye Ricky…" the marine officer replied. "That was… an incredible game…"

And that was how the Straw Hat Pirates escaped from the marine fortress known as Navarone.

**-x-**

**Aftermath:**

**-x-**

Hours later, the commotion that the Straw Hats had caused had finally died down. The marines that had been patrolling and keeping looking out for the pirates were now doing repairs and attempted to fix the damage that the pirates had done during their stay. The most heavily damaged areas were the Brig, Straw Bridge and the Sea Gate. Now entire units of marines were working together in an attempt to repair the damage done to their base.

In the dining hall, exhausted marines sat down for dinner.

"Man, dealing with those pirates wore me out," one marines groaned to another.

"And cleaning up after them is wearing _me _out," the other marine admitted. "But this delicious food should give us some energy. Then it's back to work."

The marines dug into their meals but as the taste settled in their mouth their chewing slowed and their faces were marred with frowns.

"This doesn't taste anything like the food from this morning," the first marine realized.

"You're right," the other marine agreed. "Compared to the eats we had this morning this stuff tastes like dirt."

"HEY! WHAT'RE YOU COOKS TRYING TO PULL HERE?" the first marine shouted towards the kitchen. "GIVE US SOME OF THE GOOD GRUB!"

"YEAH!" a bunch of the other marines echoed his sentiment.

"GIVE US GOOD GRUB! GIVE US GOOD GRUB! GIVE US GOOD GRUB!"

The marines started chanting for food and soon it filled the dining hall and couldn't be ignored by the kitchen.

"Jessica… do you hear that?" Shinpachi asked. "The soldiers are complaining about the food. What do we do?"

"Jessica, please…" the big Sous Chef approached the Head Chef. "You have to let us use some of his recipes…"

"No way," Jessica refused. "How dare you even suggest such a thing in this kitchen?"

"Please, hear me out!" the Sous Chef urged her. "It's true that he was a pirate but he was still an excellent cook. His food tantalized the pallets of the soldiers that ate here. Isn't that the goal of each and every one of us in the kitchen?"

"The troops loved his cooking," Billy chimed in, "In fact, it's his food they're asking for right now, Jessica."

"So what's it gonna be?" Tom asked. "Please say yes!"

"We're begging you, Jessica!" Shinpachi pleaded, "Please!"

"PLEASE JESSICA!" the cooks chorused.

Jessica frowned as she walked across the kitchen… and pinned Sanji's recipe to the menu board. The cooks' faces lit up at the sight of Sanji's recipes and notes.

"Alright, listen up," Head Chef Jessica addressed the kitchen. "We're going to learn how to make food just as delicious and mouthwatering as the pirate's was. But as for today, we're going to swallow our pride and use his recipes to feed our troops. And you're right. He wasn't a pirate when he was working in this kitchen. He was a cook. And he knew that the most important thing was to satisfy the people eating his food."

"JESSICA!" the cooks cheered.

"What are you standing around for?" Jessica demanded. "We've got men to feed!"

"YEAH!" the cooks cheered again as they returned to their tasks with renewed energy and drive.

**-x-**

"You know…" one of the shipwright marines remarked as he and two others worked on repairing a marine warship. "They may be pirates but you've got to admire how dedicated those Straw Hats were to recovering their ship. They could have tried to steal a marine ship and maybe escaped on that but instead they charged right into a trap and faced off with an army of marines to recover their ship."

"If we had all our docks working soldiers might have stood a better chance at catching them," another shipwright pointed out.

"But look at the state of the docks that we do use…" the third shipwright muttered, "When our big moment came all we could provide the troops with were five warships. There are two other ships that could have been ready if we had put as much care into our ships as the Straw Hats clearly have with theirs."

"Maybe we should ask Mekao for some tips on how to properly care for our ships," the second shipwright suggested. "That old man really knows his stuff."

"Where is he anyway?" the first shipwright wondered.

"He went to visit his daughter in the infirmary," the second shipwright replied.

**-x-**

"Daddy, you have to take your medicine," Dr. Kobato insisted.

"No way!" Mekao refused. He held up a rum bottle. "There's nothing wrong with me that a nip from the bottle won't cure. The stuff in this bottle is all the medicine I need."

**WHAP! **Kobato snatched the bottle away from him before he could drink from it. "Dad! You know there's no smoking or drinking in the infirmary."

"Come on! Just one drink!" Mekao pleaded.

"NO!" Kobato snapped.

"Aw, when did you get so stubborn?" Mekao complained.

"I became this way after those two pirates helped me become a real doctor," Kobato answered. "And just so you know, I applied to become a full-time doctor here at Navarone. That means I'm not just your daughter but I'm your doctor too! And as your doctor I order you to lay off the booze and drink your medicine!"

"Geez," Mekao grumbled, "A girl performs a few surgeries and suddenly she thinks she can boss her own father around. What happened to that little girl that cried for an hour and nearly fainted when she got a paper cut?"

"That girl grew up and became a doctor," Kobato answered. "My duty is to treat sick people. You're sick, I'm your doctor, TAKE YOUR MEDICINE!"

"Okay, okay, fine," Mekao finally relented then he smiled. "It's good to see you so confident."

**-x-**

"I'm sorry guys…" the real Seaman Recruit Natsu apologized as he joined Unit 55 in repairing the damage done to the Straw Bridge. "I shouldn't have let One Eye get the drop on me."

"No, we're the ones who should be apologizing to you Natsu," the Unit Leader insisted. "If we had been paying more attention that pirate would have never gotten the drop on you and he never would have pulled off his deception. For now on, we're going to incorporate special identification procedures so we can't be infiltrated by impersonators. Just like this bridge, our unit is going to come back from this stronger than ever!"

"WE'RE FIFTY-FIVE AND THEY BETTER FEAR IT!"

"OR THEY'RE GONNA FACE OUR BURNING SPIRIT!"

**-x-**

"Straighten those bars soldier," Ensign Christopher barked as he and his unit of marines worked to repair the damage done to the brig.

"Yes sir," the marine agreed.

"It was because of my ego and negligence that those Straw Hats trashed this brig and escaped," Ensign Christopher admitted. "Well, it's going to because of me that no one ever does that again! From now on, all prisoners will be properly searched! Even harmless looking objects will be confiscated. And we'll have to make sure to bind the prisoner's hands and feet as well."

"Yes sir," the marine unit chorused.

"I destroyed this prison…" Christopher lamented. "So I'm going to build it back up!"

**-x-**

"Oh… you're still here, huh?" Vice Admiral Jonathan noted as he looked up from his veggie-filled dish to the smirking chef Shinpachi that had delivered it. "I said dismissed!"

"Sorry sir," Shinpachi replied, "But the Head Chef gave me very specific orders. 'Don't leave until the Vice Admiral has cleaned his plate'. Even if you're dining in your private quarters, rules are rules. You know the credo. Plus she was very adamant that you finish every last bite."

"Uugghhh…" Jonathan groaned. "Jessica…"

"Heehehe!" Master Chief Petty Officer Todd chuckled at his own desk.

"You too, officer," Shinpachi informed Todd.

"WHAAAT?" Todd shrieked.

"Head Chef made dinner for you as well," Shinpachi explained as he place another veggie-filled dish on Master Chief Petty Officer Todd's desk. "Bon appetite, sirs!"

"Not a fan of the broccoli either, eh?" Jonathan inquired.

"No for me it's the tomatoes and carrots," Todd confessed.

**Krek! **The doors swung opened and Commander Shepherd marched in, "Well best buddy, I delivered my report and I did what I could. Naturally I had to mention the fiasco with those Straw Hats but I made sure to stress the unorthodox methods of how they arrived and escaped."

Jonathan thought back to how the G-8 marines had quickly captured and investigate the pirate ship after it had fallen out of the sky. How Unit 55 had been willing to serve as a diversion while the other units formed an army in Dock 88.

"You know," Jonathan said, "the truth is, it's been so long since this base has seen that kind of action. Even if we didn't accomplish our objective and capture the Straw Hats, it was nice to see everyone come together the way they did. I think getting shown up by the Straw Hats might even be a good thing. I've heard whispers from the men, from almost every unit, and they seem more determined than ever to improve so something like this doesn't happen again."

Jonathan grinned and looked over at his chessboard in the corner of the room and then looked down at the deck of playing cards that he had on his deck. "Even I learned something from them. One Eye taught me that I need to diversify my strategy when it comes to dealing with pirates."

**Sniff… sniff… **Shepherd's hooked gray nosed twitched as he sniffed Jonathan's plate. "Say, that smells good."

A wide grin spread across Jonathan's face. "That's a special dish my wife made for me. But you know what, you've had such a rough day. You deserve a treat. Here, have some."

"Oh no, I couldn't!" Shepherd blustered.

"Don't worry about it, I insist, _best buddy_," Jonathan encouraged him. He got out of his chair and guided Shepherd down into it. "Go ahead. Dig in."

"Aw, alright, why not," Shepherd conceded. He sat down and dug in to the plate. "Oh, wow!" The Special Inspector gushed. "This is delicious!"

"I'm so glad you like it!" Jonathan beamed. "Be sure to eat every bite!"

"Yes sir!" Shepherd happily agreed.

Jonathan turned and grinned at Shinpachi who was still standing and waiting for him to finish 'his' meal, "Tell Jessica that it was even more delicious than usual."

"Yes sir," Shinpachi agreed. It wasn't uncommon for the Vice Admiral to pull crazy schemes to get out of eating his vegetables.

**Kreeekkk… **The doors slowly swung opened again and this time they admitted a dejected Lieutenant Commander Drake.

"I'm sorry Vice Admiral," Drake apologized. "One Eye caught me off guard."

"Join the club," Vice Admiral Jonathan replied. "That pirate's a trickster. None of us were prepared for the unorthodox craftiness of those Straw Hats."

"Still… I spent the day locked in a closet in the infirmary," Drake grumbled. "I was useless."

"Actually Drake, I was hoping to ask you a few questions," Todd requested.

"Oh? About what?" Drake asked.

"You have the most experience at this base of leading units on the front lines," Todd said. "I ended up leading the ambush against the Straw Hats and I was hoping to pick your brain about what I could have done differently."

"I suppose I could help you out," Drake agreed as he joined Todd at his desk.

Todd looked back and saw that Shepherd was still happily eating Vice Admiral Jonathan's meal. "And you must be hungry," Todd noted as he pushed his plate over to Drake. "Here, the Head Chef made it herself."

**Grumble… **Drake's stomach growled and answered the question for him. "I guess I could eat." The Lieutenant Commander quickly dug into the offered plate.

Todd shared a glance with Jonathan and the two marine officers proceeded to giggle like a pair of school girls as other people were forced to eat their vegetables.

"What you needed was a snatch and grab unit," Drake explained once Shinpachi left with the empty plates and the food cart.

"What's that?" Todd asked.

"You take a group of stealthy marines and have them sneak through the others so they can get within jumping distance of the pirates," Drake told him. Todd actually took notes. "Then you had another marine cause a distraction. He could drop his gun. Anything sudden that would draw the attention of the pirates. Once they're distracted the snatch and grab team jumps in and recovers the hostage or anything else you're trying to recover."

"Hmm… that might've worked," Todd mused. "Although, it turned out one of the hostages was actually one of the pirates. Who knows how she would have reacted to getting grabbed."

"You know soldier," Jonathan told Todd, "After One Eye captured Straw Hat and that cook in the dining hall I obtained the paperwork to have him promoted to a Commissioned Officer. But after it was revealed that he was a traitor and you stepped up in place of my other missing officers, I took the liberty to put your name on the paperwork."

"Really, sir?" Todd asked.

"That's right, Ensign Todd." Jonathan looked over at Commander Shepherd, "Does that sound good to you, best buddy?"

"I'll work my magic at HQ," Shepherd offered, "But I'm all for it. This young man preformed honorably. He was thrust into a huge situation that he hadn't been properly trained for and he still managed to keep things under control."

"I'm honored," Todd gushed. "And I won't let you down Vice Admiral!"

**Rring! Riing!**

"Oh, sorry, that's me," Commander Shepherd apologized. "It must be a call from Marineford." Shepherd answered the snail-call. "Hello? Yes this is Commander Shepherd. Oh, you want to speak with the Vice Admiral? Of course, right away." Shepherd offered the Transponder Snail to Vice Admiral Joanthan.

"Hello, Vice Admiral Jonathan speaking…" Jonathan stated.

"_**Vice Admiral Jonathan, this is Commodore Smoker from the Loguetown Marines."**_

"I heard you left Loguetown to chase the Straw Hats," Jonathan noted.

"_**And I just heard that you recently had an encounter with those pests."**_

"We did," Jonathan answered. "They ran amok in our base and managed to escape."

"_**That's them. No one's better at causing chaos and then running away than the Straw Hats. What can you tell me about your dealings with them?"**_

"Well, this will be hard to believe," Jonathan said, "But they dropped down out of the air into the middle of my base. They claim that they were riding a giant octopus balloon. They managed to escape when they sailed their ship into the mouth of a massive sea turtle that was half the size of my whole island."

"_**That sounds about right. I've learned not to dismiss anything when it comes to them."**_

"While I have you on the line, would mind sharing what actually happened in Alabasta?"

"_**What's the matter? Was the official report not enough for you?"**_

"It was until I actually met them. Straw Hat refused to reveal his true purpose there and One Eye seemed to be on good terms with Nico Robin when I met him."

"_**So Nico Robin joined up with them? Alabasta's a long story. But the short version is that the Straw Hats made friends with Princess Vivi and she asked them to help her save her kingdom and defeat Crocodile. One Eye had his hands in everything and seemed to know everything. Straw Hat seemed completely oblivious but he ended up beating that rotten sandbag."**_

"That still doesn't fill in all the blanks but it will do for now."

"_**Thank you for the information. I'll put it to good use."**_

**-x-**

**Click! **Commodore Smoker hung up his Transponder Snail and turned to face his officers Lieutenant Commander Devo and Ensign Tashigi.

"Is that arm of yours ready for an official field test?" Smoker asked. "The Straw Hats were sighted fleeing from Navarone."

**Clack! **Devo clenched his new metal fist, "Time for a long overdue rematch."

"We need to stop them before they can cause even more trouble," Tashigi resolved.

"Then that means the vacation's over," Smoker announced, "We've got some pirates to hunt."

The Straw Hats might have escaped from Navarone but now 'White Chase' Smoker and his crew were once again on their trail.

**-x-**

**SPLOOOSH! **Sheldon broke the surface of the open sea and the Going Merry sailed out from his mouth.

Ricky sat on the rear deck of the Going Merry with three different sized Transponder Snails in front of him. The first was the small mini-Transponder Snail that he used to call Sheldon. The second was the medium-sized Transponder Snail Speaker that he had previously rigged in Sheldon's ear. The third was the large Transponder Snail that he'd stolen from Jonathan.

"So what are you doing?" Chopper asked from where he was perched on Ricky's shoulders.

"I just finished rigging up the Going Merry's new communication system," Ricky answered. "You see, now that we've taken the big snail from G-8, I introduced it to the other two Snails so now it will be able to call both of them whenever we need it to."

"So we'll be able to call Sheldon from the Merry?" Chopper asked.

"Yup," Ricky answered. "And whoever has the little snail will be able to the one of the Merry. So if we ever split up into groups like we did on Upper Yard we'll be able to call the group that's still on the Going Merry."

"Oh, that'll be really helpful!" Chopper realized.

"Do me a favor and go stick this one in Sheldon's ear," Ricky requested as he passed the medium Snail Speaker up to Chopper. "It's a snail so it will stick and stay wherever you put it."

"Aye sir!" Chopper quickly agreed. He jumped off of Ricky's shoulders onto the rear railing then Transformed into his big Heavy Point form and jumped off the Merry onto Sheldon's snout. **SKISH! **Chopper ran up and around Sheldon's head and eventually came to the large cave-like hole that was the giant sea turtle's ear.

Chopper grinned and took the Snail Speaker and stuck it sideways onto the wall. **Squish!**

"Teeheehee!"Chopper laughed. "It does stick!"

"_**Can you hear me, Chopper?" **_Ricky's voice sounded through the cave.

"Yeah! I hear you, Big Brother!" Chopper replied.

"_**Don't answer that. It's a one-way speaker. If you can hear this, come on out. I've got a present for you, Little Brother."**_

"A present?" Chopper repeated. The excited reindeer ran out of the ear-cave, raced around Sheldon's face and jumped back onto the Going Merry. Chopper beamed at Ricky, "You made me a present?"

Ricky nodded and grinned, "And that means that the Snails are all working. I'll give it to you once I dismiss Sheldon." Ricky stood up and picked up the handset on the big Transponder Snail.

"Thanks Sheldon," Ricky addressed the giant turtle. "Thanks for following that cloud for the last few days and thanks for helping us escape. We're headed for the next island so we'll be fine for the next few days. Feel free to swim off and do whatever you want. I'll call if I need you."

**SPLOOOSH! **The turtle responded by sinking back down into the water.

"And now for you," Ricky resolved as he turned back to Chopper who had shrunk back down into this hybrid form. "I found this on one of the ships in Sheldon's stomach. I finished carving it after Luffy beat Eneru." Ricky fished into his pocket and pulled out a pink gemstone and handed it to Chopper.

Chopper held the pink gem in between his hooves and saw that Ricky had expertly crafted the still mostly-round stone to look like a partially opened cherry blossom.

"It's beautiful!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I make special treasures for people I care about and want to be able to find when I need to," Ricky informed him. "The first one is a gold top hat that I used to decorate my older brother Sabo's grave. The second one is those bands of rubies that Ace wears on his hat and neck. The third one is an emerald pendant that I made for Ollie. The fourth is a diamond manji that I made for Whitebeard. The fifth… Nami had one…" Ricky shook his head and his frown disappeared. "Anyway, this is the sixth. It's worth exactly two million, two hundred twenty-two thousand, two hundred twenty-two berries. I can use my Treasure Sense Mantra to lock onto that amount so that I can find you if you ever get lost. Eneru and Aisa were able to hear everyone in Skypiea so I think that as long as we're on the same island I'll always be able to find you."

"Oh wow, thanks!" Chopper gushed as he stared at the pink cherry blossom in awe. "But wait… why didn't you ever make one for Luffy? He's your brother too isn't he?"

"Do you have any idea what he's put that treasured straw hat of his through?" Ricky countered. "If I gave Luffy one he'd end up losing it or selling it for meat. Besides, he's easy enough to find as it is. It just have to look for a place that has food or is really noisy, or both."

Chopper frowned, "Then… maybe I shouldn't hold onto this…" he suggested. "It's so pretty and I don't wanna lose it."

"Yeah, but I figure if we fasten it inside that pink hat of yours you won't be able to lose it," Ricky suggested, "Even at your clumsiest I've never seen it fall off."

Chopper looked up at his pink hat, "This top hat was the first present I ever got." He beamed. "Now it'll be even better since it has my present from you in it too!" Chopper lunged at Ricky and hugged him around the waist. "THANKS BIG BROTHER!"

**-x-**

A tender moment later Ricky and Chopper joined the other Straw Hats in the galley.

Ricky placed the big Transponder Snail on the table while Chopper claimed a seat at the table next to Luffy and helped himself to the small spread of snacks that Sanji had made.

"The marines raided the store rooms but not the fridge," Sanji stated as he stared hard at Ricky. "I whipped up those using what was left. You can have one on the condition that you replenish the stores the next time we make port."

"I'm actually grateful for your reluctance in feeding me," Ricky admitted. "It threw Jonathan off and gave me a big advantage while I was moving against him." Ricky glanced over at Nami.

The navigator had changed out of her nurse's outfit and was back in her short-shorts and her gray t-shirt that said 'EVIL' on the chest.

"I see you took the liberty of moving me safe in here," Ricky observed.

"We were just deciding how to spend the gold that you still have in there," Nami replied.

"We could buy all sorts of stuff!" Usopp chimed in.

"I wanna buy a big gold statue!" Luffy announced.

"I had to talk the Skypieans _out of _making us a statue," Ricky told him, oblivious to the fact that they had still made one anyway.

"Oh, I could buy medical books that'll teach me all about the latest medical procedures and operations!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I could use some new pots, frying pans, silverware, and a giant mouse trap," Sanji commented. He turned his hard gaze to Luffy which told everyone what pest he'd be using the mouse trap on.

"I just wanna replace the booze the marines took," Zoro added.

"…" Robin looked up from a book and shrugged then went right back to it.

"Well I think I should get everyone's share _plus _whatever's in the safe," Nami resolved.

"ARE YOU NUTS?" Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper all snapped at her.

"Not for me," Nami clarified, "For a special lady. I think we should set aside all that treasure to pay for the repairs we need to make on the Merry. Isn't it about time we've paid her back for all she's done for us?"

"Oh yeah!" Usopp quickly agreed. "The Going Merry has carried us for a long time now. Its been our ship and our home ever since I joined up in the East Blue."

"Don't forget the Merry was with us when we crossed that crazy Reverse Mountain and burst into the Grand Line," Zoro pointed out.

"And she flew up to the Sky Island," Sanji continued.

"Big Brother and I risked our lives to defend the Merry on Upper Yard," Chopper recalled.

"And then that mysterious someone repaired the damage for us," Usopp noted as he remembered the 'ghost' he'd seen late at night fixing the Merry. "I SAW SOMEBODY! I SWEAR!"

"When you think about it, this ship's gone through a lot for us," Luffy realized.

"And that's exactly why we need to give her some tender love and care," Nami resolved.

"Oh yeah!" Usopp exclaimed, "The Going Merry's Great Repair!"

"Let's do it!" Luffy cheered.

"It sounds like what you need is a Shipwright," Robin chimed in.

"Oh Miss. Robin, you're so smart!" Sanji swooned.

"That's what that old man Mekao suggested," Usopp admitted.

"Wait, isn't that what Usopp is?" Chopper questioned.

"I'm a sniper not a Shipwright!" Usopp insisted. "Sometimes when you need a job done right, you've gotta go see a professional."

"THAT'S IT!" Luffy exclaimed as he stood up. "We've gotta get a Shipwright for our crew." The Straw Hats all turned to look at the Captain. "Our journey's far from over. We really need someone with us that has the skills to take care of the Merry. She's not just our ship. She's our home too. So let's go find us a Shipwright that can keep the Merry safe!"

With that Luffy sat down and went back to his drink.

"Is anyone else shocked that he just said something really smart?" Sanji asked.

"And we should get a musician too!" Luffy added.

"And now he's back…" Zoro groaned.

"Hey, you don't need to convince me," Ricky said. "I'm all for spending the treasure on repairs. I'll _hire _a Shipwright to sail with us if I have to."

"You're right," Nami replied. "We _don't _need to convince you. I was convincing them. Now I'm _taking _all that treasure." Nami got up and walked over to the safe in the corner.

"_YOU'RE MY BROTHER'S TREASURE."_

Nami reached up and dialed 141139 on Ricky's keypad lock. **Click! **The safe unlocked.

Nami turned around and folded her arms across the 'EVIL' on her chest.

"Wanna tell me why _my name _is the combination to your safe?" Nami taunted.

14-1-13-9 – N-A-M-I

"I thought it was obvious," Ricky answered, "I used the name of someone I treasure and want to keep safe to guard the treasure in my safe."

Ricky turned and walked out of the galley. Nami was left staring after him with wide eyes and a pink face. She had expected to see him flinch at her guessing his combination and had planned to make him squirm by taunting him over taking his money. She hadn't expected or planned for him to respond with a blatant confession. She was so caught off guard that she completely forgot to add a point to her score in the Swindling War.

"Wait a minute... Doesn't Ricky love treasure?"

Nami's face went from pink to bright red when she suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone. Nami looked back at the table and saw the others, even Robin, staring at her.

"WHAT'RE YOU STARING AT?" Nami shouted at them. The Straw Hats quickly averted their eyes.

"RIGHT!" Luffy announced as he up again. "I'm done eating and we're back in the Grand Line so that means while we look for that Shipwright we're onto our next adventure!"

"Just be careful Luffy," Robin warned him. "You have no idea what you'll be facing next."

**-x-**

And that's Another Nakama III. Thank you to **Sallem Cortez 004** for the chess/poker speech, thank you to **kallen22 **and **anieljesu gonzalez** who kept me motivated and on a semi-regular update schedule, thank you to everyone who stuck with me for the almost three years that it took me to finally finish this sucker and thank you to everyone that joined in along the way and showed their support.

Now that this installment is finally done, exactly five years after I started the first one, I'm going to take the next month off to work on projects that aren't One Piece related but I'll be back in February with Another Nakama IV.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!


End file.
